All Forum Posts by: M Marie M.

Okay let me try to back this up with something from the DC.gov site

From

http://ota.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ota...

Regarding rent increases 

When your lease expires:

To increase your rent, your landlord must file a notice

with the RACD. Any increase must meet certain legal

requirements. (See the section on Rent Control for

details regarding rent increases.)

elsewhere on the DC.gov site

The landlord may evict a tenant for only one of ten specific statutory reasons:

• Nonpayment of rent;
• Violation of an obligation of tenancy, of which the tenant failed to correct after notice;
• Tenant performed an illegal act within the rental unit;
• Landlord seeks in good faith to occupy the rental unit for personal use and occupancy;
• Landlord sells rental unit to a party who seeks in good faith to occupy the rental unit for personal use and occupancy;
• Landlord seeks to renovate rental unit in a manner in which tenant cannot safely occupy;
• Landlord seeks to demolish rental unit;
• Landlord seeks to substantially rehabilitate rental unit;
• Landlord seeks to discontinue rental unit for housing and occupancy; or
• Landlord seeks to convert rental unit to a condominium or cooperative after securing governmental approval

You may have to evict because you want to substantially rehab the place. 

Whatever you do it will be long and complex.

At $350 a month are they Section 8 renters?

If you are gung ho about this property I'd speak to a RE attorney (or an experienced property manager in the District) regarding your options for raising rents or removing the tenants. DC is very, very, very, oh so very tenant friendly. I do believe there is something saying you can't just raise the rent by 50% or even less. There is a cap but I don't know if off the top of my head. Also you'd have to make sure that the tenants were offered the chance to buy the building. Yes, the District is tenant friendly.

Let me give you an example, Google "Museum Square Apartments" DC. Large apartment building in a very expensive section of downtown DC filled with Section 8 and elderly Chinese tenants, lotta drama, and the city council got involved. You can attempt to do cash for keys, I'd suggest passing on this.

Thanks for adding Washington, DC  AKA the District of Columbia. We don't have statehood, but we are part of the United States of America. May I also add we are an awfully hot market with very tenant friendly laws.

I am dancing the happy dance seeing that my prayers were answered and there is a Washington, DC  forum.

Maybe next we'll get representation in congress. ;-)

I have never had that many people in my house but we have friends from church who have several renters and friends renting in their house. Since my husband used to be a renter with them I will explain their current set up. 

The house has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on the top floor and a new bedroom and bathroom in the basement, so 5 bedrooms int total. The owners are in the master bedroom w/ bath. Their adult sons stay in one room when in residence and sometimes visitors are placed there. Then there are two rooms rented out to college students (so the place is empty in summer) who share a small bathroom with the sons/visitors. In the past 2-3 years they put in a bedroom and bath unit in their large basement, that gets rented out to another college student. The mom cooks and so 'board' is provided. They have 2 large dogs that eat everything. Renters are charged one fee for rent, board and utilities.

I don't know if they use a standard lease, but since they generally rent to college students (grad/undergrad and visiting scholars) who attend their church there is a general understanding. Just for my one roommate/renter I had a roommate agreement/lease. It had portions like a lease, but since you are sharing space there need to be house rules. I had things in there about guests, this included spouses (1 gal was a commuter who really lived in NJ), lovers, relatives, etc; kitchen usage; chores; smoking; quiet time; etc.

Another thing to think about is what kind of "service" beyond a room are you providing? Our friends from church provide a family atmosphere and a support network to university students and see it as a mission. I provided a short term flexible furnished rental to professionals who needed to be in DC.

Welcome to BP. Do spend some time reading the forums and listening to the podcasts. You will get a very good and free education here.

Yes, I too want a category for the District of Columbia, aka Washington, DC or even the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia). 

Taxation without representation and no category on BP, so sad. :-(

Deanwood, not Deadwood. It's also a metro stop.

@Sonya Stovall is right, don't forget SW DC, it is a jewel.

If you are thinking SE DC are you thinking west or east of the river? The other thing, if you are thinking of being a buy and hold person, DC is very tenant friendly and has hurt even people renting out the basement apt below their primary residence. So do not skimp on screening tenants.

Regarding getting mugged, that happens in trendy neighborhoods like H Street, Columbia Heights and Logan Circle. Be aware of your surroundings, and walk like you know where you're going.

It helps to go with someone (not your agent) who can point things out. 

For fun, my neighbor who is an architect, and I sometimes walk over to open houses of newly renovated properties. We are very nice while looking around but once we leave, we tick off the problems we spotted. These little trips are informative.

They answer the question of what does a $1M house look like? What does a $600K condo look like? But those are our questions. You probably have your own questions and your visits should try to answer those.