‘I am truly horrified that these conditions exist anywhere in the county’

Beyond the Headlines is our twice-weekly newsletter connecting subscribers directly to our journalists. We add context to major stories, go behind-the-scenes, highlight great work from other local outlets or provide more informal snapshots of our community.

This week, we published “No Way Out,” a series about how the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act makes it very difficult for tenants to hold their landlords accountable for poor living conditions in their rental homes. 

After reading the first report, a reader wrote in to say that they hope the final chapter of the series results in justice for residents. That could be on the horizon.

In the third and final article in the series, I report on how state lawmakers recently gave tenants a few more rights and how, after they learned about renters’ experiences from our reporting, Albemarle County officials are interested in starting a rental inspection program or something similar.

The stories of residents of Park’s Edge, the apartment complex featured in these reports, moved public officials to explore more options that local government might take:

While state laws do little to protect tenants, counties have options — and Albemarle is beginning to consider them

But for the most part, the Park’s Edge residents who spoke with me for this series struggle to see justice in their future. The owner, RailField Realty, has made some improvements to the property and, in summer 2025, changed the on-site management company from Franklin Johnston Group to Gates Hudson. That company also manages the Spark complex near the Shops at Stonefield in Albemarle County.

“Property management interacts with residents on a daily basis,” Todd Watkins, RailField’s chief operating officer, told me in an email in May. “They also put out regular surveys to gauge resident sentiment.”

Resident Jojo Robertson said she has never been asked to take a survey.

“Same story, different chapter,” she told me on May 20. 

Lanika Hester won damages in her lawsuit against Park’s Edge’s owners, but it took months to get the money. Earlier this year, she and her daughter moved out of Park’s Edge. But Hester is struggling to leave the past behind.

“There’s so much trauma and stuff tied to that unit,” she told Charlottesville Tomorrow in December 2025.

Hester said she likes her new place, but she’s always on edge that something bad will happen — she’s learned the other shoe always drops.

And unfortunately, it did. I texted her in February to see how she was doing. She’d lost her job the previous day.

“Trying to figure things out,” she wrote. “But hey, we’re not in Park’s Edge.”

I keep thinking about what Greg Miao, an attorney and healthy housing policy expert, said about why poor living conditions are constantly overlooked: It’s a mostly invisible problem.

Over the past few days, however, community members and local elected officials have told us that because of this reporting, the problem of poor housing conditions for renters is no longer invisible. They’re seeing it now, some of them for the first time.

“I knew the story was about bad living conditions, but I have to say, even the caption of that first photo is so much worse than I expected,” Albemarle County Supervisor Sally Duncan posted to the social media site Bluesky on May 29. “I am truly horrified that these conditions exist anywhere in the county, and I am even more motivated to figure out solutions.”

My hope is that, thanks to these residents who’ve spoken out, the community won’t be able to look away. If you want to share your experiences or give us feedback on our investigation, please get in touch here.

Thank you for reading “No Way Out” all week and for taking the time to learn more about your neighbors.

Erin O’Hare, Neighborhoods Reporter