tenant rights

“Common Apartment Issues – weird electrical usage issues”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Tim Brown

“Dear PoPville,

I was wondering if anyone knows anything about weird electrical usage issues from an apartment building they were renting from. I’ve been having these issues since the beginning of the year and it doesn’t seem like my insanely high bills are associated with the Pepco electrical charge increase – I don’t even have my AC/heater units on.

My apartment is only 650 sqft, Jan was over 300x more than last year, and every subsequent month has been 100-200x more. All that without having the AC/heater running since the cold snaps in January…”

“Help. Rat infestation.”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I wanted to ask for advice from longterm DMV residents who might know a thing or two about waging a war against both rats and corporate landlords. I live in an apartment building that has an ongoing rat infestation; our community message board is blowing up with posts from tenants on every floor (in a ten-story building!) talking about dealing with rats in their apartments and in community spaces. We’ve had posts about rats scratching in the walls at night, chewing holes through the walls, being sighted in apartments and common spaces like the laundry room, gym, and elevators, coming up through sinks and chewing through rubber gaskets (!), even posts about rats getting stuck in the AC units, dying, and then rotting. Our management’s response has been tepid at best. Back in May, (more…)

“city center residential removing front desk position, replacing with amazon lockers.”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Samuel Breslow

“Dear PoPville,

URGENT. city center removing front desk position, replacing with amazon lockers. our beloved staff FIRED with one day notice . HAVE YOU HEAR ABOUT IT? they already started construction. they are putting everyone in danger by replacing a front desk with a camera . PLEASE HELP.”

Samuel Breslow reported yesterday: (more…)

“What protections do tenants have against outrageous increases when allocation methods are used?”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I’ve lived in an apartment in Capitol Hill for a year and a half. The apartment uses an allocation method to calculate water/sewer, which is “50% occupancy 50% unit square feet.” My bill has consistently been about $20 for water and $40 for sewer. For September, I received a water bill for $90 and sewer bill for $156 – 4 times the usual amount.

What protections do tenants have against outrageous increases when allocation methods are used? (more…)

“Residents Fight for Electricity at Ridgecrest Condos”

By Prince Of Petworth

From a press release:

“Community leaders are gathering Saturday, Sept. 23rd to launch a campaign for Ridgecrest Condominiums in Washington, DC’s Ward 7. It was condemned last year and the low-income owners were issued an order to vacate due to the unsafe conditions. However, many of them are still unmoved.

Instead, the Ridgecrest residents continue to appeal to their Condominium Association and have resorted to fundraising above the cost of the condo fees they already pay, in order to contract the needed repairs themselves. (more…)

“very interested in hearing more or connecting with DC residents who have firsthand experience with the Tenants Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Emma K Alexandra

“Dear PoPville,

Last month, my neighbors and I were notified that our building was under contract with a new buyer. This kicked off the Tenants Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which is a months-long process where tenants have the chance to form a tenant’s association in order to purchase the building themselves, find a different buyer, or negotiate specific terms with the new buyer (ex: rent concessions, a buyout to move, repairs etc). (more…)

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