Housing Matters Forum

Arlington’s Housing Matters Forum, designed for both tenants and landlords, provides opportunities to share information and discuss various housing topics including:

  • eviction and fair housing laws
  • housing assistance resources
  • challenges related to affordable housing and much more!

Our goal is to strengthen community connections while engaging in discussions around community needs. Housing Matters Forums will be hosted quarterly with topics driven by community interest.

Past Meetings

OCTOBER 14, 2021: Affordable Housing Financing

Download the Event Flyer | Presentation(PDF, 3MB)  | Meeting Recording

The October 14 Housing Matters Forum focused on Affordable Housing Financing.  The session delved into the “nuts and bolts” of financing affordable housing. This discussion included: 

  • Understanding technical financing terms
  • Operation and development budgets
  • Various types of financing used in Affordable Housing Development

The information was provided in an easy-to-understand format and highlighted a local example explaining the process. This topic was for anyone curious about what is involved in financing affordable housing.

OCTOBER 7: Housing Matters Community Meeting for Landlords and Property Owners

Download the Event Flyer | Presentation | Meeting Summary

The October 7 forum focused on Furthering Fair Housing and the experiences landlords and property owners face when providing affordable housing in Arlington County. This important discussion included:

  • Fair housing rights & impediments
  • County resources

OCTOBER 3: Housing Matters Community Meeting for Tenants and Residents

Download the Event Flyer | Presentation |Meeting Summary

The October 3 forum focused on housing discrimination resources and the experiences residents face finding and maintaining affordable housing in Arlington County. This important discussion included:

  • Know your fair housing rights
  • Rental subsidies
  • County resources

Housing Matters Community Meeting – June 20

The forum on Thursday, June 20 at the Department of Human Services focused on Property Maintenance including:

  • Tenant & landlord roles and responsibilities
  • Solutions for common maintenance issues
  • Navigating through County resources

The presentation  at the June 20 Forum on property maintenance included:

  • Housing Division  (Jorge Laura)– Tenant Roles and Responsibilities
  • Code Enforcement (Gary Greene) – County Property Maintenance Ordinance
  • Housing Assistance Bureau (Russell Young) – Housing Choice Voucher Program
  • Environmental Health (Mike Savannah) –   Pest control  and Rodent control
  • Bu-Gata (Saul Reyes)  – Tenant Outreach Services

Housing Matters Community Meeting – March 20

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Forum Highlights

Around 45 participants attended the first Housing Matters Forum and received an informative update on new legislation related to eviction prevention, heard about evictions in Arlington through the new Preventing Evictions in Arlington Report and learned about available resources in the County. Some presentation highlights are below:

  • County Board Member, Matt de Ferranti, opened the series about Arlington County’s commitment to affordable housing and its associated services supported by the Affordable Housing Master Plan.

     Arlington Eviction Report:

  • Melissa Bondi, Chair of the Continuum of Care, presented a report on Evictions that was prepared by the Housing Division. The report highlighted that of the seven large communities in Virginia where data is available, Arlington County boasts the lowest eviction rate in the state at 0.86% according to Princeton University Eviction lab study. Work remains to be done as recent available data indicates that on average, 50 evictions per month occur in Arlington.

     State Legislative Update:

  • Brian Gordon, Vice President, Government Affairs, Apartment and Office Building Association, provided updates on a recent legislative package aimed at reducing eviction rates in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
  • The bills will help provide opportunities for low-income renters to submit unpaid rent and fees prior to eviction judgement, require written leases with certain provisions, reduce the timeline for a tenant to receive a hearing in an eviction proceeding and reduce the number of legal actions a landlord may file in court.

     Know your rights and County resources:

  • DHS staff provided an overview of basic rights and responsibilities for both tenants and landlords common leases violations and access to eviction prevention resources in the community.
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