09/30/2026
This weekend, NVM members at Villages at West Laurel in Henrico welcomed Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg into their community. One of the residents, Lilia, moved in February 2025 paying $1,197. She found cockroaches the first day and reported them right away. Management took nearly two weeks to fumigate, then charged her $138 for a "special" fumigation. The roaches never left. She went months with a fridge that didn't cool and lost groceries. Today there's mold in her closet, a hole by the kitchen sink letting in odors and mosquitoes, and a stove with one working k**b. She requested every repair through the tenant portal. None have been fixed.
At renewal, her rent went to $1,400 before utilities, insurance, and pest control. She signed a 14-month lease because the shorter one came with an even bigger increase.
"Por necesidad seguimos aquí." We stay out of necessity.
Outside, residents showed us unrepaired potholes and streets with no crosswalks where their kids walk every day.
This is not a small landlord short on cash. Villages at West Laurel is a 503-unit property that sold for $98 million in 2022 to BlackRock, one of the largest investment firms in the world. It's held through an LLC and follows a common "value-add" model: buy older housing, raise the revenue it brings in, then hold for profit or refinance. Rents rise. Repairs don't happen.
When a global investment firm owns hundreds of units, renters aren't negotiating with a neighbor. They're up against a system built to produce returns. That's why Lilia and her community are fighting for a 3% cap on rent increases. Limits on excessive rent hikes keep housing fair, stable, and accountable to the people who live in it, not just those who invest in it. Housing is a home, not an asset class. 🏠
