Telling landlord we're expecting twins

[Anonymous]

I’m not a twin mom but I am a moderate income mom of two living on the Hill, so we have that in common. First, CONGRATULATIONS! Raising babies on the Hill is fun, even when you aren’t rich. This is entirely off topic but I want to suggest at least considering moving to a 3-bedroom and hiring an au pair. One of my best friends lives in the neighborhood and had twins. I think the au pair is what made it doable, and ultimately, it might be cheaper than staying in your 2-bed and sending two babies to daycare.

[Anonymous]

A landlord should be a friendly relationship. I always wish my tenant happy holidays and stuff. In a non professional landlord tenant relationship rent is decided depending on tenant relationship. This is not a professionally managed building

[Anonymous]

You sound like you cannot afford where you live with these twins that you and your DH made a decision to.have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a twin mom but I am a moderate income mom of two living on the Hill, so we have that in common. First, CONGRATULATIONS! Raising babies on the Hill is fun, even when you aren’t rich. This is entirely off topic but I want to suggest at least considering moving to a 3-bedroom and hiring an au pair. One of my best friends lives in the neighborhood and had twins. I think the au pair is what made it doable, and ultimately, it might be cheaper than staying in your 2-bed and sending two babies to daycare.

Yep, this. Otherwise you will be miserable. Childcare sucks big time especially with two babies that will get sick all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what good would come of telling him explicitly. I definitely would not expect it to effect the rent in a favorable way, especially if he's not the warm and fuzzy type. Does occupancy law override something specifically address in the lease you signed?

+1. I would be sure that the DC tenancy laws do in fact apply given that they are specifically counter to the lease you signed.

But she said she's now month to month. That puts her in a weaker position. I wouldn't tell the landlord anything because he may decide he has a better tenant or doesn't want children. And your having twins means nothing about his decision whether or not to raise your rent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what good would come of telling him explicitly. I definitely would not expect it to effect the rent in a favorable way, especially if he's not the warm and fuzzy type. Does occupancy law override something specifically address in the lease you signed?

+1. I would be sure that the DC tenancy laws do in fact apply given that they are specifically counter to the lease you signed.

But she said she's now month to month. That puts her in a weaker position. I wouldn't tell the landlord anything because he may decide he has a better tenant or doesn't want children. And your having twins means nothing about his decision whether or not to raise your rent.

[Anonymous]

sarah1513 wrote:My husband and I are expecting twins due in June, and we rent our 2 bedroom rowhouse on the Hill. We're planning to tell our landlord shortly about our news 1) because it seems weird for him not to know at some point and 2) frankly, we're hoping this will help ward off a rent increase which has typically come this time of year. Our landlord is kind of prickly and unpredictable though.

We are long past the original 1 year paper lease (we started renting in August 2015) so have been month to month per DC law since then. Nevertheless I double checked what it said on our boilerplate lease--our landlord runs the property himself but used a management company to show the property and execute the lease agreement because he lives out of town--and it says occupancy for two persons including children.

DC tenant occupancy law allows for up to 5 people in a 2 bedroom apartment (2 x number of bedrooms + 1) so we're good on that side. Has anyone had the experience of updating your landlord on the birth of children and how did it go?

Thanks!

Interesting. What other special accommodations do you expect others to make for you since you have oh so special twins?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A landlord should be a friendly relationship. I always wish my tenant happy holidays and stuff. In a non professional landlord tenant relationship rent is decided depending on tenant relationship. This is not a professionally managed building

ALL landlord tenant relationships are professional relationships. The fact that a landlord that does not outsource management does not mean he is not a professional.

[Anonymous]

I own a RH on the Hill that I've rented for over 15 years. If you're month-to-month, you might want to request another year-long lease.

As a landlord, I wouldn't care that you were having twins, unless it means one of you will be a SAHP and your income will drop below a level I'm comfortable with. It sounds as though you're worried about money, so that would concern me.

If you asked me for a new year-long lease, I'd offer it at the current rate you're paying. If you think you'll stay even longer, landlords like having leases expire in spring/summer, so ask for an 18 month lease.

[Anonymous]

I am a landlord and my lease (the gcaar one) says that 2 people may occupy the unit, plus any children they have on their own or adopted.

[Anonymous]

sarah1513 wrote:

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.

Since you are month to month, he can require you to sign a new lease at any time. You can choose not to by deciding to move out instead.

[Anonymous]

No, don't say anything. He doesn't want to know about your sex life, and having kids is none of his business as long as you don't have quadruplets and go over the occupancy rules.

Some landlords prefer people with kids, some prefer dual income NO kids. Some do not care.

Your landlord chose to rent to you two when you were dual income/no kids so DO NOT ROCK THE BOAT. He could have you sign a new lease, he could raise the rent so much in hopes you move out. He could decide to sell now for whatever reason.

You having twins is lovely and exciting, but 99.9% chance not lovely and exciting to your landlord. You have a 70% chance he is going to be annoyed. If he had wanted a family with two kids he probably would have chosen a family like that the first time around.

Don't say anything. It isn't like you two are both 58 and having even one baby is a surprise.

Congrats on the babies!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, don't say anything. He doesn't want to know about your sex life, and having kids is none of his business as long as you don't have quadruplets and go over the occupancy rules.

Some landlords prefer people with kids, some prefer dual income NO kids. Some do not care.

Your landlord chose to rent to you two when you were dual income/no kids so DO NOT ROCK THE BOAT. He could have you sign a new lease, he could raise the rent so much in hopes you move out. He could decide to sell now for whatever reason.

You having twins is lovely and exciting, but 99.9% chance not lovely and exciting to your landlord. You have a 70% chance he is going to be annoyed. If he had wanted a family with two kids he probably would have chosen a family like that the first time around.

Don't say anything. It isn't like you two are both 58 and having even one baby is a surprise.

Congrats on the babies!

Just to add to this ^^^ You are in a precarious position by being month to month. DO NOT ROCK THE BOAT.

[Anonymous]

^ this

[Anonymous]

sarah1513 wrote:My husband and I are expecting twins due in June, and we rent our 2 bedroom rowhouse on the Hill. We're planning to tell our landlord shortly about our news 1) because it seems weird for him not to know at some point and 2) frankly, we're hoping this will help ward off a rent increase which has typically come this time of year. Our landlord is kind of prickly and unpredictable though.

We are long past the original 1 year paper lease (we started renting in August 2015) so have been month to month per DC law since then. Nevertheless I double checked what it said on our boilerplate lease--our landlord runs the property himself but used a management company to show the property and execute the lease agreement because he lives out of town--and it says occupancy for two persons including children.

DC tenant occupancy law allows for up to 5 people in a 2 bedroom apartment (2 x number of bedrooms + 1) so we're good on that side. Has anyone had the experience of updating your landlord on the birth of children and how did it go?

Thanks!

Why would you tell him? It’s none of his business and there’s no way he’s going to give you a break on rent