Does it annoy you that homeowners are renting their basements (Springfield: low income, best town)

[HarryLou]

Originally Posted by HereinVA

Right...in an earlier post I mentioned that from what I've heard only "walk out" basements can be legally used for sleeping. So is it true that a basement that where you have to walk up that small flight of stairs to be at ground level on the outside exit, that is not considered legal (for sleeping use)? Or am I interpreting that wrong?

Think they need only have a "rescue" opening, which is a window of a certain size that opens. This would be in a room that is used as a bedroom. Probably that would apply in any jurisdiction.

[ACWhite]

I don't mean to stir the pot, but I can't help noting that this is an example of a situation where there is an upside to homeowner associations that are vigilant about enforcing rules.

[ACWhite]

Originally Posted by HarryLou

Think they need only have a "rescue" opening, which is a window of a certain size that opens. This would be in a room that is used as a bedroom. Probably that would apply in any jurisdiction.

Yes, I think generally the rule is that the window needs to be large enough to enable people to get out through that window if the door can't be used, and it needs to be close enough to the floor for people to be able to reach it and climb out, though jurisdictions differ on specifics.

[reebo]

Yes, I think generally the rule is that the window needs to be large enough to enable people to get out through that window if the door can't be used, and it needs to be close enough to the floor for people to be able to reach it and climb out, though jurisdictions differ on specifics.

This. Our neighbors finished their basement a few years ago, and because they had neither a walk-up nor a walk-out, the contractor had to excavate and install an escape-sized window in the basement wall.

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by ACWhite

I don't mean to stir the pot, but I can't help noting that this is an example of a situation where there is an upside to homeowner associations that are vigilant about enforcing rules.

We just called the County Ordenance a few times on the Pakastani family, at one time I counted12 people living in the basement. If you go back a page there's a living space requirement in PWC.

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by VRE332

Their tenants are almost always spanish speaking with 3+ kids and tend to move-in/out every 6 months or so. It always like the Pakastani family and Indian families in my neighborhood doing this, but they are really nice people.

It appears from the quoted text that I separated out of the OP that you are not so much concerned about the dangers of an overcrowded house as you are the nationality of the renters.

You don't mind the Pakastani and Indian families doing this but have a problem with Hispanics because you assume that all of them are illegal excons.

I think that is what has raised the ire of our fellow CD posters.

In the house next to mine, there are four adults (3 females and one male) and two children. The only issue I have with this is parking. Each home is assigned two parking spots and our row of townhouses has only two visitors spots. The people who live next door are always parked in the two visitors spots as well as their two assigned parking spots. It doesn't give any of our (the entire row of townhouses) visitors even a chance to park nearby.

[NC211]

Yes, this would bother me, regardless of race or nationality. It's called a "single family home" for a reason. There are numerous affordable dwelling opportunities in the region for folks. Every new apartment building ever developed during the past 10 years in the region has to either (a) make 10% +/- units affordable dwelling units, with rents established by the county. These rents are a formula that usually ranges from about 40% to 60% of the area's median income levels. If you've got a basement capable of being rented, then you probably make an amount that is on the high side of the equation. If I'm paying these hideous prices for a suburban setting in the DC region, then I want what I'm paying for. I don't want to look outside my house in "manor crest hills" to see another SFH across the street functioning as a make-shift apartment duplex.

I looked at one of these in Leesburg recently. Liked the house from the pictures. When I found out it was a short sale with a pre-approved number, I didn't blink. But when I found out the owner had put the basement under a lease, I immediately scratched it off my list. The pre-approved sale amount wasn't harmful to the neighborhood either. It still sits for sale....

[Carlingtonian]

Lot of reasonable, informative posts here.

UCSF in particular--thanks for sharing what you went through. It really captures the complexity of the whole debate.

On the one hand, no one wants what happened in your old complex to happen to their neighborhood. (My wife went through a similar experience in Herndon in the '80s, when her street--which had been mostly quiet SE Asian refugee families like hers--saw more and more illegal-immigrant Hispanics move in, and within a few years had major parking, noise, and litter problems.)

On the other hand, there are clearly some hard-working, honest, clean illegal immigrants who DO want to learn English and would love to become citizens and blend in. And a lot of them do just that, eventually. And I have nothing but contempt for people who rip them off.

What seems obvious is that occupancy laws should be enforced. Laws against accessory dwelling units are a separate entity; I put renting out your basement to one person in the same category as speeding on the Beltway--illegal but ubiquitous and harmless. Renting to several people in a small space is a real F.U. to the neighbors.

[NC211]

...or (b), pay a sizable fee to shift those units to a nearby.

[cwaggy]

The basics of the 2009 IRC (International Residential Code) egress windows requirements are as follows:

The minimium square footage is 5.7 sf, this is the height times the width of clear space that someone could climb thru.
The minimum clear height is 24 inches.
The minimum clear width is 20 inches.
The minimum height of the sill is 44 inches. (measured to the highest part of the window that you pass over when climbing thru)
Note: if you multiply 24 inches by 20 inches it equals 480 inches or 3.3 sf. which is less than the required 5.7 sf. So one or both dimensions will need to be bigger, they just can't be smaller. Also, there can't be window hardware that gets in the way of the clear opening.

Basement window wells also have egress requirements. The building code dictates window well size, the need for ladders and how grates or decks above can be used.

Once you convert a basement to a code-compliant sleeping room, you need to also make sure you don't run afoul of zoning which may or may not limit the # of bedrooms per dwelling. Often it is septic issues that are impacted, adding flow to a design-limited septic system OR sewer flow to a municipal system. Aside from egress, you also can not share a living space with boilers/furnaces and the like.

All such endeavors MUST be done via a formal building permit and is subject to inspection.