Have a Concern? | Albemarle County, VA

If you have a concern about a building, stormwater/engineering, or zoning code violation within Albemarle County, you may make a complaint through the form below, call the County's Complaint Hotline at anytime, or make an in-person concern at Community Development. Both the Hotline and Code Violation Concern Form are monitored by staff during business hours.

Should I File an official Concern?

Life-safety issues should be reported immediately to 911.

If you have a concern about events taking place right now, such as littering, illegal dumping, or loose animals or livestock, please dial 434-977-9041 to notify the Police Department.

The Police Department also handles concerns regarding abandoned, unattended, or inoperable vehicles on public property (including streets), whereas Code Enforcement handles these types of concerns regarding vehicles on private property.

For a noise ordinance complaint after 5pm, file a police report.

HOW TO SUBMIT an official concern?

To register a complaint, submit:

The location of the violation (either by street address or by tax map and parcel number)
A brief description of your complaint
Your contact information (whether you submit your complaint in confidence or not)

If you register your complaint in confidence (available for certain complaints), your contact information will not be disclosed to anyone. However, a complaint registered without contact information cannot be investigated.

Report a Concern

To receive a copy of your submission, please fill out your email address below and submit.
Email Address

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What Happens After I submit?

Voluntary compliance is the County’s ultimate goal and many properties come into compliance in a relatively short period of time. However, it may take months, even years for a parcel to become compliant. This is largely due to the nature of the violation and the willingness of the property owner to cooperate. Here is a brief example of the process:

County staff will process your complaint in the order it was received, or refer it to the department responsible for handling the issue. County staff will make a thorough investigation of the complaint.
If a violation does exist, every effort is made to work with the property owner.
If the owner is not cooperative, they will receive a Notice of Violation letter with a deadline for compliance.
If significant progress toward compliance is not made, the County will begin legal action.
a. Fines for non-compliance of Zoning Violations are $200 for the first penalty and $500 for each additional penalty. Penalties may be filed as often as every 10 days until compliance is achieved.