tenant rights

photo by Robert Lintott

“Dear PoPville,

Thought this email from my building (Capitol View on 14th) might be of interest to readers. I know rents in DC are fluctuating a lot and there is a lot of anxiety and angst among my friends who got covid deals but are worried about renewing. Here, my building is clearly trying to hedge their bets on rent increases so they are NOT offering me a lease renewal, but a month-to-month at current rate. I’m sure it’s not illegal, just seems shady.

———- Forwarded message ——— (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

I’m one of the many who has a lease up at the end of the year and my building is claiming they still have no information from the Mayor’s office (which knowing DC government I mostly believe) about what will happen with the rent raise freeze / what my rent will look like in 2021. (more…)

photo by nevermindtheend

“Dear PoPville,

Can a landlord withhold video surveillance footage of common areas in a shared tenant building? The situation is such that, some bikes were stolen from a common room area in a building and in order to file a police report and recoup some funds via renters insurance, they’ve asked for a copy of the surveillance footage. However, the landlord has refused (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

I’m at a bit of a standstill with regards to my apartment. I was told to vacate the apt due to a mold situation stemming from a burst pipe on 9/13. My landlord initially said they’d cover the lodging but after realizing I had renter’s insurance she said I would need to go through them. I called my insurance and the initial consultant said that it will likely be covered under the “Loss of Use”. (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

Wondering if anyone else in DC has run into this issue with their property management. My building (managed by JBG Smith) uses a third party biller to charge for utilities called Conservice. The third party biller is disclosed in the lease, however, the fees they charge are not – I was charged (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

I just moved into a new building a month ago and for the past few weeks (but amped up a LOT this week) there has been constant construction on a new restaurant going into the building on the first floor right next door.

The construction starts before 8am every day and wakes me up and it’s difficult to work from home (which my company does full time still) as it’s near constant drilling and banging. I live on the third floor but it sounds like it’s right next to me it’s so loud. (more…)

photo by Clif Burns

“Dear PoPville,

My apartment building just announced that they would start shutting off our water supply between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. twice a week until “the plumbing work has been completed.” I fear that this will take weeks if not months! (more…)