The residents of an Arlandria apartment complex are suffering from a long-standing rat problem so severe, they are reluctant let their children in their backyards.

City Council members questioned Code Enforcement Director John Catlett this week after seeing what Councilman Rob Krupicka called “dramatic” pictures of yards and trash bins overrun with rat holes at the 398-unit Presidential Greens apartment complex in the neighborhood between Arlington County and Alexandria.