tenant rights

“Renters rights for in building storage units”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Tim Brown

“Dear PoPville,

Was hoping somebody in the community could help out here. I am in the middle of moving out of my apartment building (older small building with no onsite building management) and noticed the items in my storage unit are gone. Each apartment gets a space and there is no fee for it and its basically a large wooden shelf with chicken wire so you can lock your stuff up. The kicker here is that I may have used the wrong specific space (because I wasn’t sure which was mine at the time I moved in) – but seeing as there was one available I assumed. At one point the building sent out an email asking if anyone may be using a space that was not theirs and I replied that it was likely me. I never heard back and assumed that meant everything was ok.

Fast forward – I go down for the first time in several months to complete my move out and notice my items are no longer there and have been replaced by someone elses stuff. (more…)

“Any other suggestions? or am I SOL?”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I live in an building above a bar/ restaurant. I Have talked to my leasing office, ABRA, the cops and the bar itself, all more than once, about the amount of noise that comes through my floor (mostly on weekends but occasionally weekdays). There has been no solution it seems because that problem still persists and it is so loud I can’t sleep at all. (more…)

“AG Racine Sues Landlord to Stop Illegal Discrimination Against Low-Income Renters”

By Prince Of Petworth

From a press release:

“Attorney General Karl A. Racine today announced a lawsuit against Evolve, LLC and Evolve Property Management, LLC, local real estate companies, for violating consumer protection law through illegal housing discrimination. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alleges in its complaint that consumers were harmed when the companies refused to show or rent available properties to prospective tenants who receive housing assistance from the federal government. In its lawsuit, OAG is seeking an injunction against the companies to stop their illegal and discriminatory business practices, as well as restitution and penalties for violating District law.

“Many District of Columbia residents receive subsidies, including housing vouchers, to assist them in meeting the high cost of living in our city,” said AG Racine. “It is illegal to deny housing opportunities to District residents who use subsidies or vouchers to pay for their rent. Today’s lawsuit is a warning to entities that denying housing on the basis of source of income is discriminatory, illegal, and will not be tolerated.”

Evolve, LLC and Evolve Property Management, LLC (Evolve) are real estate and property management companies that own and manage residential properties in the District. The companies are headquartered in the H Street Corridor and offer multiple apartments for rent in the District, including several units on Capitol Hill. Evolve advertises apartments online at www.evolvedc.com and on Craigslist, and requires prospective tenants interested in scheduling a showing online to disclose whether they plan to pay the rent with housing vouchers. (more…)

“I am not the only one with stories like these – there are at least 8 other former/current tenants who have their own horror stories.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Victoria Pickering

“Dear PoPville,

I’m writing because, even after nearly 2 years of being out of this living situation, I am still just as outraged as I was when I left. I thought, perhaps, that time away from the situation would decrease my outrage and overall disgust, but after hearing from a tenant still in the house, I am just as mad today as was when I lived there. The rental home is unfit for tenants because the landlord has let it fall apart, and he is unfit to be a landlord due to his aggressive ways and unsettling, creepy behavior towards his female tenants.

First up: house maintenance. I lived in this house from July 2015 to March 2017 and my time there was extremely unpleasant. At first, I chalked up some of the issues around the house to it being a mildly shitty DC starter home (I was 23 when I moved in, so a less than pristine house is to be expected). It looked like the house hadn’t had a good cleaning in several years, there were dated appliances, countertops, cabinets, and some odds and ends that needed to be repaired. Then, when things started breaking, we would inform the landlord and he would come by and fix it himself, not with real tools or expertise, but with random scraps from the basement. These fixes were half ass to say the least and were the equivalent to putting a band aid on a broken leg. Below are some of the “updates” and “fixes” that occurred. Full disclosure, there were so many I can’t even begin to remember all of them, but here are a few that I can remember: (more…)

“it’s become evident that our tenant is a daily marijuana smoker and our entire house now smells like marijuana everyday including our daughters nursery.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr.TinDC

“Dear PoPville,

My husband and I had a tenant move into our English basement unit about six weeks ago. We live upstairs in the main unit with our four week old baby. Unfortunately, it’s become evident that our tenant is a daily marijuana smoker and our entire house now smells like marijuana everyday including our daughters nursery. My husband let her know about the situation and she said she’d stop but she hasn’t. We can’t go on with this, it is a real health hazard for our daughter, what are our best options? Unfortunately, we trusted a realtor with the lease and he overlooked putting a no-smoking clause in there. We are obviously very distressed by this. Any legal advice/experience with this helpful.
Thank you!”

Ed. Note: Back in the day we spoke about when an elderly neighbor’s pot smoke was also getting into someone’s apartment and in May 2016 “we’re pretty sure babies should not be exposed to pot smoke”.

“just don’t know if it’s reasonable to ask for something like money off of next month’s rent?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user LaTur

“Dear PoPville,

I have been renting a rowhouse around Petworth for the past three years along with two other roommates. It’s an old house and the rent is relatively cheap, so I try not to complain about a lot of minor infrastructure issues and interior aesthetics. But due to some serious leakage (initially from the rooftop/upstairs bathroom old window, now to a lesser extent from an old bathtub with broken tiles/flooring upstairs), our property manager has notified us that they want to do a complete renovation of the upstairs bathroom.

This work will “take about a week” to complete, and will obviously put our bathroom out of commission. We have a half bath downstairs, so there is no other shower option available. (more…)

“What are my options under the new TOPA laws?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Erin

“Dear PoPville,

I’ve been renting an English basement of a townhouse for several years, am happy with my living situation, and have maintained a friendly relationship with the landlords.

They’ve had some recent life changes and appear to be preparing to sell the house. But I would like to stay put, or at least be compensated reasonably for suddenly being put out.

I know that sometimes a new owner will keep an old tenant once buying the property, or that sometimes owners will often pay the tenant to minimize the burden on them (they’ll give them a security fee+rent for a month or two+moving costs, for example).

But that was under the old TOPA laws, which were recently changed so that people in my situation are no longer given priority. (more…)

“they put her and her child’s belongings on U Street at 3:00pm as passers by and vagrants picked through her personal property”

By Prince Of Petworth

Ed. Note: StreetSense Media reported July 11th:

“Evicted tenants have a new chance to avoid the typical scene of belongings strewn on the sidewalk and left to be taken or damaged, according to the lawmakers behind new emergency legislation.

The D.C. Council passed a bill July 10 to grant those tenants an extra seven days to figure out what to do with their property. The vote was 11 to 2.”

The new process begins August 13th:

U.S. Marshals Service, District of Columbia, Superior Court, Service of Writs of Restitution (Evictions) (PDF)

U.S. Marshals Service, District of Columbia, Superior Court, Service of Writs of Restitution (Evictions PDF)

261018445-Bill-of-Rights (PDF)

“Dear PoPville,

On July 12, 2018, we witnessed the eviction of one of our neighbors while she and her child were not home. The new managers hired at 13th & U directed the building engineers to put her and her child’s belongings on U Street at 3:00pm as passers by and vagrants picked through her personal property. U.S. Marshalls and MPD were not present as required by D.C. Code §42-3505.01. Attached video and photos show the horrendous acts. 13th & U has a private loading dock where they could have left her to pick up her personal property. (more…)

“Am I overreacting or is this normal for DC?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Elvert Barnes

“Dear PoPville,

I currently live in a so-called luxury apartment and have recently sighted a mouse in my unit. I’ve alerted management, but they have not been very responsive at all which has been very frustrating. The kicker here is that my lease is up in two months so my questions are — anyone else have this issue in a somewhat new-ish building? Am I overreacting or is this normal for DC? Is it worth battling it out with management or should I just bail? I like the area, but have had a few minor complaints about the building itself so I’m not entirely in love with the place. Thanks.”

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