Wedgewood tenants complain about mice, mold, and water outages
Residents of the Wedgewood Apartments in Annandale are increasingly fed up with their living conditions – and an unresponsive landlord.
Among the complaints: mice, bedbugs, water outages, broken pipes, flooding in laundry rooms, mold, rats by the dumpsters, crime, and speeding in the parking lot.
Concerned tenants have been working with staff from FACETS, the nonprofit that runs the Wedgewood Community Center, to work on a plan for improving communication with the landlord.
As a result, the property manager, Ivan Patino of the Edgewood Management Co., has agreed to meet with a tenant group once a month. The tenants are also planning to bring their complaints to Fairfax County officials.
The Wedgewood is an affordable housing community owned by the county’s Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
At a recent tenant meeting at the Wedgewood Community Center, one tenant, whom we’ll call K, said she’s caught several mice inside her apartment and suffered through two separate rounds of bedbug infestations.
When she complains, the landlord sends an exterminator, but that doesn’t do any good unless they treat the whole building. And the maintenance crew didn’t fix the holes in the walls, so the pests keep coming back.
The mice are disgusting, added another tenant. “I used to be afraid; now I’m used to them.” They come inside when it gets cold. Last winter she caught at least one on a glue sheet every day.
A tenant we’ll call S has heard “running noises in the walls that sound like the mice are having the Olympics in there.”
At a recent meeting with Patino, the tenants learned that a third-party exterminator is supposed to clear out the vermin twice a year.
At least once a month, there is no water in her apartment, K says. At one point this spring, a water outage lasted three days. She says the lights are always out in the hallway, creating a dangerous situation.
There is so much mold in her bathroom that members of her family have developed allergies, S said. When taking a shower, even with the door shut and the exhaust fan on, people are sneezing and getting itchy eyes.
Even though she cleans regularly with Clorox, she can’t get to the mold inside the walls and pipes.
She also said the maintenance people are rude and yell at tenants.
Related story: Squalid conditions at Fairmont Gardens aired in court
When a FACETS staff member reported that Patino said repairs are supposed to be done within 72 hours of a complaint, the tenants at the meeting laughed. “That’s a joke,” one of them said.
There used to be a security guard at the complex, another tenant said, but he was fired because he was sleeping in his car instead of patrolling the property. Meanwhile, the tenant said, cars are being stolen and broken into.
In response to tenants’ complaints about safety, Patino agreed to put in security cameras in November. It will be up to the county to approve a contractor.
Rents at the Wedgewood are below market rate and are based on household size and income.
Rent for a one-bedroom apartment at the Wedgewood starts at $1,192 a month. That compares to a starting rent of $1,589 for a one-bedroom unit at Fairmont Gardens and $1,536 at the Vistas of Annandale, both of which are market-rate apartments.
Related story: Tenants speak out against rat and bug-infested apartments
The Wedgewood property manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the property, said Fairfax County spokesperson Benjamin Boxer. That includes maintenance, budget oversight, and oversight of the onsite team to ensure occupancy and customer service goals are met.
The Fairfax County Rental Program oversees the asset management performance of the property, ensuring that the third-party management company meets its financial and resident services goals, Boxer said. County staff are expected to meet regularly with management and carry out physical inspections throughout the year.
Time for the wrecking ball.
Thank you Sharon Bulova for turning a nice, affordable, middle class residential community into a rat infested, molding, trash heap.
According to a link to a FairfaxCounty.gov webpage provided in this very informative article, “The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) is a separate political body from Fairfax County Government” and “The authority of the FCRHA is vested in 11 commissioners appointed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors – one representative from each supervisor district and two at-large representatives.”
Considering the fact the FCRHA is run by 11 people appointed by our elected Board of Supervisors, it is not a surprise the FCRHA is a slumlord.
I don’t have a high opinion of the current Board of Supervisors.
Fairfax County has for the most part become a one-party jurisdiction where the dominant party’s elected officials are increasingly fat, lazy, entitled, and likely corrupt, because they can do it and get away with it because they have no competition.
Even within the dominant party there is no competition.
Sharon Bulova “served” on the Board of Supervisors for a little over 30 years and she has a government palace named to honor her: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/community-services-board/sharon-bulova-center-community-health.
We all know Penny Gross is going to have a government palace (probably in Bailey’s Crossroads, but I am rooting for Seven Corners) named for her before she is done.
Wedgewood Apartments should be renamed in the name of the Supervisor of the District in which it is located to “honor” the work of that Supervisor.
Maybe THAT would light a fire under the collective you know what of our exalted Board of Supervisors.
This has been going on for years. I lived there about 7 years ago and broke the lease due to bed bug infestation. Management and staff were rude, I complained to Fairfax County and was released from my lease with no penalties; however, I see nothing has been resolved! What a shame.
This is unfortunate for the residents. Some of the problems the residents experience have spilled over to the residential neighberhood( anndanle terrace neighberhood). My back yard backs into the Wedgewood Apartments. There are days that we can smell the dumpsters. We have had our cars broken into multiple times. We have had rodent come into our home!!!
The problem has been that many of the maintenance workers have left fir better paying jobs, and have not been replaced.. the r good , old ones that are left,are simply overworked, and the new ones that they hire, are inexperienced and not very good at what they are doing . In addition I gear, they have bought 2 new complexes , that these workers here have to attend to. And if you need them ,you can never find them . The manager Ivan Patino , is NEVER at his office , and one can never reach him or find him . You always have to leave a message , which is never returned. I understand that he had to work and deal also with those other properties . The receptionist is rude , and if you call at 4:40 PM,they never answer, or if they do, they hang up on you and put on a recoding ,stating they are busy and to call later. Our propert has been falling apart ever since Fairfax county took over.
They hire people like bug exterminators , not because they are good, but cheap , no wonder nothing changes,.
We used to have some individuals that when they move here , they brought bedbugs with them. They had to get rid of furniture, clean,disinfectclotes, put them in plastic bags outside in the balcony and a complete job was done to get rid of them . Now they do everything superficially , and the problem continues. They need to do a complete change, starting with the manager, staff, contractors they hire , ad hire and pay more,so that talented people stay and do a much better job.
I am writing to formally escalate serious and ongoing maintenance and safety concerns in my apartment at Wedgewood Apartments, Annandale, Virginia.
I live in this apartment with my wife and our two young children, ages two and four. We have repeatedly contacted the Wedgewood Apartments leasing office regarding maintenance problems, but our requests have frequently been delayed or have not resulted in the problems being properly resolved.
Over time, these maintenance issues have included air-conditioning problems, mold, water leaks, toilet-flushing problems, and deterioration and mold on the ceiling. At this time, however, we are facing particularly serious conditions that require immediate intervention above the leasing-office level.
1. Severe and Uncontrolled Water Leak
We have been reporting a water leak from our ceiling for more than a month. We have repeatedly gone to the leasing office in person and informed staff about the problem. Each time, we have been told that maintenance would come and fix it. However, maintenance either did not arrive, or someone came but did not actually resolve the underlying problem.
Beginning on September 7, 2026, the situation became dramatically worse. Water began pouring from the ceiling in such a significant amount that we have had to clean up the leaking water approximately every 30 minutes.
Between approximately 8:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. that night, we called the emergency maintenance line six times. A maintenance employee finally arrived at approximately 1:40 a.m. He told us that he could not fix the problem because the source of the leak was coming from an upper floor and that maintenance would return the following day.
Because the water continued leaking throughout the night, my wife had to sleep on the couch so that she could wake up approximately every 30 minutes to clean up the water and try to prevent further damage.
On September 8, we went to the leasing office three additional times to report the continuing emergency. Again, we were told that the problem would be fixed. At approximately 4:00 p.m., a maintenance employee came to our apartment and told us that the source appeared to be on the third floor and that they would try to fix it. However, as of the time of this complaint, we have not seen the necessary repair work begin.
The situation has disrupted our lives significantly. I was unable to go to work today because I needed to deal with the continuing leak and protect our belongings and apartment from additional water damage.
There is now visible mold on the ceiling and walls, and the carpet has begun to develop an unpleasant smell as a result of the continuing moisture.
2. Potential Gas Leak / Unusual Smell in the Kitchen
We have also reported an unusual smell in our kitchen that we are concerned could potentially be related to a gas leak. We informed the leasing office about this concern, but as of the time of this letter, no appropriate action has been taken to investigate the source of the smell.
Given that my wife and I live here with two very young children, I consider any possible gas-related issue an urgent safety concern that should be investigated immediately.
Requested Immediate Action
1. The source of the ceiling leak be identified and permanently repaired as an emergency matter.
2. The affected ceiling, walls, carpet, and other water-damaged areas be professionally inspected and appropriately repaired.
3. The visible mold and moisture be properly evaluated and remediated rather than simply covered or painted over.
4. The unusual smell in the kitchen be immediately investigated by an appropriately qualified person to determine whether there is a gas leak or another safety hazard.
5. Our apartment be evaluated to determine whether it is safe and habitable for my family, particularly our two young children.
6. We receive written confirmation of the actions management will take and the expected timeline for completing the necessary repairs.
We have made repeated good-faith efforts to resolve these matters directly with the Wedgewood Apartments leasing office and maintenance staff. Unfortunately, those efforts have not resulted in timely or permanent solutions.
Because of the seriousness and duration of these conditions, I am now formally escalating this complaint beyond the leasing office. I am copying the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA), the Fairfax County Tenant-Landlord Commission/Consumer Affairs Branch, and the Fairfax County Department of Code Compliance (DCC) so that the appropriate County authorities are aware of the unresolved conditions and can provide assistance, mediation, inspection, or investigation as appropriate.
The continuing water intrusion, visible mold, deteriorating ceiling and walls, affected carpet, and possible gas-related concern are no longer routine maintenance matters. They raise serious concerns regarding the safety and condition of our home.
My primary concern is the health and safety of my children and family. We should not have to spend our days and nights repeatedly cleaning water from the apartment while waiting for a serious maintenance problem to be addressed.
Please treat this letter as a formal written complaint and request for immediate intervention. I respectfully request a prompt written response explaining what actions will be taken, when the work will begin, and when the repairs and safety inspections will be completed.
I also request that this complaint, along with our previous maintenance requests and communications regarding these issues, be preserved as part of the property’s records.
If these serious conditions are not addressed promptly, I will continue seeking assistance from the appropriate Fairfax County agencies and other available tenant-protection resources.
I sincerely hope that further escalation will not be necessary and that management will take immediate action to provide my family with a safe and properly maintained home.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
That suspected gas leak could be deadly–please leave your apartment and call 911 right away!!