Dear PoPville

“Looking for tips and ideas on DC summer opportunities, programs, and even internships geared towards high school students.”

By Prince Of Petworth

intern
Photo by PoPville flickr user fromcaliw/love

“Dear PoPville,

Looking for tips and ideas on DC summer opportunities, programs, and even internships geared towards high school students. I have a not so secret plan of borrowing my high school sister from Trumpland this summer and exposing her adolescent mind to everything The Swamp has to offer. I’m looking for opportunities to expand both expand her culture and maybe teach her a little about jobs and the real world, too.

Before it even gets brought up, the Smithsonian’s summer internship application has already closed.

Thanks for any and all tips and ideas!”

“this entitled politician made it even worse by parking his car blocking a pedestrian crossing and handicap access point”

By Prince Of Petworth

evans parking

“Dear PoPville,

Jack Evans (Ward 2 council member) parked like an a**hole tonight in Dupont Circle. It’s bad enough navigating the sidewalks and intersections when they’re covered in ice, but this entitled politician made it even worse by parking his car blocking a pedestrian crossing and handicap access point to cross New Hampshire Ave NW. He forced everyone to walk in the street into oncoming traffic. I’m sick of entitled politicians treating this city like they’re own personal kingdom.

Jack, you have to follow the law like everybody else. And if you decide to break them (like you did tonight) you might remember you license plate makes it easy to figure out you’re the a**hole.

Signed,

A Ward 2 Constituent who will not be voting for you during the next election cycle”

Ed. Note: This is not the first time people have been pissed at Evans’ parking prowess. We’ve previously learned that Council Members are not obligated to follow parking regulations except for fire hydrants of course.

Cost of a Pop Up?

By Prince Of Petworth

pop up

“Dear PoPville,

I know you posted about this a few years ago, but I haven’t seen anything lately. I love our neighborhood, but as our family expands we’d like a little more room and I’m afraid that we’re fully priced out of the surrounding area. I’m thinking a third floor pop up might be the answer, but have no idea what that would realistically cost. If anyone has insight, it would be greatly appreciated.”

“Tenant signed contract but not moving in”

By Prince Of Petworth

33287304582_28398af3bd_z
Photo by PoPville flickr user Joe Flood

“Dear PoPville,

I’m a first time landlord and a tenant has recently signed a lease for my house and made a security deposit (which I deposited in my bank account and cleared). However, she has gone MIA ever since and she never moved in. I have called, texted, e-mail and left her several voice message but she doesn’t respond.

What do I do in this situation? Given this type of behavior, I don’t think she would even be suitable to be a tenant. Under the contract, I included the Waiver of notice to quit in the event of non-payment of rent. What do I have to do to void the contract in this case since I don’t even know how to get in contact with her?”

“I wonder if anyone has had a similar experience to advise on a situation I have encountered as a tenant.”

By Prince Of Petworth

tenant
Photo by PoPville flickr user LaTur

“Dear PoPville,

I wonder if anyone in the community has had a similar experience to advise on a situation I have encountered as a tenant. We lease a row house to a property management company that oversees our space (in addition to others) owned by a landlord living outside the country. We have been living here for about 2 years and have never been directly billed for our water use. The first several months of our residence we were continually receiving bills and delinquent payment notices addressed to homeowner, some of which included DC Water. After notifying the property manager several times, including expressively inquiring the status of the DC Water account, we were assured that it would be taken care of.

Our lease states that we are responsible for ‘individually metered’ water utility charges but the bills have since sopped arriving in our post box. However, we’ve just received a call from the property manager that the landlord has (only now) realized that he has had the water account setup to automatically debit the full bill amount from his personal credit card/bank account each month and has unknowingly paid for our collective water usage for over 24 months. (more…)

“Wondering if its realistic to think that we could find a realtor who could help us home shop in various DMV suburbs?”

By Prince Of Petworth

suburbs
Photo by PoPville flickr user Kyle

“Dear PoPville,

After 11 years in DC my partner and I are relocating to Maryland or Virginia (partner’s company is restructuring and they will get to choose between a couple of locations in Virginia.)

Wondering if its realistic to think that we could find a realtor who could help us home shop in various DMV suburbs such as Annandale, Sterling, Leesburg, and Ft. Washington or if we need to isolate a specific area first? Also open to realtor recommendations for anyone who has recently purchased a home in those areas.”

“Is it better to admit with explanation or fight it?”

By Prince Of Petworth

trash violation
Photo by PoPville flickr user Erin

“Dear PoPville,

I recently purchased a fixer upper home in Kingman park and received a trash violation in the mail from Feb 8th. The violation is pretty concerning to me, first of all because my crew working on the house takes the trash every evening to the dump. We do this to avoid trash piling up in the backyard. The photos were taken around 12:30, when the crew was most likely at lunch and so by evening the trash that I am being cited for was gone.

Second it is clear from the photos that the inspector walked into my gated backyard. When I first moved into the home I had a short gate that was leaning over but stood up and was closed every evening. I don’t know if the crew left it open when they went to lunch, but it was definitely closed before I went to bed. I am a single female and always check to make sure my gates are closed and locked as well as my doors. Are inspectors allowed to enter your property with no one present for a trash violation?

What has been readers success in fighting these types of violations? I imagine a hearing will be a he said/she said issue. Is it better to admit with explanation or fight it?”

“Kitchen Renovation Recommendations”

By Prince Of Petworth

kitchen reno
Photo by PoPville flickr user Pablo Raw

“Dear PoPville,

My husband and I bought a lovely house east of the Anacostia River in the Kenilworth neighborhood and couldn’t be happier. The home is in great shape and we are able to restore the majority of the property ourselves, but we need assistance from a contractor to gut and renovate the kitchen. We recently got a quote from Four Brothers LLC and they asked for an absurdly high $150,000. Something tells me that $750 a square foot is way too expensive for a 200 square foot renovation.

Has anyone on the site gone through this type of kitchen renovation? If so, how much did they spend per square foot and would they recommend their contractor?”

View More Stories