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The Apartment Adviser
Hosted by Barbara Burtoff
Real Estate Columnist
Thursday, November 21, 2002; 2 p.m. ET
Welcome to The Apartment Adviser, a monthly discussion of apartment living. Columnist Barbara Burtoff takes your questions and comments.
Barbara has lived in
apartments for close to 40 years -- part of the time as a renter, the rest as an owner. She also has served as a condominium board member.
Barbara writes a column every other week, aimed at apartment dwellers. She covers consumer, coping and safety issues. Before becoming The Apartment Adviser, she worked for The Boston Herald American for 10 years. She then wrote a syndicated column, "Coping," a combination of consumer and human behavior features that appeared in U.S. and Canadian papers. In the 1990s, she worked in the administration of rental properties.
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Barbara Burtoff: Good afternoon, folks. This is my last show. Another apartment expert will be here for you in December. I've learned a lot from those of you who have shared chat time with me and I hope I have provided helpful information to make apartment living a better experience. There's no guest today so I'm ready to tackle some of your questions.
Maryland:
I've recently learned that a 22-story building is going up right next door to my apartment building. I live in the second unit from that side of the building. I also work at night, so would be trying to sleep during the day when the construction is taking place. I'd definitely not renew once construction starts, but if construction starts mid-lease, do I have any grounds to break the lease?
Barbara Burtoff: Dear Maryland: I was caught in the same situation. I had seen an apartment -- also in Maryland -- but wasn't ready to sign the lease. I went back to take a second look in January right after the Christmas holidays. The woman who was going to show me the apartment had told me she had to take her daughter to the airport to return to college. She got stuck in traffic and showed up more than an hour after our appointment. She let me into the unit and -- guess what -- the lovely garden with benches outside the living room window was GONE! In its place was construction equipment breaking the ground for an office building. If I had rushed to sign after the first visit, I would have had to live with the noise, the dirt and, eventually, no sun.
I spoke to Washington, DC attorney Benny Kass who writes the "Housing Counsel" column for the Saturday Real Estate section of The Washington Post. He is knowledgeable about landlord and tenant issues as well as about house and condo sales.
His advice: "Tough question. If the landlord was causing the noise, yes, you would have grounds to terminate the lease. However, the problem is probably not in the making -- nor the control -- of the landlord. However, I suggest that you talk to the landlord and explain the situation. Offer to try to assist the landlord in finding a replacement tenant and to pay a nominal fee for any administrative and/or real estate commission costs in order to find a replacement. There are, after all, some sympathetic landlords." Thank you, Benny.
Let me make one more point before going on to another question. If you go to see an apartment and the view from
any window is that of a park, forest, or empty lot, you might want to find out if there's a possibility that it is about to be a construction site. Your local jurisdiction should have a department of development or planning or zoning that would have such information.
Barbara Burtoff: Now I have a question in search of an answer from someone in the know. In NW DC, readers have been reporting deer -- bucks -- on their property which scares the residents going to and from the bus stop, Metro station, theirs cars, etc. The deer are large, heavy and have huge antlers. Does anyone know what's causing so many of them to appear in mid-
November? Is it their mating season? Is it flowers or greenery that they perceive as filet mignon or yummy chocolates? If they come near a human, will they attack or be scared and run off? What's the solution? Yes, a fence might help but that costs money and takes time to order.
Germantown, Md.:
Isn't it true that building management and their contractors have to give notice before entering your apartment? Periodically, I find out that they have entered my apartment while I'm away without giving me notice. When I call and ask about it, they sound very uneasy then give my an answer such as "routine mantenance." Could this be considered tresspassing?
Barbara Burtoff: Dear Germantown: This question seems to come up on almost every "live online" that I've done. Management is allowed to go into your unit for emergency situations without your permission and without advance notice. These include a flood, smoke or fire, the smell of gas coming from your unit, an alarm going off and when a neighbor, relative or friend calls the office concerned because you aren't picking up the phone or answering the door bell for the last few days and there is concern about your well-being. Otherwise, they are supposed to give notice. It's 24 hours in the state of Virginia but Maryland and DC do not have anything on the books about this, according to "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" published by Nolo Press. It's 48 hours in Rhode Island and Vermont.
About deer:
I live in Rockville, bordering Rock Creek Park, and there are huge numbers of deer, both large and small, around, both summer and winter. I just think that since deer in our area have no natural enemies, other than man and cars, they are overpopulated in this region. That said, I have never felt threatened by them. The seem to be very peaceful animals, and more often then not, shy away from humans. I have never heard of a deer attacking anyone in our neighborhood, and we seem them frequently when we walk around the neighborhood. Most people are annoyed that they eat their garden plants, but as far as I know, deer are not dangerous, so their is no need to be scared as you go to the metro or bus.
Barbara Burtoff: Dear Rockville: Thanks for responding. The reason I asked as to whether they could be dangerous to those walking by is that from time to time, they have smashed into first floor windows in the building where I live and the windows had to be replaced.
Regarding deer:
It's mating season. I volunteer at the zoo, sometimes for overnight shifts, and have to be careful walking through the park at night because of all the deer.
Barbara Burtoff: Oh dear,thanks for sharing.
Va.:
You're leaving? What will you do?
Barbara Burtoff: I'm going to enjoy the holidays, move both apartment and office and start anew in the spring. The moving experience should provide a bunch of topics for new columns.
Washington, D.C.:
What can tenants do if the street where your building is located starts becoming a haven for drug dealing and loitering, and the management won't do anything?
Barbara Burtoff: First of all, you should know that if your apartment has that going on, you are not being guaranteed a safe environment and you have grounds for breaking your lease without penalty.
Your management has a responsibility to provide you with a safe environment. Of course, that could mean anything -- better locks, safety patrol officers, notifying the police, keeping residents informed by notices on apartment cable stations, bulletin boards and other distribution of information about incidents in and around the building. The insurer for your building might also have suggestions for making the place safer.
Barbara Burtoff: Dear Chatters: If your cooking stinks, could you be evicted? That's what a reader asked last Saturday in my column in the "Apartment Living" section. To my surprise, DC lawyer specializing in tenant and landlord problems, Morris Battino, said "Yes." Here's the scoop: "If it is disturbing to neighbors to the point of affecting the enjoyment of their own apartments, the landlord might have grounds for terminating a lease. However, if it's a DC unit, the landlord must give the tenant 30 days to correct or vacate. If the tenant corrects the problem, he can
stay." You probably wonder what was being cooked. I do but some of you are so-o-o anonymous, we will never know. Also, I wonder if he kept his front door open to get the odors out fast. That's against apartment rules in most buildings.
Deer:
Yes, its deer mating season, also deer hunting season in many places (NW aside). The best advice I have is if you are in a car, honk your horn. It will startle them and they will flee to the woods. Otherwise, you will just have to sit and wait until they cler the road. Also, I like to hink if they are buy the side of the road to scare them off so they don't run in front of someone else.
Obviously, this only applies if you are in a car. Maybe carry an airhorn when you walk?
Barbara Burtoff: Thanks.
Brooklyn, N.Y.:
Hi,
I'm a young, female, recent college grad with plans to move to DC in a month or two. But I have two problems 1. I have have bad credit (with little chance for a cosigner) and I don't know the DC area at all. Can you suggest some recommended areas and also, will the bad credit really hurt me?
Barbara Burtoff: Dear DC-bound:
You say you have bad credit and no co-signer and you haven't mentioned you have a job waiting for you once you get to DC. Well, ouch! Attorney Benny Kass wanted to comment on this one. He said "You will probably not find a landlord willing to rent to you under these circumstances."
Even understanding landlords need the rent to cover their expenses and then some, he added.
Washington D.C.:
The only thing that bothers me about cooking smells is that my neighbors never invite me in for dinner! From the aroma, some of them are GREAT cooks.
Barbara Burtoff: Dear Washington: Ditto!
Barbara Burtoff: A couple more jotings from last Saturday's column:
If you live in a group house or apartment and are having trouble finding a source for renter's insurance for non-related residents, try this Web site: RentersCoverage.com.
If you have to go out of town for a year or more and want to rent out your condo, can your ad say "non-smoking" tenant. Yes, according to attorney Battino. Smokers are not a protected class.
Alexandria, Va.:
My roommate surprised me in October by announcing that she is moving out in December. While I was given 60 days notice, I have not been able to find a new roommate. Can I use her security deposit as her rent for the month while I'm looking?
Barbara Burtoff: Are you asking whether you can tell the landlord to apply her share of the security deposit as her share of the rent, I think not.
Construction in Building:
My apartment is right next to the elevators which is undergoing maintenance. In the lease there is a provision that tenants are not allowed to move large object into their apartment between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. for the inevitable noise. Construction, however starts at 6 a.m. and wakes me up every morning. The landlord says this is fine as they want it done as soon as possible, and that's when the construction firm chooses to start. Is there any recourse as tenants? I don't really want to move, but construction will take 4 months. I'd also have to break my lease. Thanks!
Barbara Burtoff: If in DC, noise that early in the day would be against the law. Call the housing department of the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and get a housing inspector
to come out and take note and notify the owner of the property. If in another area, call your local housing office and see if there is a rule on the books about this.
Time to sign off. It's been fun. Thanks for chatting online with me.
Barbara Burtoff
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