Just made someone's life much more complicated, oy vey

[Anonymous]

Have been keeping an eye on a neighborhood I like very much, where properties rarely come on the market. It's adjoining a university but is solidly SFH of a wonderful vintage. In a casual hopeful browsing of recent listings (none for sale, of course), I did spy a rental, but on a university website for grad students looking for housing. Was intrigued and opened the link. Is being rented out on a room by room basis, targeted to university grad students. I looked up the ownership and it's owned by out of state owners, and surprisingly, it had sold last fall for a tidy sum.

I sent the link to the neighborhood president and said this doesn't seem legal. A few days later I got a response, they were not aware either and have notified the city, who confirmed it's not a legal situation and zoning caps house to just three unrelated people but house is also not registered with city as a rental either and to be registered as a rental it needs to meet certain requirements etc cetera. Housing inspectors are being deployed as we speak.

So... someone is getting into trouble, potentially expensive trouble. All because of me. Can't say I feel rosy about it. But for any wannabe investors out there, be really careful and know what you're getting into before you decide to invest in renting a house in a family neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

So you stuck your nose into a neighborhood you do not live in and messed up someone's living situation? Really hope you never live anywhere near me. Exactly the sort of busy-body who need to be in a miserable HOA and run for president.

[Anonymous]

What was the motivation to send the link to the neighborhood president, Mrs. Kravitz?

[Anonymous]

I don't think you actually feel bad. Why did you send the link to the neighborhood president?

[Anonymous]

What is wrong with you? Do you even live in the neighborhood? I could see complaining if you lived next door and were bothered by a frat house throwing constant parties. Why on earth did you email the President to get these people in trouble??

[Anonymous]

Curious as to your thought process that made you send the info to the neighborhood president. Seems like you deliberately fished to get someone into trouble, and as a result, these grad students will have to scramble for a place to live, on a very small income.

I was once a grad student. Luckily I lived with my boyfriend, now husband, who was earning enough for us to rent an apartment. But all my grad student friends were trying to make ends meet in roommate situations close to campus. If their rental had suddenly closed on them, it would have generated massive stress.

[Anonymous]

Youre disgusting. People renting rooms likely don't have a lot of money, and now youve gotten them kicked out of their home. What is wrong with you?

[Anonymous]

Weird thing to do on your part.

[Anonymous]

Oy vey. You're just so CHUFFED all these people are going to suffer, that you had to proudly announce it on DCUM.

You little psychopath, you.

[Anonymous]

what s wrong with you? you do this but then post her wanting us to say "its ok". its not!

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I don’t understand the motivation here either other than to cause problems and you don’t sound all that distraught.

This was a really crappy thing to do, especially because this rental has no impact on you whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Zoning restrictions prohibiting X or more unrelated people from living together are among the targets for changing zoning to make housing more accessible and affordable for all.

During one stretch in college, I lived in a house with 9 other people. The owner had raised his very large family in it, adding on here and there as the family grew. It was definitely an odd house in terms of layout, but we all actually had plenty of privacy for that reason--it didn't seem like a 10 person house unless you noticed the dishes piled up. We each paid maybe 1/3 of what people in more typical shared rent situations paid.

[Anonymous]

You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth, OP. If you went to these lengths to report the situation, then why would you feel bad? You achieved exactly what you set out to do.

[Anonymous]

I was expecting to read that you had accidentally made someone’s life more difficult, OP. Not that you intentionally caused someone trouble AND likely got some college kids booted out of their housing. You’re a real peach.

I hope all subsequent houses that come on the market are way too expensive for you.

[Anonymous]

OP is nosy and did something I'd never bother to do, but...

I agree you should be careful of doing stuff like this and that if you make this kind of mistake, you always run the risk of someone like OP screwing it up for you. If you're going to start a business, rent out a property, etc., you should do it by the book or it could really cost you in the end. To me, that's the takeaway. OP sounds obnoxious but there are lots of people like OP out there.