Telling landlord we're expecting twins

[Anonymous]

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I know this was sarcastic but: basically. We can't afford the actual moving expenses and the decreased quality of life from the length of that commute for each of us (my husband works in Suitland and I work on the Hill) would outweigh any potential savings in rent.

you don't seem to understand the meaning of "afford"
"we can not afford unpleasant life" is the same as saying "I can not afford not to be a genius" or "I can not afford not to be a Victoria secret model"
reality not your desires dictates what you can afford
if you don't have enough money to move from a place you are overspending on your housing
with your income you should not have rented a 2 bedroom to begin with - there were only two of you; it was a luxury

You don't know our income, and we rented a 2 bedroom home knowing we wanted to start a family and wouldn't want to move right away. The twins part was a surprise, obviously.

OF COURSE we're overspending on our housing, that is life in a city like DC. There is almost no way to spend only the % suggested on the generic real estate guidelines. And if we were not expecting twins we would be able to afford a move, but we aren't able to spend that extra money at this time when we're trying to save toward that.

I was just looking for advice based on others' experiences. I'll look elsewhere for helpful nonjudgmental advice.

You had in fact gotten a lot of advice from both landlords and other parents. You also got a fair amount of judgment but that, too, is something that you very much need to hear, unpleasant as it is. You sound clueless/entitled and not acquainted with the realities of life with children in this area. Not one person (and there were various landlords, tenants, parents of twins etc) saw any merit in your hope that your landlord would not raise your rent because you are having twins. You need to think hard about why are your expectations so different from actual experiences of others.

[sarah1513]

My main goal was to see if anyone had experience with our exact situation (a previous paper lease that had wording that was obviously just boilerplate and contradicted DC tenant occupancy law) and telling/not telling the landlord explicitly about expected children. A few people did help with that and I'm convinced not to proactively tell him, at least unless/until I'm able to talk with the tenant advocacy office.

I don't think I'm "entitled"--I've lived in DC for 17 years, all of them renting, and know what it is to pay very large rents, and really, I was just expressing the maybe, possibly, hope that our landlord would be nice and choose to make this year one of the years he doesn't raise our rent--he hasn't raised it every time. I don't think he HAS to do that nor do I think I'm ENTITLED to that, it was just an aside to my main question.

I suppose I'm clueless in the sense that no, I don't have experience raising kids here yet, but neither does anyone when it's your first pregnancy. We realize we will be stretched and spending out of savings for several years while daycare is most expensive.

To the poster who mentioned the lead in the water pipes also, thank you. We actually had the free testing from the city for that a year or two ago and have since had the lead-filtering filter added to our kitchen faucet, and have a lead-filtering (not Brita) pitcher.

To the poster asking about how we're "not under a lease" now, in DC, once your first one-year paper lease expires, you automatically move to a month to month lease and your landlord I believe has the right to raise the rent no more often than every 6 months.

[Anonymous]

If you can't afford to move I would try to lock in a one year lease now. Your landlord may pull something shady of he doesn't want kids in his place (or any other reason)

[Anonymous]

When we lived on the hill and had our babies, I saw that the occupancy thing was in our lease as well. We did tell our landlord, but only in the context of other stuff. He said he was happy for us and good luck. I think a landlord who tries to evict a family because they have babies after moving in would be crucified in DC. The language in the lease is to keep you from subletting your apartment or getting a half dozen roommates. (Even then, evicting you would be an uphill battle in DC.) Enjoy your babies, but I think getting a rent break is probably a pipe dream unless your landlord is a saint or a close personal friend.

[Anonymous]

The lease number is almost certainly just a boilerplate thing so that you can effectively sublet without permission. Wouldn’t apply to children, who I don’t think are treated as “people” for occupancy purposes in DC until they turn 1 anyway. I would inform the landlord just so it didn’t seem like I was hiding anything and to get out in front of any issue.


FWIW, I also live on the Hill and have no idea why people are giving you such a hard time. I would also think there was some chance a landlord would decide not to raise your rent for a year given the twins... I must also be naive and entitled.

[Anonymous]

We are in MoCo, and I'm not sure how MoCo occupancy laws relate to those in DC, but a couple we know who's renting a two-bedroom apartment (from a management company) went on to have 3 kids without notifying anyone and without moving. But since theirs was a management company, I don't think their rent increases were negotiable to begin with.

Just an observation.

[sarah1513]

Anonymous wrote:The lease number is almost certainly just a boilerplate thing so that you can effectively sublet without permission. Wouldn’t apply to children, who I don’t think are treated as “people” for occupancy purposes in DC until they turn 1 anyway. I would inform the landlord just so it didn’t seem like I was hiding anything and to get out in front of any issue.


FWIW, I also live on the Hill and have no idea why people are giving you such a hard time. I would also think there was some chance a landlord would decide not to raise your rent for a year given the twins... I must also be naive and entitled.

Thank you for this.

[Anonymous]

We live in a large managed apartment building, and had to add our son to our lease as an occupant when he was born. Our water charges are divided up by the number of occupants in each apartment and we needed to start paying his share of the water. This was all set forth in our lease terms.

[Anonymous]

You'll never get your security deposit back now with twins on they way.

Appealing to your landlord with news of twins. I'm betting he'll do a bigger rent hike than in years past...just knowing his place will now have way more wear&tear with 2 rugrats running around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You'll never get your security deposit back now with twins on they way.

Appealing to your landlord with news of twins. I'm betting he'll do a bigger rent hike than in years past...just knowing his place will now have way more wear&tear with 2 rugrats running around.

In DC the amount and frequency of rent hikes are controlled.

[Anonymous]

Do not tell your landlord about the babies until much closer to your due date, or even after they're born (as an FYI more than anything). There's a reason the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of having kids. It is rampant.

[Anonymous]

I'm a landlord on Capitol Hill and I would never raise a tenant's rent just because they had a baby and I expected more wear and tear. BUT, I was at one time a tenant who got dinged for what I considered absurd wear and tear offenses (I once lost $400 of a security deposit because the landlord said there were a couple of crumbs in a kitchen drawer - my naked eye did not detect them!) so perhaps I am more sympathetic and expect people to live in the house comfortably and sometimes that means scuffs on the floor.

All that said, my property taxes go up every year unfortunately and there comes a point when you're questioning how profitable it is to be a landlord. I've never raised the rent on a tenant but I've raised it between tenants to account for the increased property taxes. If I had a tenant who stayed a few years I'd probably be forced to raise the rent. Just posting this to consider the standpoint of the landlord - they often have increased expenses too so it is hard to take into account the financial circumstances of your tenants. Good luck to you and your husband as you welcome your new babies into the world!

[Anonymous]

NP. You do sound very clueless and naive, OP. And yes, entitled.

We're currently renting, just had another baby and it never occurred to me for a second that it might stop my LL from raising the rent. We have so far escaped rent increases due to paying consistently on time, handling repairs ourselves, etc. It's cheaper to keep us than replace us.

We just notified the LL a couple weeks before the baby was due as a courtesy.

The world doesn't stop because you're having a baby. Or two. That was your decision, not your LL's decision. If you couldn't afford it and now effectively need/want handouts (which is another way of phrasing your question) then you shouldn't have chosen to have kids.

And a baby (or two!) definitely increases wear and tear on the house - more use of bathrooms, more use of washing machines, more use in the kitchen, more visitors, more everything really. If anything, I'd expect the rent to actually go up faster than it would have usually.

[Anonymous]

You’re a nice person, OP, but Life is going to kick your derriere. You can be high-minded all you want, but the rent is going to be raised!

And do lead testing, please.

[Anonymous]

Lol. We were renting when my first was born and our landlord called us immediately after the baby was born to tell us that we needed to move out in 30 days so that he could let his college-age daughter live in the unit. I don't think having twins is gonna appeal to a landlord's human side.