Opinion: How Virginia Failed My Family and Why It Matters to You
By Marty Driffill
I lived in New Jersey during the housing crash of 2008. The taxes kept climbing and the economy was unstable and so I started considering a move out of state. Friends who had relocated to Virginia spoke highly of it, and I decided to explore the possibility.
At the time, I assumed any move would take years to plan if it happened at all. But in April 2010, less than three months after expressing the idea at work, I had a relocation offer in hand.
I’ll never forget our first drive through Woodlake, a community in Midlothian, Virginia, where we had rented a home online without ever visiting. A well-maintained center lane, lined with trees, stretched through the neighborhood entrance. As we drove through, my wife and two daughters were thrilled. It was a beautiful moment for our family.
Woodlake sits alongside the Swift Creek Reservoir, a body of water the size of a small lake. We often walked there, just taking it all in. I will always appreciate those times.
A Move for More Space Leads to Regret
After two years in Woodlake, we moved to Glen Allen, a suburb about 30 minutes away in Henrico County. It was more convenient for work and daily life. A few years and a surprise third child later, we had outgrown our home.
At first, we considered expanding the house. Then, we looked at larger existing homes. That’s when we learned about a new development called Rountrey, located on the opposite side of the Swift Creek Reservoir. The idea of returning to the water appealed to us, and building new seemed like a smart way to avoid the maintenance and repair costs of an older home.
Homeownership: The Cornerstone of the American Dream
I’ve spent the past four and a half years regretting the trust I placed in Virginia’s institutions. But my trust wasn’t misplaced in its citizens. I have met incredible people, open and kind. The small businesses I have come to know have been fantastic. The community was welcoming.
I assumed Virginia protected consumer rights, especially when it came to something as critical as homeownership, the cornerstone of the American Dream. But that assumption was very wrong. The goodwill built by Virginia’s people has been exhausted by its donor-backed political and regulatory system.
The tax savings of leaving New Jersey? Gone. Every cent – and more – has been swallowed by repair and remediation costs for my new home.
We filed a lawsuit against our builder in fall 2022 almost two years after moving in. Nearly two and a half years later, we still don’t have a firm date for arbitration, now possibly set for May 2025. Our legal costs to date? $200,000.
The System Was Built to Fail Homeowners
Almost 3 years ago, my wife had heard from a neighbor that there was a regulatory board for contractors.
We turned to Virginia’s Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR).
For over a year, we submitted evidence: third-party inspection reports, photographs, videos, emails, roughly 500 documents. We provided both digital and hard copies by mail. Yet when DPOR reached its final decision, they omitted all of it.
The ruling? No violation.
The reason? “Lack of evidence.”
It was absurd. But at least the investigator’s findings became public record. Ironically, that documentation strengthened our case, proving that we had been ignored at every level.
The Break Down
When I break down our situation, it sounds unbelievable, even to me. It defies logic that multiple agencies could repeatedly ignore blatant code violations and contract breaches.
I once thought Virginia’s system would, at some point, self-correct. Even in a loosely regulated state, you can’t let disasters stand and maintain those loose regulations.
But they did. Repeatedly. At multiple levels.
Silence Protects the Powerful
Early on, people warned me not to name our builder.
“They’ll sue you,” they said.
Think about that. A corporation violates a contract, a homeowner gathers proof, yet the homeowner is the one who risks legal action for speaking out.
And here’s what’s worse: because of Virginia’s support of arbitration clauses even in cases of possible fraud, I will never have a jury trial. No matter how many contract breaches I prove, I’ll never have my case heard by a jury of my peers.
Silence creates a space for wrongs to exist. It prevents informed choice because information is hidden. It’s essentially a contract that says you agree with injustice. I can’t sign that.
A Generation Tired of Excuses
I’m Gen X.
We grew up watching authority figures, ok I’ll say it, our boomer parents, make excuses for their failures, and we learned to ask follow-up questions. When you press for details, excuses fall apart fast.
For too long, many of us have carried a quiet, ingrained belief that we don’t deserve better or that we shouldn’t expect what we were promised or paid for. That mindset is wrong.
We should work hard and earn what we get, but when we do earn it, we should actually receive it.
Enough.
I’m done chasing spokesmodels for broken institutions who offer scripted answers that loop to nowhere.
And I refuse to waste time on manufactured outrage that keeps Americans divided while politicians profit from our distractions.
If we can live side by side despite different beliefs and different life experiences, we can come together objectively and craft policies that are fair and just for everyone.
We Are Not the Problem. The System Is.
My family did everything right.
We followed the rules. We trusted the system. We are not the cause of these problems.
Yet not only did the system fail us, it actively profited from our hardship. And I can only imagine how many thousands of families in Virginia have similar stories.
When we tried escalating our concerns, my family was placed on a constituent tracker. We only know some of what was said about us by state leadership as the FOIA documents were heavily redacted.
Not one public official has reached out to support us.
Not one has offered to listen.
That tells me everything I need to know about the intent of a constituent tracker.
But we’re not stopping.
We will continue telling our story, and now, the stories of others.
We will always publish the evidence. We will include names, dates, and documents. And until Virginia publicly challenges the First Amendment, our website will stand.
Thank you for listening.
—Marty