Photo by PoPville flickr user Jim Havard
“Dear PoPville,
The big storm a couple weekends ago knocked down a tree in our named alley (Kings Court in Hill East) and now branches/huge parts are in a couple of my neighbors’ backyards, blocking alley access. DC has told them that the city is not responsible for removal because the trees were in an alley, not on the street. They’ve reached out to CM Allen’s office but nothing has happened. Is this accurate? Any ideas/avenues to try to resolve this?”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Pablo Raw
“Dear PoPville,
Mold has formed around some of our air conditioning vents in the ceiling. I once bought a Groupon or livingsocial coupon for mold prevention services and they upcharged us for everything (not surprising). DIY is an option too I suppose, but I’m not confident I’ll be able to tell if it’s more pervasive than the area’s I can see. Let me know if you can help!”
“Dear PoPville,
There are two embassies, the Cuban Embassy and the Lithuanian Embassy, that are located next to each other on 16th Street NW but also have have the backs of their properties along Mozart Place NW. Their parts of the property along Mozart Place are completely overgrown with weeds and grass; almost a third of the sidewalk is overtaken by them. This also contributes to a horrendous rat problem on the street and I’ve seen rats scurrying in and out of these overgrown areas. Dead rats are a common sight – last week, I saw the remains of 3 dead rats on the street alone.
I’ve seen some posts about dealing with private property owner’s overgrown yards but haven’t seen any for dealing with embassies. Any suggestions, if there are any?
Back of the Cuban Embassy on Mozart Place NW and the back of the Lithuanian Embassy on Mozart Place NW.”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Pablo Raw
“Dear PoPville,
I am a resident in Park View and bought into the neighborhood a little over a year ago. I live next to a house that typically is rented to Section 8 Housing (Housing Voucher Program). The landlord is basically a slumlord and does not maintain the upkeep on the house. It is so bad, last month the tenants had a pipe burst above the kitchen and the ceiling fell in. Fire department came and shut off water and electricity and Red Cross came and provided emergency move for tenants (12 people living in the house). (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
What is the deal with these signs? They seem to be everywhere in 16th Street Heights, Takoma, and Petworth – along 16th Street, Blair, Georgia Ave. In the summer there is a nearly identical one advertising camp and it’s attached to every pole and street sign for several miles. Hundreds and hundreds of these signs. Aside from being distracting and annoying and turning into litter, is this a real company? There is no company name listed and no website. One time I called the number to see who was actually behind this and it went to a voicemail with a default recording just stating the phone number. The way it’s advertised seems sketchy.”
“Dear PoPville,
I’m wondering if you can put a request out for recommendations for exterior wood window painters. I’ve tried to search for companies via our neighborhood listserve, but did not get any responses. I also have memberships in Angie’s List & Checkbook, but I’m having difficulty zeroing in on reviews for exterior painting, and specifically wood windows. We hired painters about two years ago to do paint work on the trim who had great reviews, but they ended up getting so much paint on our brick home, that I would never hire them for actual window painting.
I should also specify that we want loose paint at least scraped and/or removed with a heat gun/infrared heater, but this is also lead paint and we have a baby in the house, so we definitely need someone who will take the necessary precautions.
Thank you.”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Joe Flood
“Dear PoPville,
I’m pretty sure there are a few regulars here who own investment properties. My husband and I have considered buying a small house or condo to rent out. We’d like to bring in a little extra a month and expect property values to increase significantly in our neighborhood over the next 5 years, so now would be the time. We’re already seeing sales prices start to rapidly rise, so affordable options are becoming more rare. We would probably have to borrow against our primary residence for the down payment though, so we’re not sure it’s worth the risk.
To those of you who own rental properties, what are the key things we should consider in making our decision? I’m interested in hearing both about financial considerations and also the general headaches of being a landlord.“
Photo by PoPville flickr user Erin
“Dear PoPville,
My wife and are looking to put a small parking space behind our tiny Columbia Heights row house. Ideally it would be paved brick with a sturdy gravel foundation, but we could settle for a cement slab.” Any recommendations on who could do this and what the approximate cost would be?
Photo by PoPville flickr user Phil
“Dear PoPville,
Does anyone where (preferably in Northern VA or MD suburbs), I might find fresh red spinach and/or fresh jute leaves (also known as Egyptian spinach)? I’d like to prepare and cook it South Asian-style.”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.
“Dear PoPville,
If anyone you know is trying to close on his or her first home this month and had gone through DC’s Home Purchase Assistant Program (HPAP), they won’t be able to.
Greater Washington Urban League (GWUL), which administers the HPAP loan, has not received August funds from Dept. of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) which is preventing first time home buyers from closing on their home.
HPAP acts as a buyers second trust loan. Because GWUL doesn’t have their August funds from DHCD, they cannot loan anyone money to close this month.
Four weeks after my original closing date, everything is finally ready on the seller’s end for settlement. But now, I, as the HPAP recipient, am not ready because GWUL cannot loan me the money for which I already qualified. So my settlement is postponed indefinitely, until GWUL gets their funds. Each week my first trust lender is charging me $200 to lock in my rate.
This is a mess. DHCD needs to release the funds to GWUL ASAP so I and all other first time home buyers closing this month can move into our homes and enjoy homeownership in DC.
Extremely frustrated.”