“Dear PoPville,

I am hoping the community might be able to help with a question. Our apartment building has a significant bed bug outbreak that has spread to multiple units on different floors. It is leading the building to ask residents to take (understandably) drastic measures while treatment occurs. However, Read More

“Dear PoPville,

My apartment building just got new management (went from Highmark to Greystar) and a few days after Greystar came on, the trash compactor broke. This was on November 3. Since then, the compactor has not been fixed, the trash chutes remain clogged to the top of the building (10 stories), and Read More

“Dear PoPville,

I’ve lived in an apartment in Capitol Hill for a year and a half. The apartment uses an allocation method to calculate water/sewer, which is “50% occupancy 50% unit square feet.” My bill has consistently been about $20 for water and $40 for sewer. For September, I received a water bill for $90 and sewer bill for $156 – 4 times the usual amount.

What protections do tenants have against outrageous increases when allocation methods are used? Read More

From a press release:

“Community leaders are gathering Saturday, Sept. 23rd to launch a campaign for Ridgecrest Condominiums in Washington, DC’s Ward 7. It was condemned last year and the low-income owners were issued an order to vacate due to the unsafe conditions. However, many of them are still unmoved.

Instead, the Ridgecrest residents continue to appeal to their Condominium Association and have resorted to fundraising above the cost of the condo fees they already pay, in order to contract the needed repairs themselves. Read More

“Dear PoPville,

My building is being sold to Frank Emmet Property Management. Does anyone know how they are as property managers? My building is currently rent-controlled.

Thank you!!”

photo by Emma K Alexandra

“Dear PoPville,

Last month, my neighbors and I were notified that our building was under contract with a new buyer. This kicked off the Tenants Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which is a months-long process where tenants have the chance to form a tenant’s association in order to purchase the building themselves, find a different buyer, or negotiate specific terms with the new buyer (ex: rent concessions, a buyout to move, repairs etc). Read More

“Dear PoPville,

There’s a new package fiasco at Camden NoMa following last summer’s Flats130 Package Debacle. We received notice that in the coming months, all 700+ resident’s packages will be stored in a self-serve room on one side of the building. We will not be able to access the room with our key fob, only an app (Chirp). Read More

“Dear PoPville,

I ran laundry today in Dupont. In my building that I already pay 1700 for a studio. Excuse me? A month ago this was $3. No way that two loads of laundry is now $16 in an apartment that I pay $500 more than I paid last year to live in, with no improvements.

Update, my building responded with the following message…. Read More

“Dear PoPville,

I’m currently apartment hunting in NW DC and I’m seeing something new to me. One rather large apartment building (425 Mass) claimed that the utilities which they bill for monthly, which includes water/sewer/boiler costs, total around $180 per month. I have never heard of a boiler fee personally, and in my experience water and sewer on the high end would cost maybe as high as $60 at the rate I’ve traditionally used water. Read More

“Dear PoPville,

I have been renting an apartment that uses third-party billing (Conservice) to manage the building’s utility fees for several years. I recently moved out to my own place and I added someone to my lease so that she could take over, but there was a one-week gap between me moving out and her moving in. I’m a foreigner and I didn’t know that utilities need to be in the residents’ name at all times, so now I have received a Conservice bill of US$75 for this period (US$50 “vacant service fee” and US$25 “vacant electric fee”). Is this legal? Read More