Fairmont Gardens tenant is fighting eviction
Fairmont Gardens tenant Zahid Khan says he’s being evicted because he filed a complaint with Fairfax County about the unsanitary and unsafe conditions at the Annandale apartment complex.
He’s fighting the eviction in court.
Shortly after Khan moved in just over a year ago, he was disgusted by the constant stream of mice in his apartment. While the landlord, the Donaldson company, sent an exterminator, they failed to patch up holes in the walls where the rodents were getting in.
“Every day there are three or four mice,” he says.
When Khan saw a mouse sitting next to him on the couch while he was watching TV, he had enough. So he submitted a complaint to the Fairfax County Department of Code Compliance.
An employee in the Fairmont Gardens office later told him he shouldn’t have done that because “the manager will kick you out. They will find an excuse,” Khan recalled.
Meanwhile, every time he used the shower, water leaked into the apartment below. The lady who lives downstairs constantly knocked on Khan’s door to complain. The leak was eventually fixed.
Then, last spring, when that tenant got into an argument with Khan’s fiancé, the tenant complained to the police that the fiancé threatened her with a gun. “That was a lie,” he said. “There was no gun. The police didn’t arrest anyone.”
On July 31, Donaldson terminated Khan’s lease for “non-remediable breach of lease,” citing that incident. “That is why they are evicting us; it’s an excuse. It’s because I complained to the county.”
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Khan believes management “is afraid the county would shut down the place.” He says Donaldson doesn’t maintain the property because so many tenants are undocumented and don’t complain.
He says he’s always paid his rent on time, but because he didn’t renew his lease when it expired, he’s being charged an extra $350 a month for a month-to-month lease for a total of $2,300 for a one-bedroom apartment.
“Why should I renew when they’re going to evict me?” he says. He’s now in the process of finding an attorney to challenge the eviction in court. “I want to leave on my own terms. I don’t want to have an eviction on my record.”
“It’s a very trashy place,” says Khan, an officer with the Metro Special Police Department in D.C. “This place is very dangerous. It’s unsafe living here. It should be shut down.”
Rodent and cockroach infestations are just one of the problems Khan deals with at Fairmont Gardens.
There hasn’t been hot water in his building since Thanksgiving. People knock on his door all the time because the former tenant was a drug dealer.
He often sees people doing drugs, usually fentanyl, in the stairwell. Several months ago, a police SWAT unit arrested six or seven people for drugs in another building.
Two weeks ago, he heard gunshots, and he recently observed a police officer with a man lying on the grass experiencing an overdose.
In June, a 14-year-old was fatally shot at Fairmont Gardens and his companion was seriously injured. Two other teens were later arrested. The shooting happened close to Khan’s parking space.
Donaldson installed security cameras a few months ago, “but they don’t share the recordings with anyone,” he says.
A couple of months ago, Khan saw a man looking through the windows of his parked car. The man ran away when confronted.
He’s also heard reports about employees from the towing company contracted by Donaldson who were stealing items from residents’ cars.
“Management doesn’t care,” he said. “They know the undocumented won’t call the police.”
17 responses to “Fairmont Gardens tenant is fighting eviction”
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I pray Mr. Khan finds an amazing attorney as well as a safer place to live!! Good for you Mr. Khan for standing up to them!! I wish you well in your fight!!
Absolutely despicable and disgusting seeing the conditions in Mr Khan’s bathroom. If there is something wrong call Fairfax County Housing authority and complain and complain until they fix the problem. I do it all the time, in my Wedgewood apartment, and eventually everything is done, that I ask for. Do not feel intimidated. Your manager sounds just like a criminal bully. Tenants should be treated with respect and decency.
Good luck, Mr. Khan. I would settle of just having the eviction off my record. That place needs to be bulldozed and most of the residents deported. Leave and never look back!
You’re absolutely right!
If you just moved out when you were first served paperwork for the eviction, it would not be on your record if it never makes it to court.
Although the place is disgusting the Property Management company is doing everything they legally are allowed to.
I lived in Fairmont Gardens for three months back in 2020 through a nonprofit housing program because of the inhabitable conditions which were many, including the mice. The program was able to completely break their leasing contract with the landlord company and was able to move all the program tenants out of the community into other areas of the county. This has been an ongoing problem for multiple years and it’s just not in Fairmont Gardens with mice. It’s with all the housing apartments in that area Little River run Wedgewood, the parliament all have mice problems and that’s the least of some of the issues. Currently they’re major discrimination issues and concerns with the property across the street Little River run discriminating against all of the tenants in the community that are low income or in a housing program I currently have a investigation going on with fair housing and HUD on Little River run
Should residents have tenant-landlord issues, Fairfax County has a dedicated team of consumer specialists who provide mediation services. Please contact the Fairfax County Department of Consumer Affairs – we would be happy to assist with mediation of tenant-landlord matters. https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/cableconsumer/csd/consumer
..hopefully anyone having all those horrible issue w/that pathetic place contacts the # & info U provided.. when U pay that much in rent & haf2 share yr place w/Mickey-mouse & Ratso-Rizzo, it’s time to do more than complain! That awful ‘manager’ (who only manages to avoid responsibility!) needs 2B charged for multiple reasons! Wish that whole complex wz gone.. we live nearby & that place has a horrible reputation & gives me the creeps! 😖
I hope Mr. Khan can move out soon. He deserves better than that dump. I agree with him that it should be shut down, the sooner the better.
Fairmount gardens needs to be shut down seems like the manager needs to be criminally investigated. As so for illegal immigrant bye bye Trump is in office soon . As for the unit below bothering his fiancée , she should be criminally charged for false allegations and harassment. Mr. Khan if I were I would sue this Fairmount gardens and make the person who harassed your fiancée goes to jail along with Management.
Mr. Khan, we lived in Fairmont Garden nearly 30 years ago, and even back then the place was infested with mice. We couldn’t even make it through a year before we had to move out due to the poor conditions and the mismanagement of the property. I truly commend you for standing up for yourself and others. The place absolutely needs to be shut down, and you deserve to be compensated for everything you’ve endured. Kudos to you for bringing this to the attention of Fairfax County.
Ohh , I know Officer khan very nice guy also his family live around Fairmont garden & they are very angry. His family members can finish the job what khan cannot do . Fairmount garden management are whole bunch of blackmailers but this time they mess with wrong guy . Officer khan knows people in high places . This Monday he is meeting up with news media at his house to share evidence about Mangement to show more videos . Good luck khan I hope everything goes well with you .
Good luck
Residents can file through HUD any complaints they may have with a statement and evidence.
You can file a complaint with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by email at [email protected]. You can also file a complaint by: mail, telephone, and online.
Assistant Secretary Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
US Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20410
Complaint Questionnaire: https://portalapps.hud.gov/FHEO903/Form903/Form903Start.action?lang=en
There are so many run-down apartment complexes in the Mason District now. I know the county leadership doesn’t want to see low-income families evicted and without options, but at what point do these decaying properties along Little River Turnpike, as well as in Seven Corners and Culmore, get condemned and torn down? The location is good, but it desperately needs to be redeveloped.
Management needs to go be replaced. With someone who takes her job more seriously not threatened by other females. As for the unit making false allegations and harassing they should be evicted too. It takes two to tango. False allegations in this day and age can you get a lawsuit. Especially the management is responsible
Incorrect. Needs to be razed. Owners much more at fault than managers.
That place is trash. Mass deportation is about to arrive soon. Fairmount Gardens needs to be destroyed. The fact the junkies are still on property and security doesn’t care. It’s coming soon. As for the tenant keep harassing your fiancée they need to be kicked out too. You can’t go knock on peoples door when you have issues. Red flag management. Clearly they must have low confidence and insecurity issues too. Mr. khan if I were you I would file a defamation lawsuit against them, discrimination and more speak to a legal team and sue.