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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A new city website helping renters navigate mold problems in their homes is live at alexandriava.gov/Mold. Alexandria just hadn't told anyone about it yet — until Tuesday night.
During the City Council's July 1 public hearing, Natalie Tallis, the Alexandria Health Department's population health manager, presented the site as part of a broader Healthy Homes update, then acknowledged the obvious.
"It's been in soft launch, although by talking about it today, it is out," Tallis said.
The site walks tenants through a three-step process — report to the landlord in writing, file a complaint with Alex311, and pursue legal action if needed. The centerpiece for many renters will be a set of four fill-in-the-blank template letters developed by the city's Healthy Homes Network: one for reporting visible mold, one for suspected mold based on odor or humidity, one for following up to ask what remediation was actually done, and one for when mold keeps coming back after a landlord claims to have fixed it. Each template is grounded in the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and cites the specific code section — § 55.1-1220(A)(5) — that requires landlords to prevent moisture accumulation and remediate visible mold.
The site also includes a plain-language summary of what Virginia law requires of landlords: respond to complaints within 10 to 15 days, cover remediation costs (unless the tenant caused the problem), and pay for temporary housing of up to 30 days if a unit becomes uninhabitable. It links to free legal resources through Legal Services of Northern Virginia and the Alexandria Bar Association, and makes clear that retaliating against a tenant who files a complaint — through threatened eviction or a rent increase — is illegal.
One thing the site is explicit about: the city's Code Administration office will inspect for sources of water intrusion but will not test for mold. That distinction matters. When the Health Department began developing the strategy, Tallis said, it ran into a wall of myths.
"There's a ton of misinformation when it comes to mold in our community, including residents feeling as though they had to pay for tests themselves to get things done before their landlords were willing to act," she said.
The mold strategy itself came from residents, not staff. Alexandria's second Healthy Homes Action Plan, released last spring, identified mold as the top priority, and the approach was shaped by residents who had lived with the problem. The new Alex311 mold-and-moisture complaint category — previously bundled under general landlord-tenant complaints — has drawn 14 requests in its first two months without any public promotion.
Councilwoman Jacinta Greene said she welcomed the update. "I was truly excited to see that there was going to be an update on Healthy Homes," she said. "I think that would truly help residents in reporting the issues that are happening and getting faster help with remediation." She added that she planned to advocate for continued Healthy Homes funding in the next budget cycle.
But Tuesday's Council presentation is not the official launch. Tallis said the city has been testing the site with community partners and working through feedback before going public in a bigger way. "We didn't do a big splashy release yet," she said, adding that once the interagency mold playbook is complete and staff are trained on it, "we are excited to do a big formal splashy launch of this mold effort."
That playbook — being developed with the National Center for Healthy Housing using Virginia Department of Health ARPA funds — is intended to standardize how multiple city agencies respond when a complaint comes in. Right now, someone calling 311 might get different guidance than someone contacting an agency directly or reaching out to a Council office. The playbook will give code inspectors in the field consistent checklists and language, and will include guidance for property managers on treating the root causes of moisture.
"If you just clean it, it will come back unless you fix the issues," Tallis said.
The mold work is also serving as a model. The Health Department said it's now forming a pest workgroup — focused on insects and rodents — applying the same data-driven and community education approach to a new problem.
Residents with asthma or COPD aggravated by indoor conditions can apply for ALX Breathes, a free city program in which bilingual community health workers make in-home visits to help manage triggers. The program has served more than 50 families and has documented reductions in missed work days, missed school days, and ER visits. There is no waitlist; Tallis said the department can typically reach new applicants within a week. Apply at alexandriava.gov/Mold or call 703-746-4988.
