Dear PoPville

Heads Up When You Rent an Apartment at a “Discounted” Rate

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Lorie Shaull

“Dear PoPville,

I live in an Adams Morgan apartment recently bought and managed by UIP. When I toured the place last summer, I was quoted a rent of ~$2800. When I came to sign the lease, I was told the rent was actually ~$3200 but I’d be given concessions to the tune of ~$400. Being somewhat renter naive and in a hurry, I went ahead and signed the lease.

I was then more than a little embarrassed when someone pointed out at a tenants association meeting that if my base rent had actually been $2800, UIP would only be able to raise it by $98 as the legally allowed yearly increase (1.5% CPI + 2%). So, not only could UIP decide to simply stop giving me the concessions, effectively raising my rent by $400 a month, they *could* raise it another $112 ($3200 x 3.5%). My monthly payment could go from $2800 to $3312. Even if they don’t raise it that much, they can still raise it beyond the 3.5% simply by offering me less in concessions. Of course, I’ll move out before I’ll pay that much.

I felt a little less embarrassed when I discovered that several of my fellow tenants were in the same boat. I see people coming in all the time to look at vacant apartments and I want to warn them. To all those looking to rent in DC, please be aware of the ramifications of rent concessions!”

Dog Still Chilling on the Roof at Georgia and Kenyon

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

I was wondering if any of your readers knows anything about the dog who likes to chill on the roof of a commercial structure located near the intersection of IrvingKenyon and Georgia. I’ve seen him there a couple of times, and he never fails to amaze me. He’s super calm, and as far as I can tell spends hours up there surveying his kingdom. Does he belong to the owners of the shopfront? Does he ever venture down to mingle with the common folks?”

Yup, he’s all good up there with his own ramp – I think he’s owned by the guy who owns Morgan’s Seafood.

“a good handyman or contractor who’d be willing to take on the “small” jobs?”

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr.TinDC

“Dear PoPville,

I am getting ready to move and need a number of things fixed in my house / projects completed before I rent it out. My first thought was to do it ourselves but my husband and I work full time and have a new baby, so we just do not have the time. Then I thought I’d just hire a handyman rather than a full service general contractor, since individually these are all small projects (but collectively will be probably several days of work). I have contacted a few places (Renaissance and Handyman Services Corp, both with good online reviews) to see if they could take on the job but neither has replied. So, I’d like to know if the PoP community has any suggestions for a good handyman or contractor who’d be willing to take on the “small” jobs? The list of projects is below:

Projects:
1) replace missing trim on side of porch roof
2) patch cracks in concrete porch
3) touch up paint on interior walls
4) re-paint interior trim and doors (or instead of scraping and re-painting doors replacing doors if it will be cheaper)
5) replace lock on 1 exterior door
6) install 2 hard-wired smoke detectors (connections from an old one are already there)
7) replace broken floor tiles in bathroom
8) replace bathroom vanity
9) replace bathroom light fixture
10) paint fence in back of house
11) paint exterior window trim on back of house
12) insulate kitchen pipes (they are exposed in basement ceiling)
13) patch 2 holes in drywall ceiling where access to kitchen pipes is (we opened them up to expose the kitchen pipes to thaw them out after one of the cold snaps this winter)”

We’ve Talked A Lot About Branches But What About The Roots?

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Erin

“Dear PoPville,

I have a rowhouse and my neighbor has a large tree with roots that are pushing up my patio, but it’s unclear whether or not they are damaging the foundation of my house. The tree also has branches that cover a large portion of my backyard and part of my house. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and if so, how did you handle it? The damage to the patio is an easy fix, but I’m concerned about the potential of significant damage to the house itself.”

Ed. Note: We’ve recently spoken about branches but I don’t think we’ve ever discussed a root situation like this.

Help Getting an Abandoned Wrecked Car Removed?

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

We found a navy blue Cadillac in the parking garage at Techworld (800 K Street) in Chinatown that has been wrecked and abandoned. It’s parked in an area reserved for Hotel Valet in two spots with a dented front fender and destroyed front right tire. It’s clearly been in an accident with something white. We called MPD to have them come look at the vehicle and maybe match it up with any reports of a hit and run but upon calling them and asking for a report to be taken they said “That’s not gonna happen” and hung up.”

“Despite having signed contracts, employees were recently informed that it is very unlikely that we will be paid for leave hours we have accumulated”

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Clif Burns

“Dear PoPville,

I currently work for Community Academy Public Charter School. As you may have heard, it is closing at the end of the current school year.

Despite having signed contracts, employees were recently informed that it is very unlikely that we will be paid for leave hours we have accumulated. This is especially disappointing as the organization continues to take any responsibility; placing the blame on others. Many employees are afraid to speak out.

I am hoping you can bring attention to this issue and that some of your readers might have suggestions.

I have attached the letter employees were sent:

Employee Letter of May 15,2015 (PDF)“

Should They Traditionally Rent Their Basement or List it on Air bnb?

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Kevin Wolf

“Dear PoPville,

Here’s our dilemma and we are looking for advice and insight.

We’ve redone our basement apartment in our new house (less than 2 months ownership) in the hopes of renting it out and mitigating the monthly mortgage payment. However, we are finding that it is rather loud down there–footsteps and voices carry, and we have two kids under 5. We are now considering trying to do Air BnB instead of having a renter so that we do not have to be on tenterhooks about any noises disturbing our renter at any time and instead can just be careful about volume whenever someone is in the basement as an Air BnB client.

The house is under 1 mile from the Brookland metro, and the basement is about 500 sq feet with two rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, its own entrance and its own washer/dryer. Would it make more sense to rent it and have a consistent stream of money coming in while being very careful with noise every day OR to try the Air BnB market where we’d be able to be more relaxed about kids’ play and general ambient noises, but we would have to make up any differences in monthly payments ourselves? Convince me!”

Pepco Scheduled Power Outage Monday (Memorial Day)

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

I’m curious if any readers received notification of a scheduled power outage on Monday (Memorial Day)?

My apartment building located in Adams Morgan received notification yesterday saying the outage is between 8:30 to 5pm.

I spoke to a Pepco customer representative and I also spoke to a regional representative. They both were sketchy about information saying the power outage will affect the Washington region (they did not provide any neighborhood or street names, etc.). When asked if the service interruption could be rescheduled for Tuesday, May 26th Pepco replied no because the information had already been sent to dispatch. They also could not provide any information on what repairs or improvements were being worked on.”

Best Way to Return a SmarTrip Card to the Owner?

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user m01229

“Dear PoPville,

I found a Smart Trip card today between Portals I and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. While WMATA says to return the card to their office in Chinatown, I’m curious whether they notify registered Smart Trip card users of their card being found and whether anyone has successfully received their card from WMATA after losing their card.

My plan is to drop the card off after work tomorrow (earliest time I can get there during normal business hours) unless there is a better way to return the card to its owner.”

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