Real Quick
- The City of Roanoke and about 18 other Virginia localities run rental inspection programs to help ensure safe conditions in designated zones.
- After speaking with Charlottesville Tomorrow about rental inspection programs, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors asked county staff to look into what it would take to create a rental inspection program, or something like it.
- If the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors decides to move forward with a rental inspection program, they’ll have some important decisions to make. They’ll need to decide which areas of the county to inspect and how best to make a registry of rental properties, for example.
Take action
Want to learn more about proactive rental inspection programs? Here are a few resources to help you get started.
- The National Center for Healthy Housing has compiled policy recommendations, case studies, and more, drawing on more than 30 years of research and advocacy for safe, healthy homes across all income levels.
- ChangeLab Solutions, a nonprofit focused on equitable laws and policies, published a Guide to Proactive Rental Inspections in 2022.
Jojo Robertson stood at the kitchen stove in her Park’s Edge apartment, stirring a simmering pot of water and cinnamon sticks. She lifted the wooden spoon into the air, closed her eyes, and took a long, deep breath as beads of aromatic liquid dripped back into the pot. Her face relaxed.
“It soothes me,” she said, turning off the stovetop and waving the steam around, wafting the scent of homemade potpourri through the living room of the three-bedroom apartment she shares with her husband and their two children. “It’s so stressful living here that I do whatever I can to feel peace.”
Over the past few years, Park’s Edge residents in Albemarle County have faced a slew of problems in their units: fetid floods, rats in children’s beds, sparking electrical outlets, fire hazards, roaches, mold…