Prince William, Manassas, M. Park all prohibit apartments in homes

Christina Cimino and Jes­sica Chaer recently found them­selves in a jam for a place to live. They were renting a one-bed­room apartment in Manassas Park that turned out to be ille­gal.

The apartment was in a sub­divided house, which is against zoning ordinances in Manassas Park, City Attorney Dean Crow­hurst said. “The short answer is you’re not allowed to subdivide your house for a lot of reasons, but the key one is that the building that goes on is not approved by the build­ing inspector,” Crowhurst said.

Safety is another factor, he said.

“A lot of times the way they have them set up, it’s difficult for firefighters to get in there and rescue the tenants,” he said of the subdivided apartments.

Zoning officials in Manas­sas Park found out about the apartment in the house at 170 Scott Drive through prior con­tact with Cimino, according to Manassas Park Zoning Admin­istrator Vanessa Watson.

The homeowner, Yi Lui H. Hui, who goes by the name An­nie Liu, hired attorney David McKennett of Coon and Pur­nell in Manassas to represent her when Chaer and Cimino wouldn’t leave the apartment after Liu issued an eviction notice in October.

Liu advised the renters of the eviction after she received a let­ter from Watson on Oct. 18 stat­ing that subdividing her house put her in violation of city zon­ing ordinances.

Chaer and Cimino said they received legal advice from an attorney that led them to be­lieve that they didn’t have to leave the apartment until legal proceedings were completed.

They had asked Liu to return their $700 security deposit. 

Chaer and Cimino said they were also advised that they shouldn’t pay the rent on a lease that was illegal by the zoning ordinance. 

Emails that became ever more strident flew between Liu and her tenants until Jan. 20, when all parties stood before Judge Wenda Travers in Prince William General District Court. 

Travers ruled that Cimino and Chaer had received benefit of living in the apartment for the time between October and January and that they owed Liu $1,156, which roughly equalled the rent for that time minus the security deposit. 

Chaer and Cimino said they would have vacated the apartment earlier if Liu had simply returned the security deposit. 

McKennett said Travers made the only decision possible. 

“There wasn’t really that much to be fought over legally. It was a very simple matter. Judge Travers made really the only legally appropriate decision, and I think she tried really hard to make it an equitable decision,” McKennett said. 

After their court appearance, Cimino called the situation “rough” and Chaer said she’s going to be careful about where she rents from now on. 

“Even though it’s the homeowner who should know what they can and can’t do to their house, you need to double check because you’re going to be the one hurt in the long run,” said Chaer, who works in customer service at a local grocery store. 

“It’s not a good situation and we hope no one else has to go through it,” Cimino said. 

Crowhurst said the city holds homeowners responsible for zoning violations such as subdividing a house. 

“We cite the landlord. As far as we’re concerned, the owner of the property is responsible for maintaining the single-family dwelling,” he said. 

“The problem in Manassas Park is that people are doing this and they’re not contacting city officials, so they don’t know what the law is and they put themselves in this position.” 

Crowhurst said any contract between homeowners and tenants needs to be settled by the two parties; the city doesn’t get involved in those disputes. 

McKennett said Liu didn’t know she was in violation of city code. 

“She certainly had no idea that there was any type of issue with zoning or anything along those lines. Neither party did, I’m sure. No one really knew the law when they went into this lease,” he said. 

McKennett said Liu will return the house to its original condition. 

“She will take down the partition and return it to a single family use,” he said. 

According to zoning officials in Prince William County and Manassas, subdividing houses is illegal in those jurisdictions as well. Crowhurst said he suspects that there are more code violations, but city officials can’t go around “kicking in doors” to find the violators. 

Watson said the city zoning office usually finds out about subdivided houses through tips from neighbors. 

Senior reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.