Too many people living in house (Richmond, Fairfax: leases, loans, neighborhoods)

[airjay75]

Here is some of the info for Fairfax County: Overcrowding / Boarding Houses*- Fairfax County, Virginia

[LynchburgLover]

And, you better hope the family are not diplomats. We once had a house next door to us that was rented by a very small country without an official Embassy. The Ambassador, his wife and child moved in. Before long, they were sponsoring young men who lived in their basement and got jobs at the local McDonalds. There were at least 8-10 at any given time with a myriad of problems -- too many cars to count, smoking, drinking, hanging laundry in the trees, loud music and on and on. This was in a fairly affluent area of single family homes.

The HOA and the rental agent couldn't do anything about it because they were diplomats.

We made sure our next house was far away from DC.

[UNITYinternational]

Originally Posted by Spaten_Drinker

To qualify as a bedroom the room must have a window.

easy enough,, I've never seen a house where legal bedrooms didn't have a window. Actually 2 of my 3 baths and my small laundry area are the only spaces in my home without a window.

[Yankeesfan]

If you're in Fairfax County, you can go ahead and report it, and maybe you'll be lucky. The county isn't very good about actually enforcing these rules, even though they make a big PR show about it.

[UNITYinternational]

Originally Posted by spencgr

In theory, yes, but you have not accounted for SF for a bathroom or hallways, so the minimum would be more than 1200 SF.

Well even at 1500 sqft, which seems within the normal range for a 3-4bdrm home, would they be breaking the law according to the brochure?

I've known of a few 3 generation living arrangements, though typically 12 peeps or less, and they seem to be managing fine. Granted they are not a public nuisance. Smart way to build family wealth in my opinion.
Also addresses the need of elder and child care in some scenarios and a sharing of resources when in fact so many folks are away from home 10-12 hours a day.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by UnityJAX

Well even at 1500 sqft, which seems within the normal range for a 3-4bdrm home, would they be breaking the law according to the brochure?

They would not be breaking the law if each of the rooms meets the minimum SF as outlined in the brochure. It's not the total house SF, it's the minimum per room based on occupancy of that room.

[CapsChick]

Well, you could screw up their lives, only to find out that the noise problem was not resolved as a result of your report. Examine your goals and conscience in this situation, and think about whether you really want to potentially cause some children to lose their home.

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by UnityJAX

easy enough,, I've never seen a house where legal bedrooms didn't have a window. Actually 2 of my 3 baths and my small laundry area are the only spaces in my home without a window.

We have a large room in our finished basement that we use as a guest bedroom, though legally we cannot count it as a 5th bedroom (and cannot advertise it as such if we were to sell) because it doesn't have adequate egress (it has only two small windows at the ceiling level, not large enough for a person to climb through in case of emergency). But I know of people with a similar setup who rent out their basement (probably illegally).

[UNITYinternational]

Originally Posted by capschick

well, you could screw up their lives, only to find out that the noise problem was not resolved as a result of your report. Examine your goals and conscience in this situation, and think about whether you really want to potentially cause some children to lose their home.

brava!!!

[finalmove]

Originally Posted by UnityJAX

Well even at 1500 sqft, which seems within the normal range for a 3-4bdrm home, would they be breaking the law according to the brochure?

I've known of a few 3 generation living arrangements, though typically 12 peeps or less, and they seem to be managing fine. Granted they are not a public nuisance. Smart way to build family wealth in my opinion.
Also addresses the need of elder and child care in some scenarios and a sharing of resources when in fact so many folks are away from home 10-12 hours a day.

It's not about building wealth or child care. It's about societal norms and town planning. This isn't some third world country where there are no building codes and people sell bread from their front door. There's a house on Rt. 236 by NOVA like this.
At night there are 7-vehicles parked in the front yard----mostly white vans. Who wants to have them for neighbors?
Munincipal sewer and water systems are designed to handle normal families.
A 3-bedroom/2-bath home shouldn't have 36-toilet flushes and 17-showers per day.
That's a fact, Jack!