Many elderly and disabled people who live in The Carlin, a subsidized apartment building near Ballston Mall in Arlington, have been complaining for months that they’re being threatened and harrassed by management (See “Not-so-golden years in Arlington” below). Another resident, who’s lived in The Carlin for four years, recently called to tell me that living in one of Arlington’s much-heralded affordable housing complexes often feels like prison.
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The manager refused to allow the woman’s 12-year-old granddaughter to stay overnight with her on Christmas Eve, which led to tears of frustration for both of them. Rules to prevent guests from moving in permanently limit them to 14 overnights per year, and the tenant admits her granddaughter had already maxed out her visitations. But she made a good point when she noted: “I could have gone across the street and brought a different man home evey night and it would not be against the rules.” Some rules.
She might have gotten a special exception were it not for the fact that she had befriended a fellow Carlin resident who’s been repeatedly harrassed and threatened with eviction. Despite her poor health, she’s been forced to go to court to defend herself on more than one occasion.
Federal law does not allow recipients of Section 8 housing vouchers to evict disabled tenants without cause, yet this poor woman lives in constant fear of being put out on the street. For all the taxes Arlington residents pay, you’d think somebody in the vast county bureaucracy would stick up for her. But they all apparently have better things to do.
