A letter to Richmond’s biggest landlord
Illustration by Liz DeFluri.
Natalie McEwan, Opinions and Humor Editor
VCU’s housing crisis has forced many students off campus, all while rents in the neighborhoods around VCU rise and landlords rent buildings in hazardous conditions. More than half of Richmond renters pay more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. I am just one of many students who live under property managers who refuse to do basic maintenance — a story all too common in Richmond.
If VCU wants to grow as a university in size, funding and prestige, they need to address the welfare of their students — and their students’ living conditions. They don’t just need to build more dormitories, they need to work with Richmond to hold landlords and property managers accountable.
I moved into an off-campus apartment in the Fan in May 2024. I — like many other VCU students — was charmed by the chance to live in an old, historic building. I knew maintenance issues were bound to happen, but I figured as long as I knew my rights in the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act, nothing could really go wrong.
Looking back, I want to laugh at my former self. The wooden rails on the third-floor balcony are so rotten they crumble under the slightest pressure, the fire escape is filled with loose, wobbly steps and the window in my bathroom is caulked half-open.
I have reported all of these to my property management company, Henry Briggs Realty. Each time, they claimed someone would come check on it. Some maintenance issues only got fixed after I sent emails citing legal code. Many maintenance issues took months and multiple emails to get fixed — if at all.
It was not until the ceiling caved in the lobby before winter break, until I went without heat for over a month during the coldest weeks in Richmond, that I realized just how unsafe my apartment had become. I learned a different kind of misery when I was under three blankets in January, shivering day and night, as I called them daily to fix my heat.
On the outside it looks beautiful — but look too closely at the layers of paint and you’ll notice years of decay.
My story is far from uncommon in Richmond. Ask a VCU student living off-campus and chances are they have their own landlord horror story. A quick Google reviews search into Pollard and Bagby, Dodson/Evernest, KRS Holdings and many other property management companies will yield horror stories you can hardly imagine. These companies are only one part of the problem, the other being the owners of the buildings.
Many of the properties managed by Richmond’s notorious slumlords are actually owned by individual investors, some not local to the city. When I searched city records, I learned my property was actually owned by a millionaire based in the Washington D.C. area, someone who likely has little understanding towards any of the hazards this apartment puts me in.
For VCU to help the housing crisis, they need to work with Richmond to hold landlords and property managers accountable. But in order to do that properly, VCU also needs to acknowledge its role as the biggest landlord in Richmond.
At the end of the day, a university is a business first. Peel back into many of the problems facing colleges today — from climbing tuition rates to grade inflation — and profit is the goal. Acquiring property helps VCU invest money which helps them develop the university further. However — many of the acquired properties sit empty. Many Richmonders and VCU students see VCU less as a benevolent institution and more as a money-hungry business treating Richmond like their personal Monopoly board.
In many ways, my time at VCU has been wonderful. That experience is due to the professors I learned from, the classes I took, the work I created and the people I met. But my time at VCU has also taught me that I cannot trust this institution to act with my best interests at heart.
So, as students, how can we look out for ourselves? We need a place to live. I don’t have many answers right now, but my biggest piece of advice is to get loud. Get annoying. Read reviews of your landlords online before signing a lease. Know the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act like the back of your hand. Keep a paper trail of maintenance neglect. Document everything. Get the court involved if you need to. Put pressure on our local politicians.
It’s time we stop letting Richmond landlords get away with laziness while we shell out money. It’s time VCU took action. Because mold, rotting wood, leaks and splintered floors have risks to our wellbeing — and even our lives.
