RENTERS: No license, no rent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This actually happened to my neighbor. Basement renter stopped paying then moved out with no notice approximately four months after moving in. Neighbor realized that he had no grounds to collect anything from renter, and immediately afterwards, put in an application to make the rental legal. This was in Maryland. It had been rented for about 6 years before then by a few different tenants without issue.

This!

[Anonymous]

As a landlord, how do you tell your tenants who are hoarders, to clean their home to prevent fire, plumbing backup, roaches, ants, and rats? They are very nice family so DH doesn’t want to put them on street.

[Anonymous]

During house hunting we came across a house in NW with an illegally rented basement. The ceiling was way too low to be legal, which was surprising because the entire house was rebuilt. Turns out the couple didn’t want to spend the money there according to the builder because they figured they could rent it out anyway. So the way they had to rent is as a room share. By the time people got there and figured it out the house sat and sat in the hottest market and sold for far less than they ever could have made on their sorry excuse for a rental. In theory the renter had the run of the house and all
sorts of rights. Turned out in the press the guy was also a total sexual harasser creep, things like that tend to go hand in hand.

[Anonymous]

There’s also a house in the Palisades where this happened. It was trying to sell for years and the rogue tenant wouldn’t leave and wouldn’t let the house be shown and they had no rights to evict. It took years to sell at a massive loss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:During house hunting we came across a house in NW with an illegally rented basement. The ceiling was way too low to be legal, which was surprising because the entire house was rebuilt. Turns out the couple didn’t want to spend the money there according to the builder because they figured they could rent it out anyway. So the way they had to rent is as a room share. By the time people got there and figured it out the house sat and sat in the hottest market and sold for far less than they ever could have made on their sorry excuse for a rental. In theory the renter had the run of the house and all
sorts of rights. Turned out in the press the guy was also a total sexual harasser creep, things like that tend to go hand in hand.

The landlord that is sexually harassed women at work. It was all over the press.

[Anonymous]

The market has a way of sorting itself out.

The illegal basement turned Airbnb crowd won’t be making much. I’d never get a subterranean airbnb at a premium.

The renters should get an upper hand in every illegal rental situation until the rogue landlords learn.

And the world moves on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm no proponent of illegal rentals, but I also think we also have to acknowledge that there's a wide latitude between units that lack a BBL because they have serious safety issues and units that lack a BBL because of issues that are not unsafe but are difficult to correct. A center beam in a rowhouse basement that's a few inches lower than the limit for rentals is not a fire hazard; virtually everyone who has such a beam and doesn't rent their basement uses it as finished space without issue. Utilities that are not separated by unit are not a fire hazard. On the other hand, overcrowding, insufficient egress, those are very serious issues.

What we should really have are a set of more limited restrictions for getting a BBL that are solely focused on fire safety, coupled with more stringent enforcement of those limited restrictions. Maybe some of the eliminated requirements could be replaced by disclosure requirements to tenants. The current regulations end up pulling a lot of units out of the rental market that might otherwise be available, and that tenants would be happy (and safe) to live in. This exacerbates our issues with affordable housing, and it probably actually makes much of the remaining housing less safe by ensuring that many rented units go uninspected to avoid the more onerous restrictions that have little to do with safety.

That makes sense, but it’s a rare case that it’s one beam. Until you manage to win this fight, keep your illegal rental of the market. But renters honestly hold all the cards as they should because you don’t care about their safety if you are renting an illegal unit

Is it a rare case? It's how every basement in my neighborhood was constructed. The only ones with higher ceilings paid $100k to have their foundations underpinned and their basements dug out, and many of them now deal with water issues as a result. It's not hard to see why people make the choice to rent anyway; you can self-insure against a lot of tenant issues with that $100k still in your pocket.

We opted to stop renting the basement (the previous owner had rented it) rather than digging out or renting without a BBL. That's one less unit on the rental market, and now our guests get a whole floor to themselves instead. Great for our guests, but bad for the rental market, and it also puts rowhouses further out of the reach of first-time homebuyers. Nothing unsafe about the basement though, I let my own mother sleep down there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm no proponent of illegal rentals, but I also think we also have to acknowledge that there's a wide latitude between units that lack a BBL because they have serious safety issues and units that lack a BBL because of issues that are not unsafe but are difficult to correct. A center beam in a rowhouse basement that's a few inches lower than the limit for rentals is not a fire hazard; virtually everyone who has such a beam and doesn't rent their basement uses it as finished space without issue. Utilities that are not separated by unit are not a fire hazard. On the other hand, overcrowding, insufficient egress, those are very serious issues.

What we should really have are a set of more limited restrictions for getting a BBL that are solely focused on fire safety, coupled with more stringent enforcement of those limited restrictions. Maybe some of the eliminated requirements could be replaced by disclosure requirements to tenants. The current regulations end up pulling a lot of units out of the rental market that might otherwise be available, and that tenants would be happy (and safe) to live in. This exacerbates our issues with affordable housing, and it probably actually makes much of the remaining housing less safe by ensuring that many rented units go uninspected to avoid the more onerous restrictions that have little to do with safety.

That makes sense, but it’s a rare case that it’s one beam. Until you manage to win this fight, keep your illegal rental of the market. But renters honestly hold all the cards as they should because you don’t care about their safety if you are renting an illegal unit

Every illegal landlord thinks they are a beam away from legal. That is almost NEVER the case and for a good reason. Why don’t you call the inspector in and find out? I dare you to post the report on here. I’m willing to bet I’m right
Is it a rare case? It's how every basement in my neighborhood was constructed. The only ones with higher ceilings paid $100k to have their foundations underpinned and their basements dug out, and many of them now deal with water issues as a result. It's not hard to see why people make the choice to rent anyway; you can self-insure against a lot of tenant issues with that $100k still in your pocket.

We opted to stop renting the basement (the previous owner had rented it) rather than digging out or renting without a BBL. That's one less unit on the rental market, and now our guests get a whole floor to themselves instead. Great for our guests, but bad for the rental market, and it also puts rowhouses further out of the reach of first-time homebuyers. Nothing unsafe about the basement though, I let my own mother sleep down there.

[Anonymous]

Every illegal landlord thinks they are a beam away from legal. That is almost NEVER the case and for a good reason. Why don’t you call the inspector in and find out? I dare you to post the report on here. I’m willing to bet I’m right

[Anonymous]

My old neighbor years ago used to hire a guy who looked like he was out of GodFather or Sopranos very scary large Mafia looking guy with a Brooklyn Accent to show up with a hammer in hand to collect rent from dead beat tenants or tell deadbeat tenants to get out It worked for years.

Somewhere around the mid 90s to early 2000s tenants got more and more ballsy. He sent guy to a women over a month late on rent demanding payment. She actually said No I want pay and No I wont leave. She then went to use house phone to dial 911, the guy hit phone with hammer and ran out and quite his side gig.

He was a mild manner middle class clerical office worker. It was first time ever the tenant just did not say yes here is check and hand it to him or say they will leave in 48 hours or by end of month. My neighbor started selling his places over next few years.

Tennant rights are crazy, My neighbor owned like 7-10 places all small capes or condos rented out in blue collar areas. All basic places he go cheap at the normal rent. All at once he was a monster to tell folks over 30 days late on rent they have 48 hours to leave or pay rent.

In regards to actor he hired to play tough guy no charges filed but she milked him for six months free rent as he went though system. But what balls she had no clue that guy who looked like a hit man was bluffing.

[Anonymous]

Or in some other states under 30 days is considered like airbnb for a hotel with right to toss tenants and less protection.

A place near my old house had people there for years on 29 day leases. They do a new lease every 29 days so they can boot them and they cant file complaints really.

So that is all the strict rules accomplished. No one wants to give a 1-2 year lease on a legal unit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm no proponent of illegal rentals, but I also think we also have to acknowledge that there's a wide latitude between units that lack a BBL because they have serious safety issues and units that lack a BBL because of issues that are not unsafe but are difficult to correct. A center beam in a rowhouse basement that's a few inches lower than the limit for rentals is not a fire hazard; virtually everyone who has such a beam and doesn't rent their basement uses it as finished space without issue. Utilities that are not separated by unit are not a fire hazard. On the other hand, overcrowding, insufficient egress, those are very serious issues.

What we should really have are a set of more limited restrictions for getting a BBL that are solely focused on fire safety, coupled with more stringent enforcement of those limited restrictions. Maybe some of the eliminated requirements could be replaced by disclosure requirements to tenants. The current regulations end up pulling a lot of units out of the rental market that might otherwise be available, and that tenants would be happy (and safe) to live in. This exacerbates our issues with affordable housing, and it probably actually makes much of the remaining housing less safe by ensuring that many rented units go uninspected to avoid the more onerous restrictions that have little to do with safety.

BINGO.

As noted on the other thread, t's perfectly legal to use your basement apartment as an Arbnb without jumping through all the hoops required -- many of which are not safety related -- to rent the apartment out long-term. And why is that? It's because the city wants to make sure that Arbnbs benefit actual residents who want/need to supplement their incomes to afford their housing -- not people who want to start a business that displaces residents. Insisting on so many ridiculous requirements to rent out your basement long-term undermines the city's efforts to provide more affordable housing.

For up to 90 days a year! Enjoy that. Also, insurance policies in place and I gotta say I’m not seeing too many dodgy basements to swoon over on AirBnB

You don’t understand the new Airbnb law. Look again. If you’re living upstairs you can rent out the basement through Airbnb for as many days as you’d like. There’s no 90 day limit.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think this is all that complicated. The rules to legalize a rental are pretty basic. The height is 7’ and 6’4”-6’8” under beams. So the situation where it’s unfairly not legal is pretty rare. There are rules pinned to the top of the board on dcum.

So people who can’t get a license shouldn’t be renting. People who don’t want to get a license you shouldn’t rent from.

It’s really simple: if your landlord thinks laws don’t apply to them, why wouldn’t you adopt their same attitude? Judges are likely to side with you anyway.

I would think no one can ever get evicted for non payment from one of these unlicensed rentals in practice. If by some miracle they did, it would take forever, they would have grounds to sue, there are plenty of legal aid type places that would sue for free on tenants’ behalf. Also what coming is that any history of evictions will be sealed.

There illegal landlords, I did it for you. I made your illegal rental attractive to tenants against all odds.

That license looking more like what you should do now? Thought so.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Let me add that there are two Airbnb basement rentals within a half block of our row home, neither is dodgy, and both bring in tens of thousands of dollars a year income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm no proponent of illegal rentals, but I also think we also have to acknowledge that there's a wide latitude between units that lack a BBL because they have serious safety issues and units that lack a BBL because of issues that are not unsafe but are difficult to correct. A center beam in a rowhouse basement that's a few inches lower than the limit for rentals is not a fire hazard; virtually everyone who has such a beam and doesn't rent their basement uses it as finished space without issue. Utilities that are not separated by unit are not a fire hazard. On the other hand, overcrowding, insufficient egress, those are very serious issues.

What we should really have are a set of more limited restrictions for getting a BBL that are solely focused on fire safety, coupled with more stringent enforcement of those limited restrictions. Maybe some of the eliminated requirements could be replaced by disclosure requirements to tenants. The current regulations end up pulling a lot of units out of the rental market that might otherwise be available, and that tenants would be happy (and safe) to live in. This exacerbates our issues with affordable housing, and it probably actually makes much of the remaining housing less safe by ensuring that many rented units go uninspected to avoid the more onerous restrictions that have little to do with safety.

BINGO.

As noted on the other thread, t's perfectly legal to use your basement apartment as an Arbnb without jumping through all the hoops required -- many of which are not safety related -- to rent the apartment out long-term. And why is that? It's because the city wants to make sure that Arbnbs benefit actual residents who want/need to supplement their incomes to afford their housing -- not people who want to start a business that displaces residents. Insisting on so many ridiculous requirements to rent out your basement long-term undermines the city's efforts to provide more affordable housing.

For up to 90 days a year! Enjoy that. Also, insurance policies in place and I gotta say I’m not seeing too many dodgy basements to swoon over on AirBnB

You don’t understand the new Airbnb law. Look again. If you’re living upstairs you can rent out the basement through Airbnb for as many days as you’d like. There’s no 90 day limit.

No, there’s a consecutive up to 30 day limit. How many of these you think you can cobble together and make it worth your while? At what price? Who wants an illegal basement unless it’s dirt cheap? AirBnB is a clever way for DC gov to mute the my basement should be legal crowd. Now it’s your opportunity to not make any real money and you can’t complain. And I think it’s a bit harder to get around AirBnB rules than cheat the DC government