Photo by Erin H.
“Dear PoPville,
Have you heard anything about when DC apartments can start increasing rent again? I know there was a rent freeze during the pandemic but I’m just wondering if you’ve heard when that may be lifted. My apartment is already emailing me about rent increases but I haven’t heard or seen anything from DC about the freeze stopping. Thanks!!”
Photo by Diane Krauthamer
“Dear PoPville,
Our condo landlord notified us they would not be willing to extend the lease beyond the current term (which ends in 75 days). We will have rented for 18 months at termination, have never missed (or been late on payment), nor had any issues. Is this allowable? The landlord did not specify a reason for asking us to leave. I understand there are few exceptions for landlords to ask tenants to leave. Should we ask for a reason?
Appreciate the help in advance.”
Lukas reminds us that some laws come from a good place but in reality…
Photo by Jim Havard
“Dear PoPville,
I live next to a construction site and the noise has become unbearable. The new building is at my units level now and I’m going crazy listening to hammering for 12 hours a day. It’s also weird that the construction workers can look in my one and only window all day unless I keep the curtains closed. Is there any way to get out of this lease early? I can’t live in this dark box anymore.”
“Dear PoPville,
I took my Christmas tree to the curb last week and I received this week a bill for the bulk pickup. ($212, for whatever that information is worth.) (more…)
Photo by angela n.
“Dear PoPville,
Was wondering if others have had to deal with the tricky situation of moving out during the pandemic. My landlord (understandably) wants to show the apartment, but also mentioned wanting to do open houses — seriously?
I’ve also offered to make videos, and I’m not wholly opposed to showing for individuals, but was just curious how others have navigated this situation. (more…)
Photo by Jim Havard
“Dear PoPville,
We absolutely love the Waterfront area and the experience in living in this part of DC has been very positive, however we are having very serious issues with our condominium association. When we moved we were aware the building does a mandatory “water shut-off” in weekdays once every 2 months, this lasts from 9am to about 3pm. We are ok with that, the majority of the time we’ve been at work and it has not affected us.
Fast forward to last year’s pandemic, for safety and health reasons these water shut-offs were temporarily cancelled (fine by us, we work from home now). However in these past few months, we have had multiple water shut-offs (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
Several front desk people in my building frequently take off or pull down their masks (one in particular is wearing a mask maybe 50% of the time if we’re being generous). There are also many residents who never wear masks and the front desk people sit and chat with them and never remind them of the mask rules. (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
This is the response [see below] I got from my building’s manager when I let her know that I wasn’t touring other units in the building as previously discussed because I didn’t feel safe being in the lobby, hallways, or empty units. All because I rarely see the building’s employees wearing masks correctly and consistently. (more…)
Photo by brunofish
“Dear PoPville,
I’m trying to look for an apartment using various sites, but I can’t search by “smoking allowed”. Now that I have a medical marijuana card, this is a big feature for me. Anyone else run into this issue and found a solution? Thanks!”