Does it annoy you that homeowners are renting their basements (Arlington: fit in, affordable apartment)

[beatlecrazy]

Our neighbors rent out their basement, but it doesn't bother me. They are Hispanic, but very nice. The only complaint I have about it is that they tend to take up the entire street parking, and occasionally will park in front of our house. My husband had to go over to their house and ask if they could move one of their cars - we were having a friend come over, and we needed that one space in front of our house. They moved it of course, no problems. Our house was a foreclosure and they were so used to parking in front of our property, that it took them a while to realize that two people actually lived in our home, lol! But there are always different vehicles parked out front or in their driveway.

We live in a very quiet neighborhood, quiet streets and whatnot, so at first it was unusual for us to see them parking with so many cars. But, we got used to it. One of the guys at our neighbor's house even volunteered to help fix our fence when he saw my husband ruining it outside, ha. I said sure, go ahead! It made his day. I wave to them when out gardening, it's all amiable.

The way I see it, they're friendly, we get along, and they're just honest people looking for shelter and family to stay with. IF we had a basement and say, my brother and sis-in-law (or my friends) needed to live with us, I'd gladly offer it to them. It's a nice gesture

[normie]

We shared our house with a couple for about a year. They were not criminals or illegal. They rented the house from us when we moved to Georgia. Then we decided to move back, but our tenants didn't want to move right away. We worked out an arrangement where we could share the house for a year. They were very nice people and good friends to this day. There are all kinds of situations that can happen.

[HereinVA]

Originally Posted by beatlecrazy

The only complaint I have about it is that they tend to take up the entire street parking, and occasionally will park in front of our house. My husband had to go over to their house and ask if they could move one of their cars - we were having a friend come over, and we needed that one space in front of our house. They moved it of course, no problems. Our house was a foreclosure and they were so used to parking in front of our property, that it took them a while to realize that two people actually lived in our home, lol! But there are always different vehicles parked out front or in their driveway.

It was very nice of them to move, but assuming your street is a public street, they have just as much right to park their as you do. Your friend could have just parked further down the street.

[beatlecrazy]

Originally Posted by HereinVA

It was very nice of them to move, but assuming your street is a public street, they have just as much right to park their as you do. Your friend could have just parked further down the street.

There was no parking further down the street. We live on a dead end, and neighbors park all up and down. There was no one in our neighbor's driveway, so they moved the car that WAS in front of our house, into their own driveway. Problem solved!

[oneasterisk]

Originally Posted by HereinVA

It was very nice of them to move, but assuming your street is a public street, they have just as much right to park their as you do. Your friend could have just parked further down the street.

While that's technically true, it is common courtesy not to park in front of your neighbor's house.

[persnicketygal]

Good to see some compassion here. It's a rough world, the economy the way it is. People can't always afford to pick up and go where better jobs are that wouldn't put them in a basement apartment. But they're probably working hard to get that apartment where sunshine comes in. As another person wrote, there are probably quite a few sub-standard housing situations out there, and that's the big ethical annoyance.

[HEATHER72]

I don't think people are allowed to rent out parts of their home in our neighborhood, but I still see it. My next door neighbor was doing this. Which I didn't quite understand, since the basement is not seperated by a door. They had single men in their with the couple and the 2 girls. I just didn't think that was very safe. They haven't had a renter in awhile (good IMO). The last renter who looked to be about 60 had a couple of fancy cars, a new one here and there... a Merecedes, Porsche, Infiniti and had a segway. I never understood why he was living in a basement! Worst part was that he covered the basement windows with aluminum foil! Of course most of my house looks upon the side that the had the foiled windows.

[Teebyrd86]

Originally Posted by HEATHER72

The last renter who looked to be about 60 had a couple of fancy cars, a new one here and there... a Merecedes, Porsche, Infiniti and had a segway. I never understood why he was living in a basement! Worst part was that he covered the basement windows with aluminum foil! Of course most of my house looks upon the side that the had the foiled windows.

Some renters look at basement rentals for temporary housing while in the area for a job.. sounds like this may have been the case here or perhaps he was going through a divorce and needed somewhere to live for a while.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by thatdurncat13

VRE
What if it were you? People are entitled to have a roof over their head. Plus, in these times, it's another income for someone who may otherwise have to live in someones basement.

If the need for housing justifies the providing of any type of lodging, no matter where, then I should be able to set up a mobile home park or a tent city in our backyard.

I can understand why the OP is annoyed. And I'm someone who sympathizes with illegal aliens. (Let's be real; low-income native Spanish speakers packed into a basement almost certainly did not come here on a refugee (R), trafficking-victim (T), or other permanent visa.) I would come here too if I were impoverished and chronically unemployed. We all go where the money is. If you were jobless for months, out of money, with all your friends and relatives just as poor as you, and there was a high-paying job in Canada that you could do, if only you would go, you're a liar if you say you wouldn't.

At the same time, I can empathize with anyone who suddenly wakes up to find that there are suddenly another five or more additional cars on the street and that the drivers all go to work at 5AM. There's such a thing as renting out your basement--I have a relative who rents hers out to one Fulbright scholar at a time--but then there's renting it out AND exceeding any legal or reasonable occupancy level.

I'm sure the people renting the basement aren't bad people, but they shouldn't be allowed to be packed into a basement in a quiet neighborhood. There are low-income apartment complexes all over the place that have become de facto housing for illegal immigrants. It seems to work out for everyone.

I know it's not PC to suggest that income stratification in housing works better than mixing the poor among the non-poor--but it's the truth. There have been articles about how Section 8 recipients were better served in the old projects, where social services could reach more of them at once. In the suburbs, they're basically stranded, with no one nearby in like circumstances.

[newgatedenizen]

To answer the original question, yes, it annoys me. Mostly because when you have an unanticipated large increase of vehicles in a planned development it inevitably results in illegal parking situations and conflicts over parking.