Telling landlord we're expecting twins

[sarah1513]

Anonymous wrote:1) Don't tell him. Don't hide it, but there are too many unknowns. The chance that he'll think, "ooh! they have new expenses, I shouldn't raise their rent" approaches zero. It is more likely he'll think either, "kids are destructive," or "that's more than two people," and try to force you out somehow or make you sign a new lease with built-in rent increases.
2) Talk to someone at the rent board about the occupancy situation. There are a number of competing laws at play here, and it is difficult to evict in DC, but why give him the opportunity to try to get you out before you know how strong your footing is to fight it?

Likely nothing is going to happen and all will be well. Renting is always stressful for these kinds of reasons, but it is generally best to not rock the boat if there's a potential downside that's worse than doing nothing.

Thanks. I just mentioned in reply to someone else, but I have a message in at the tenant advocate office to ask about this.

I don't think he can make us sign a new lease if we're otherwise compliant and have transitioned to month to month? But maybe if there is a loophole with having children.

[sarah1513]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would he not raise your rent because you are having children? It is business. Also why does he need to know? I have no clue what is going on in my tenants' lives which is fine with me.

Unless the tenants exceed the occupancy law for the unit and i believe in dc you area allowed

Space: At least 70 square feet is required for each room used for sleeping by one tenant over 1 year old. For rooms used by 2 or more tenants for sleeping, there must be at least 50 square feet for each tenant. Under the DC Human Rights Act (not the Housing Code), it may be considered unlawful discrimination if a landlord tries to evict a family with children in order to limit the number of tenants living in the apartment. For purposes of the Human Rights Act, in general up to 2 persons are allowed in an efficiency, 3 persons in a one bedroom, 5 persons in a two bedroom, and 7 persons in a three bedroom.

Right, that is what I found as well, which tells me the underlying law is on our side in terms of occupancy limits.

[Anonymous]

We told our landlord when we had twins. We were renting a a condo and I just thought to tell the owner out of courtesy. She didn’t raise the rent or anything, but it’s probably good for the landlord to know how many people reside in their unit.

[sarah1513]

Anonymous wrote:This is all a business transaction. Dont think you are something special and rare bc you're expecting twins.

Not saying we're special (although technically, it IS rare!) but given that we're dealing with huge financial costs for all of this, and that we're dealing with an individual landlord, not a corporate one, we're thinking of it as trying to make a human appeal and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

You don't need to tell him but you also shouldn't expect a break simply because you are having twins. If the rent is too expensive for you then you should move to a different place.

[Anonymous]

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all a business transaction. Dont think you are something special and rare bc you're expecting twins.

Not saying we're special (although technically, it IS rare!) but given that we're dealing with huge financial costs for all of this, and that we're dealing with an individual landlord, not a corporate one, we're thinking of it as trying to make a human appeal and see what happens.

LOL.

[Anonymous]

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all a business transaction. Dont think you are something special and rare bc you're expecting twins.

Not saying we're special (although technically, it IS rare!) but given that we're dealing with huge financial costs for all of this, and that we're dealing with an individual landlord, not a corporate one, we're thinking of it as trying to make a human appeal and see what happens.

yeah, this is kind of ridiculous. we moved a lot and were renters for a long time by DCUM standards. 2 out of 3 children were born to apartments we rented. the thought of it having any kind of favorable effect on rent never crossed our minds.

[Anonymous]

I am a landlord and I rent/deal with my own landlord and I have twins.

NO! Don't tell and don't try to illicit pity. It is a huge financial cost but every landlord I have dealt with (mostly in Boston) have been horrible horrible money grubbing people. Having kids is a private matter.

Now, I do suggest you check for lead paint because lead poisoning sucks and it is harder to corral 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to tell him but you also shouldn't expect a break simply because you are having twins. If the rent is too expensive for you then you should move to a different place.

+1
you live on the hill - you could move to, say, rockville and rent for less money. welcome to the commute/size/schools/budget dilemma.

[Anonymous]

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all a business transaction. Dont think you are something special and rare bc you're expecting twins.

Not saying we're special (although technically, it IS rare!) but given that we're dealing with huge financial costs for all of this, and that we're dealing with an individual landlord, not a corporate one, we're thinking of it as trying to make a human appeal and see what happens.

[sarah1513]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to tell him but you also shouldn't expect a break simply because you are having twins. If the rent is too expensive for you then you should move to a different place.

+1
you live on the hill - you could move to, say, rockville and rent for less money. welcome to the commute/size/schools/budget dilemma.

We're fine with the schools--big supporters of public schools--and not able to move at this time, especially not so far out. The fact of moving in and of itself is an expense we couldn't take on now for one thing.

I'm not EXPECTING the landlord not to raise our rent, just expressing a hope. The current rent is not too expensive (other than by the standard that ALL rent in DC is too expensive) but the longer we can go without a rent increase the better off we will be. (Duh.)

We have had money saved toward potentially buying a place at some point, but that will now all be spent down as we supplement our monthly income to cover daycare and other child expenses.

[sarah1513]

Anonymous wrote:I am a landlord and I rent/deal with my own landlord and I have twins.

NO! Don't tell and don't try to illicit pity. It is a huge financial cost but every landlord I have dealt with (mostly in Boston) have been horrible horrible money grubbing people. Having kids is a private matter.

Now, I do suggest you check for lead paint because lead poisoning sucks and it is harder to corral 2.

Thank you for the specific advice based on your experience. If we have the no lead paint confirmation in our lease do you feel like that covers that issue?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't tell him and you can have another set of twins and you'd still be fine.
I didn't even see my tenant when he left. You might find it necessary to move also soon and not even have a need to tell your landlord. If rent increase worries you so, that you hope he's no do, maybe it is time to move to somewhere cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all a business transaction. Dont think you are something special and rare bc you're expecting twins.

Not saying we're special (although technically, it IS rare!) but given that we're dealing with huge financial costs for all of this, and that we're dealing with an individual landlord, not a corporate one, we're thinking of it as trying to make a human appeal and see what happens.

yeah, this is kind of ridiculous. we moved a lot and were renters for a long time by DCUM standards. 2 out of 3 children were born to apartments we rented. the thought of it having any kind of favorable effect on rent never crossed our minds.

As a landlord on the hill this would make me want to increase your rent. I, too, am a parent and know how kids can cause problems to a house. I’m not talking about coloring on the walls with markers but innocent things like dragging toys on hardwood floors that’s causes scratching. He isn’t going to reduce rent because he feels bad for you and he won’t send you a baby gift. Would you tell your dry cleaner or grocer hoping for a discount? Welcome to the expensive world of children.

[Anonymous]

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to tell him but you also shouldn't expect a break simply because you are having twins. If the rent is too expensive for you then you should move to a different place.

+1
you live on the hill - you could move to, say, rockville and rent for less money. welcome to the commute/size/schools/budget dilemma.

We're fine with the schools--big supporters of public schools--and not able to move at this time, especially not so far out. The fact of moving in and of itself is an expense we couldn't take on now for one thing.

I'm not EXPECTING the landlord not to raise our rent, just expressing a hope. The current rent is not too expensive (other than by the standard that ALL rent in DC is too expensive) but the longer we can go without a rent increase the better off we will be. (Duh.)

We have had money saved toward potentially buying a place at some point, but that will now all be spent down as we supplement our monthly income to cover daycare and other child expenses.

i see - you simply must keep living in one of the most expensive neighborhoods, it's the only way?