Photo by PoPville flickr user johnmcochran2012
Dear PoPville,
We live in a small building (about 20 units) between Adams Morgan and U Street. The landlord was very nice to us when we moved in and takes real pride in his units, which are being 100% renovated as tenants move out (ours is completely brand new). Our rent is very reasonable for the area, space, and amenities (brand new appliances, working wood fireplace, etc.) and we like living there.
However, our landlord does not allow bikes in the building (he says they have damaged walls/hallway fixtures in the past and is tired of dealing with it) and recently posted a sign saying that all apartments would be subject to routine inspection tomorrow. Someone will enter our apartment from 9:30-12:30. There is no reason listed on the sign for the inspection.
We have read our lease and there is a clause the the landlord can enter units during an emergency to do inspection and can do regular inspections when giving notice. This seems standard for a lease, but I suppose that we’ve never actually seen this acted upon outside of situations that call for it–broken pipes, etc. What could he hope to gain other than making all of his residents feel like residents of a live-in prison?