tenant rights

AG Racine announced settlements in “three lawsuits against neglectful landlords in Ward 8 and Ward 4.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by Victoria Pickering

From the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia:

“Attorney General Karl A. Racine today announced that Castle Management and other defendants, which owned and managed the Forest Ridge and The Vista Apartment complexes (398 units) in Ward 8, will pay $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit over dangerous and deplorable conditions at its properties. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alleged the property owner forced hundreds of tenants to live with vermin infestations, water damage and mold, no fire safety systems, and security defects that led to persistent gun violence. Separately, OAG resolved a lawsuit against the owner of Good Hope Laundromat requiring it to address persistent gun and drug nuisances at the property and pay penalties to the District. In a third settlement, the landlord and management of a Ward 4 apartment building accused of misrepresenting its apartments as safe and habitable despite ongoing housing code violations is required to substantially renovate the property, prove its properties are compliant with D.C. housing laws for future rentals, pay $50,000 in combined civil penalties, and implement an employee Housing Code training. (more…)

“They are encouraging residents to police each other and threatening lease violations (eviction) during a pandemic.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by John Sonderman

“Dear PoPville,

I got this email from my property. Vague accusations and tone are concerning. Also property is declaring ALL forms of medical marijuana a violation of lease and also encouraging residents to report each other for suspected violations.

Is this legal? Is this the norm policy for private property owners in dc?

They are encouraging residents to police each other and threatening lease violations (eviction) during a pandemic. Very tone deaf and disappointing.”

Twelve12 – Smoking Policy Letter: (more…)

“How Are Small-Time Landlords Handling Partial Rent Payments?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by angela n.

“Dear PoPville,

I am a small-time landlord (just one condo), and my tenant has been making late or partial payments since the pandemic started. I had some email and phone conversations with them early on, and assured them that I could not try to evict them if their April rent payment was late while they waited for various assistance programs, including expanded unemployment benefits (part of their income is from freelancing, which I knew at the outset), were implemented.

At the beginning of May, the tenant paid all of the April rent and half of the May rent. (more…)

“I’d really appreciate any advice as to who’s legally liable for the partial rent here.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by Jordan Barab

“Dear PoPville,

Like the person who wrote in the other day with a rental/lease question, I’m writing in hoping to get some advice on a tricky lease situation. I rent a lovely 3-bedroom rowhouse in DC with 2 roommates. We’re all three on the lease together (“jointly and severally liable”), and we pay the landlord one single combined payment each month. The lease is now month-to-month, having rolled over from a year-long lease originally.

One of my roommates gave exactly 30 days’ notice to move out, and I’ve been diligently searching for a new roommate to start July 1 … and so far coming up short. (more…)

“the thing that jumped out at me is that they are threatening to evict residents if they don’t wear masks in common areas”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by Clif Burns

“Dear PoPville,

I received this email from my apartment building’s management. The stuff about amenities is not new, but the thing that jumped out at me is that they are threatening to evict residents if they don’t wear masks in common areas or if they have guests over. Besides that there’s nothing I can see in the lease that allows this, evictions are illegal right now (for 60 days until the end of the public health emergency). Management has not laid out an exceptions for people who have difficulty putting on masks due to a disability, or for children, and haven’t laid out exceptions for people with essential guests (caretakers and the like). This is a Bozzuto building; it would be interesting to know if other Bozzuto residents have gotten notices like this?

Dear Valued Residents, (more…)

“Apartments requiring masks everywhere”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by DCbmyers

“Dear PoPville,

This is the first I’ve seen of a building requiring residents to wear masks just to leave their apartment (run to trash room, take the dog for a walk). Considering masks aren’t required for regular exercise, I can’t imagine a landlord has any ability to throw this on lease-holders, right? Regular mask wearer here, but considering the legality. Any experience with this?” (more…)

“Construction/renovations in apartment buildings”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by angela n.

“Dear PoPville,

I was wondering if tenants have any rights to question/stop renovations of rental apartments during the stay at home order. I don’t know if we have any say, but when most tenants are working from home (and not allowed to use amenity spaces) during this time, it is incredibly disruptive to have the leasing agency for our building completely renovating unoccupied apartments. Is there anything we can do? They want us to keep paying rent but to do that we kind of need to keep our jobs…Are others experiencing this issue?”

“Any Apartments Reducing Rent due to Closed Amenities?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Tim Brown

“Dear PoPville,

I live in Adams Morgan and wrote to my apartment management when they closed amenities in March due to COVID-19 to see if they would be willing to reduce the rent. While we certainly agree with their decision, we chose the apartment building specifically for the amenities, and pay a lot of money to use the rooftop, gym, lounge, courtyard, and other perks. With these being closed, we thought it was fair to request a bit of reduction in our rent, especially considering the financial uncertainty of these times. Management wrote back saying they were open to negotiations but first wanted to know if other apartments have done the same before making a decision on the amount. (more…)

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