Photo by PoPville flickr user ambyrglow
“Dear PoPville,
Seeking recommendations on home security systems.
This spring we’re planning to move from a condo into a house in DC and we’re wondering about home security systems. We’d like to keep costs down, but want a quality system. We’d be open to both self-installed (as long as not too complicated) and professionally installed. We like the idea of a couple video cameras as either part of the system or as a supplement. Any recommendations?”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Pablo Raw
“Dear PoPville,
After three and a half years together, my boyfriend and I recently started looking for an apartment – our first shared space! – around Lanier Heights to build a home in for the medium term. We were very charmed by a one-bedroom unit at the Argonne, a recently renovated interwar building at 1629 Columbia Road NW, listed on both third-party websites and management company CIM Urban Real Asset’s own site at $2198. After a showing during which the agent consistently repeated this same amount, we decided to move ahead with the application process.
$340 in fees later, a surprise came buried in some pre-lease documentation which CIM is required by law to provide: the official rent for the unit was recorded at $3267, a grand and change more than the number which had been represented to us. I did a little digging to find out what might be lurking here: fortunately, owing to an excellent set of online resources and firsthand accounts from people who have been taken advantage of (including a 2015 PoP post) I didn’t have to search long.
The rent discount/concession scam has gotten enough press in the last few years that I imagined CIM might show some flexibility if we ask specific, informed questions that showed we had no illusions about what was going on. Instead, we were met with dishonesty and misdirection. The agent told us that the $3267 was a “maximum rent” level supplied by the city, characterizing it is as a bureaucratic or bookkeeping device out of the company’s hands. The lease we were forwarded made it clear this was not the case: $3267 was, on any plain reading of the main lease and “Lease Addendum for Rent Concession or Other Rent Discount,” in fact the official rent for the unit, modified by a $1069 “discount” offered by the company as a discretionary “consideration for agreement to remain in your dwelling and fulfill lease obligations.”
Being neither rich nor stupid, and having read about the nightmares of others who’d lost money and homes to the concession scam, we made our case carefully. (more…)
Photo by PoPville flickr user fromcaliw/love
“Dear PoPville,
Do you by any chance know where to find the regulations for installing privacy fences in Petworth?
Height, type, which side the posts are to face?”
Photo by PoPville flickr user John Cochran
“Dear PoPville,
We just bought a 1920s rowhouse in Petworth/16th St Heights that still has a lot of its original character – including its internal walls, hallelujah! The previous homeowner lived there for almost 40 years and, while it has been lovingly maintained, it hasn’t really been updated or modernized except that at some point the sleeping porches on the back on both floors were enclosed. We’re interested in re-doing those enclosures properly, including adding a full bath to the top floor, a half-bath to the ground floor, and fully enclosing the basement space underneath the sleeping porches (which was never done) to make a laundry room.
We’d love referrals for design/build firms, architects, and/or general contractors you’d recommend who will respect the historic character of the home. Most of the renovations we’ve seen in person or found via google are in flipped houses, and we absolutely do not want to create a totally open-plan ground floor! If you’ve done something similar to what we’re hoping to do or have any suggestions for professionals to contact, we’d appreciate hearing from you!”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Claire Uziel
“Dear PoPville,
I was curious if anyone had any recommendations for getting a wing back chair reupholstered. The chair is in good shape – just needs new fabric. I received a quote for $480. If I am going to spend this much money I wanted to be sure I picked a reputable place. Any recommendations would be much appreciated!
Some background – the chair was my grandmothers and I wanted to update the fabric.”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Phil
“Dear PoPville,
A few years ago, our apartment complex in upper NW refreshed the exterior brickwork, and in the process permantly plugged the vents beneath our convectors, which were the only source of constant fresh air other than than a bathroom vent. This is an older 1950s-era building with closed-system heating and cooling in the apartments.
Obviously not a problem when the weather permits opening the windows, but what about the rest of the time? Does anyone know if DC has any regulations or guidelines about indoor air quality, or any other recourse?
I only ask because our IoT indoor air quality monitor is constantly pinging us about abnormal and potentially harmful CO2 levels (sometimes 3000ppm or more). I’m mostly interested and concerned about long term exposure, as I work from home and my partner is part of a sensitive group.
Note, we’re talking about carbon dioxide (CO2) here, not the more dangerous carbon monoxide (CO) which was posted about previously.”
“Dear PoPville,
DC tax question for you….I’m planning a client event and one of the new venues on the SW waterfront are trying to tell me that ‘services charges’ are taxable. We’re talking about a $20K event and it blows my mind that the sales manager is telling me this. So, like when you go to a restaurant and your tab is $20…that includes tax. You put ‘service charge or gratuity’ of $4 and the final is $24. In the case if this venue, they are putting 10% tax on the $4.
D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: June 21, 2017)
Title 9. TAXATION AND ASSESSMENTS
Chapter 9-4. SALES AND USE TAXES
“Charges for room service and other service charges in connection with the serving of food or beverages (including alcoholic beverages) in hotels, motels, inns, cafes, bars, and similar establishments where food or drink are served shall be subject to tax under § 116 of the Act.”
You heard of this before? I’ve been here 10 years, thrown events and have never been charged this. Any help is appreciated.”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Elliot Mitchell
“Dear PoPville,
I had an odd experience on Saturday night. After an Uber ride from hell (I will leave that there), my partner and I ended up walking home up Connecticut Avenue to Dupont Circle. At the corner of Conn. and RI, we saw a couple of young men asking for money to light candles at St Matthew’s, just up the street. We thought nothing of it. A block further and we were confronted with another group of young men asking for money to light candles at the cathedral. And half a block further we were accosted by yet a THIRD group of young men asking for money to light candles.
Is this a new thing? Is the Cardinal telling his parishioners to go out an solicit people on the street for money for candles? Or is this a scam of some sort? All these guys looked like clean cut suburbanites but what they were asking for was very bizarre, especially at 10:30 on a Saturday night.”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Victoria Pickering
“Dear PoPville,
Tuesday I went to the local police station to fill out a form for reserved parking for an upcoming move in Columbia Heights. In addition to having to pay $55 to reserve a parking space – which seems excessive on its own – I got a voicemail today from a moving company who got my name/number from the public occupancy moving truck permit list offering moving services to me.
So unless I’m mistaken, I paid and reserved parking and the city has now given out my contact information. Surely this must be unethical on the part of the city? Is there something I’m missing here?”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Julian Ortiz
“Dear PoPville,
The “What the Hell Happened Last Night? part Four” is timely considering the majority of us all bought flowers yesterday… I’ve had mixed experiences with florists in DC, and can’t find any discussions on PoPville. Any thoughts on quality, local florists?”