Today’s Rental has “a Front as well as Rear Entry”

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by Prince Of Petworth May 16, 2016 at 2:45 pm 12 Comments

1352 C Street Southeast

This rental is located at 1352 C Street, Southeast. The listing says:

“Meticulously maintained Condo in Capitol Hill, Kitchen includes New Granite Counters, Cherry Cabinets & Ceramic Tiled Floors, Unit has a Front as well as Rear Entry w/Private Yard, Just steps to Parking Spot, Ample Off Street Parking, Minutes to Grocery Store & Metro PLEASE CALL BEFORE SHOWING Minimum Lease Term is 2 Years**”

rental

You can see more photos here.

This 2 bed/2 bath is going for $2,400/Mo.

ET

This is right down the street from me! It was on what was back before I moved into my house at the end of 1999 the notorious Kentucky Courts housing project. This is about a block away from a Safeway, about 3 from a Harris Teeter, and one from the Pretzel Bakery. Just south of Lincoln Park and if someone has a car it is a good location for getting on the highways when there are closures for races.

Price seems OK.
textdoc

“Minimum lease term is 2 years” — Is that even legal in D.C.?
- Anon Spock
  
  I cannot think of any provision off the top of my head that governs lease minimums.
- GiantSquid
  
  In my copious reading of DC Tenant laws, I think they can only hold you to the first year. After that, it defaults to month-to-month. You can’t be forced to sign another full year lease.
  - textdoc
    
    Right — that was my impression too.
    .
    I’d think the landlord could accomplish the same goal legally by offering the unit for $x/month with a 1-year lease, and a lower monthly amount for a 2-year lease.
    - Accountering
      
      Bingo… Or they just give you a $300/abatement/month if you resign a lease for 2nd year etc. This is sloppy on the LLs part, and not a good indication that he is going to be a good LL IMO.
- Anon
  
  Nope. There’s a statute of frauds problem. DC code prohibits term of longer than 1 year.
anon

I was under the impression that a one or two year lease was permissible in DC.

However, even if a 2 year lease isn’t enforceable, it doesn’t really matter to someone trying to rent the place for a year. If there is someone else who wants to sign a two year lease, the landlord can prefer them. Landlords can prefer certain tenants over others, so long as there isn’t a illegal discriminatory reason for doing so, and they do so all the time.
Pworth Rez

Mandatory two-year lease sounds like rear entry to me, not front.
- Accountering
  
  Haha. Well played sir.
Ally

Did no one else find the title of this slightly amusing?
textdoc

One of the photos shows the kitchen sink without a faucet, which I found very weird until I went back through the photos and confirmed that the other pics do in fact show a faucet. How odd.

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