lawyer

Legal Review: Hurt By a Lime Scooter? You May Have a Claim

By PoP Sponsor (a)

By Personal Injury Attorney John J. Sheehan of the Law Office of John J. Sheehan

Lime scooters have been taking the country by storm for many years.

This transportation rental company places scooters at various locations throughout major cities. When users want to use one, they can open up a mobile app, rent the scooter and return it to a different docking station when they reach their destination.

Minus a few problems, such as scooters littering the sidewalks in Arizona, the company has seen much success, as the scooters have been increasing in popularity. In February of 2019, though, Lime was made aware of a very big problem with their scooters.

The problem was that the scooters were experiencing what Lime called “excessive braking.” All of a sudden, the scooters would come to a stop, sometimes throwing users from the scooter. In a post on their website in February, Lime warned users of the problem, even though it said that it affected less than one percent of those that used the scooters.

(more…)

Legal Questions Answered By Griffin & Murphy, LLP

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo From PoPville flickr user sulaantares

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Question:

My roommates and I live in row house that has been split into two units. After we moved in, it became clear that the power and water for the two units for the two units were not separate. Each unit receives a separate Pepco bill, but both units share one water heater, which is located in the downstairs unit. Therefore, the electricity used to power the water heater is charged to the downstairs unit’s Pepco bill. We also receive one water bill for both units.

When we complained about this to our rental company they pointed us to a clause in our lease that said, “If any or all aforesaid utilities are not separately metered, Landlord or Agent will equitably apportion the utility in a manner of Landlord or Agent’s choosing. This apportioned amount due and payable to coincide with rent due and is subject to the same late penalties of rent due.” They told us that “manner of their choosing” would be for us and the downstairs tenant to work it out amongst ourselves.

This worked for awhile, but in the last few months the downstairs tenant hasn’t held up his end of the bargain. Recently we found out our rental company is taking him to court for failure to pay rent. Now we are stuck in a horrible situation of either covering his portion of the water bill, or risk having it shut off. In addition, if he is failing to pay his Pepco, we could lose our hot water!

It seems to me like a multiple unit building should be required to have completely separate utilities, but I haven’t been able to find anything in the DC Housing Code. Does anyone know the law/have any advice? Thanks! Answer after the jump. (more…)

Legal Questions Answered By Griffin & Murphy, LLP

By Prince Of Petworth

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured.

Ed. Note: You can read about a basement dig out here and the first basement rental discussion here.

Question:

I have been following the discussions regarding basement apartments with great interest. As I am contemplating converting my basement into a legal rental unit, I have the following question. I understand that the DCRA points people to the IPMC on its rentmydcbasement.com site with respect to ceiling height. On its site, DCRA says that habitable rooms must have a 7 foot ceiling height. However, when you look at Section 404.3 of the IPMC, it says that basement rooms in one- and two-family dwellings occupied exclusively for laundry, study or recreation purposes, can having a ceiling height of not less than 6 feet 8 inches. So, my question is – – Can I have a legally rentable basement apartment that consists of a bedroom of at least 7 ft height, with a recreation room, kitchen, and bathroom at height of 6′ 10″? This would mean I would only need to dig out a portion of the basement (where the bedroom sits). I asked this question on the DCRA site, and the response was that it sounds like it meets the code, which is great. However, before I invest a lot of money in this basement project, I would like to know the legal answer in case inspectors do not agree with that interpretation. Thanks for your help.

Answer after the jump. (more…)

Legal Questions Answered By Griffin & Murphy, LLP

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Hoodsweatsh

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured. You can find previous questions featured here.

Question:

POP- I’ve really been enjoying the legal questions you’re posting and definitely appreciate the efforts of the folks at Griffin and Murphy. This question actually involves my home, which you’ve featured here before.

My wife and I moved into our Manor Park row house just a little more than a year ago. It had been recently, although less than perfectly renovated. We bought thinking this could be a long term home, rather than a rest stop along the way to something bigger or better. We currently have three good sized bedroom and two full baths. My mother-in-law lives with us, so this is perfect… at least for now. The home is really lacking three things, 1) storage space, 2) a half bath and 3) a third full bath. Given that the size of the house is, in Goldilocks’s verbiage, “just right,” we knew that any additional space would have to come from outside, rather than from found space on the inside. Fortunately our home was built with a 5′x10′ “court off the back of the house. Our place is simply to enclose this court, gaining 50 sq. ft. of space on each if the three levels.

We are nearing the end of the design phase of the project and there is one issue we cannot seem to figure out. Before we began we hired an architect and began the project we consulted with the zoning office and with the permitting folks who agreed that our project was permissible. Our architect has confirmed that. In our area we are allow to build on the property line. When we discussed the project with our neighbor, he thought it was an excellent idea, but expressed concern at our plans to remove a relatively small brick privacy wall between our properties, replacing it with one of the addition’s load bearing walls. The wall was constructed such that exactly 1/2 is on his property and 1/2 is on ours. This is clear from upon observation and is clear on our survey. He informed us that his mother had had the wall built in 1973 and that it has sentimental value to him.

So, our problem is, we really like this neighbor and want to take his feelings and wishes into consideration during the process. Our architect and structural engineer are confident that we can simply build our addition on top of this existing brick wall, but that there are some remaining property-line issues. We can certainly construct the addition on top of our half of the brick wall, but it would be necessary to install metal flashing (this is thin metal meant to prevent water from getting between the old brick wall and the new addition wall. Most home have this for example over an exterior doorway or widow). This would in no ways alter the usability or function of his property and would barely be visible.

We haven’t presented this option to him yet, mostly because we are dreading the outcome. We really don’t want a fight, but this addition is well within our rights. So, what should we do here? What are our options? If he does agree to the above proposal, is it necessary to seek an easement for this purpose?

Also, a related question, how do people work on rowhouses like this? We will need access to his property in order to install the foundation for the addition, as well as to sheathe and side the house. Is there a given easement that allows this, or is that something I will also have to negotiate with the neighbor? Thanks!

Answer after the jump. (more…)

Legal Questions Answered By Griffin & Murphy, LLP

By Prince Of Petworth

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured. You can find previous questions featured here.

Question:

I recently moved into a brand new condo building. It’s small, with only 12 units. The problem is that the lights dim significantly and often, sometimes when I plug in the iron or the HVAC kicks on, other times for no apparent reason. This is very bad on refrigerators, electronics, and the life of everything electrical in the house. I’ve asked the developer about it who assures me it’s “normal” for this to happen. I’ve never lived in a home where this happens, and I don’t know anyone else in the city who has this problem, so I’m not finding it too normal. My question is: How long are the developer and builder responsible for making good on fixing the problem if an independent electrician rebuts the “it’s normal” argument? Thanks. David

Answer:

We are not sure what you mean when you describe your building as a “brand new condo building.” Is your building a fully renovated older building which was completely gutted and rehabilitated, or is your building one that was built new from the ground up? As you will see later, this distinction may be relevant in determining why you are now experiencing electrical problems. In either case, your building should have adequate electric service. The electrical problems you are experiencing are not normal and are not acceptable. The more pressing questions are (i) what is causing these problems, and (ii) what recourse you have against the developer to force him to correct these problems?

If your building is a fully rehabilitated structure rather than one that was newly constructed, then the problem may be that the original electrical service to the building may still be in place. When buildings are renovated, a new and upgraded electrical service is ordered from Pepco. It often takes a long time for Pepco to come and put in this new and upgraded electrical service. It is not unheard of for a developer to sell condo units and allow occupancy with the old electrical service in place while waiting for the new and upgraded service to be installed by Pepco. If this has occurred in your building, then this would explain the diminished electrical service to your unit. Continues after the jump. (more…)

Legal Questions Answered By Griffin & Murphy, LLP

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured.

Question:

Hi PoP,

We own a rowhouse in Columbia Heights, and rent out our 1BR basement apartment. Our tenants (past and current) have always signed a pretty basic 12 month lease with us, stipulating rent, portion of utilities, pets, etc… we don’t have separate utilities (they pay a portion) but they do have a separate front entrance. We share the laundry room in the basement. We do not have a certificate of occupancy for the basement, because the ceilings are a half foot too low for DC code. A pretty common arrangement in DC I think. My question is about our taxes: last year our rental income from the basement came to just under $12,000, so we reported it as miscellaneous income on our DC return. It is my understanding that income over $12,000 must be reported as a business income, or something else other than misc. I fully expect that in 2010 we will make more than $12,000 from the basement, so how should I report it on my returns? An accountant friend of mine says we should just make sure we keep our income from it under $12K, but we can probably do much better than that (and we really need the cash). He also thinks that if we report it as tenant income, then DC might investigate and see that we don’t have a C of O. Of course, we do not want to cheat on our taxes but at the same time we want to minimize them as much as is legal. Finally, I have heard some people say that we could list it as ‘housemate’ or ‘roommate’ income, rather than as ‘tenant’ and avoid some of the reporting requirements. Do we have any choices aside from capping our income at $12,000 or but to taking a tax hit and risking DC govt getting angry at us?

Thanks,

A landlord

PS: I’m sure that many people will claim I’m an evil gentrifying jerk, but I’ve been here for over ten years and have spent a lot of time, money, and energy not only fixing up our house but also keeping the neighborhood clean and being actively involved in it. And, in the end, it’s our house and I see nothing wrong with renting out some of it to help us make ends meet.

Answer:

Dear Landlord:

There are probably hundreds if not thousands of unlicensed basement apartments in the District of Columbia. These basement apartments are often referred to as “in-law suites” because there is no Certificate of Occupancy available for the basement apartment and, if the apartment is not code compliant, none can be obtained. Without a valid Certificate of Occupancy, no Housing Business License can be obtained and the rental unit cannot be registered with the Rental Accommodations Commission. This also means that the landlord cannot request an exemption from the rent level limitations imposed by the rent stabilization laws in the District. Continues after the jump. (more…)

Legal Questions Answered By Griffin & Murphy, LLP

By Prince Of Petworth

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured.

Question:

I rent a condo in Montgomery County. I have been there about 6 months of a 1-year lease (and have always paid my rent on time). However, the landlord has been having financial problems and now is going into foreclosure. I received papers recently that said the property would be put up for public auction in a few days. What should I, as a tenant, do in this situation to protect myself? As far as eviction goes, I read that there was a recent law that says they have to honor the term of the lease in most cases, so I feel better knowing that. However, I am still concerned about any “scare tactics” or problems that I can expect to encounter along the way. Is it necessary to talk to a lawyer – and what kind of lawyer would best be able to help? I’ve never been in any kind of legal situation like this before and don’t know where to start. And is that going to cost a lot of money? Once the property goes up for auction, who is responsible for repairs on the condo (especially if there was an emergency)? And while this isn’t a huge deal, am I going to have to expect potential buyers coming into my home?  I’m not even sure I want to stay in the unit if there are all these legal and communication issues. Is it possible for me to get out of the lease early? Would I be eligible to be reimbursed for moving and other related expenses in that case? And finally, is there anything else that I should know about? Thanks for your help!

Answer:

Duties Owed to the Landlord’s Lender (if any)

As a tenant, you most likely have no obligation to your landlord’s lender unless the lender bids on the condo at the foreclosure sale and the sale is finally ratified by the court.  The one exception would be if your landlord’s mortgage contained an assignment of leases and rents provision providing that in the event the landlord defaults on the mortgage, the lender may require that any tenant living in the mortgaged property pay rent directly to the lender.  If the mortgage contained such a provision and the lender decided to exercise its rights thereunder, you should have received a notice from the lender informing you of where to send your monthly rent check.  Make sure you open all mail that is addressed to the occupant or resident of the rental property, particularly if the envelope indicates the letter is from a law firm or bank.  Also, the lender is required by Maryland law to provide you with notice of the impending foreclosure sale and contact information for the person authorized to sell the property. Continues after the jump. (more…)

Legal Questions Answered By Griffin & Murphy, LLP

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo from PoPville flickr user fromcaliw/love

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured. You can find previous questions featured here.

Question:

I need some help that may benefit other readers as well. I bought a condo in a small 14-unit condo building in Mount Pleasant almost 2 years ago and everything has been good except for our management company. They do not respond to requests in a timely manner and often not at all. They have been terrible about simple things like sending bank statements for the condo’s bank accounts and cashing condo fee checks – even worse they ignore serious requests about leaks and a mice issue we had a few months ago. We have complained and have sent them a series of very firm emails but there has been no change. It has gotten to the point where our condo president is fielding all complaints and requests, which is ridiculous because we are not paying her, we are paying them. We pay the company $500 a month to manage the condo. Is this a super cheap rate compared to what other readers pay to management companies to manage buildings of a similar size? And have any other readers ever had to “fire” a management company? Last would anyone suggest a good and reasonably priced company that our condo board could approach? Thanks so much for your help!

MegDC

Answer:

MegDC,

You are right that your association president should not be fielding complaint calls. You are paying the management company to field calls, respond to issues, and solve problems regarding the operation of your building. While the management company is slow to pay contractors to fix problems in the building, our guess is that they have no problem paying themselves.

Does your association have a contract with the management company? If there is no contract, you can fire them at any time. If you have a management contract in place, you will need to review it and see what it says about the “term” of the relationship, any dispute resolution process, and finally what can be done to terminate the contract. You will want to look to make sure the contract was signed by the association, because sometimes an association will “inherit” a management company from the developer and the developer may have overlooked the actual paperwork to establish a contractual relationship between the management company and the association (i.e., the contract may be with the developer and not with the association). Continues after the jump. (more…)

Legal Questions Answered By Griffin & Murphy, LLP

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo from PoPville flickr user rockcreek

Ed. Note: We had a very similar Dear PoP yesterday so here is the official Griffin & Murphy response to a similar question. There will be a bonus legal question answered on Friday.

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured. You can find previous questions featured here.

Question:

My heat is currently broken (which is super awesome during the latest cold snap). My landlord is (as is typical) dragging her feet about getting it fixed. It’s about time to pay this month’s rent. I don’t want to pay until the heat is fixed. Do I have to?

Answer:

Every residential lease in the District of Columbia carries an implied warranty of habitability that requires the landlord to maintain the rental property in compliance with the District’s housing regulations. The District’s housing regulations mandate that landlords shall provide adequate heating facilities in their rental properties and shall maintain such facilities in good repair. A landlord must repair a broken heating unit within a reasonable amount of time after receiving notice of the problem, but only a short period of time (maybe one or two days) would be considered reasonable in the winter months. Continues after the jump. (more…)

Legal Questions Answered By Griffin & Murphy, LLP

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo from PoPville flickr user hellomarkers!

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured. You can find previous questions featured here.

Reader Question:

I recently sublet a room in my apartment. The sublease ended on Feb. 7, but the subtenant left on January 20 and hasn’t returned. After many attempts to call him and email him, he has not responded about retrieving his belongings. At what point is his stuff considered “abandoned”? When can I throw it out? How much longer do I have to sit with his junk in my apartment? I would appreciate any help. Thank you!

Answer from Griffin & Murphy, LLP:

Usually, the rental of a single room in an apartment or in a house by an owner or master tenant does not create a traditional landlord-tenant relationship. Roomers have less rights under D.C. law than regular tenants do. For instance, landlords are prevented by D.C. law from using self-help to remove their tenants from the leased property, but landlords may use self-help with regard to roomers. This is a complicated area of the law and legal advice should be sought in each instance before acting. Answer continues after the jump. (more…)

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