Unlicensed boarding house in Washington DC?

October 22, 2006 8:09 AM

Unlicensed boarding house in Washington DC?

I just moved back to Washington DC. I needed some temporary lodging until my condo was ready for me so I found this house in Chevy Chase DC (not Maryland). This older lady rents out the rooms in the house and also lives next door. Well it's a disaster. I hate it here and the woman is nuts (obsessive-compulsive is one of her issues) and is constantly over here. I am definitely moving out when this first month is up. I expect some sort of confrontation with her when I tell her. So I'd like to be able to point to some DC Laws that state she needs a license for this type of arrangement. She also rents the other rooms for stays as short as 2 days. Can anyone help me out? DC laws are preferred but national ones are helpful as well.

posted by hokie409 to Law & Government (2 answers total)

Is she holding a security deposit of yours, and did you sign a contract? If not, why provoke conflict...just move out and be done with it. Don't start citing the legal violations unless/until you have to start negotiating with her to get your deposit back. You'd be surprised how pissed and vindictive people get when you tell them they're violating the law and seem to be threatening legal action. No point in doing that unless you need to.

Anyway, the DC code is online here.
posted by footnote at 8:55 AM on October 22, 2006

I know a good DC renter's rights attorney, if you want/need to take it to that level. He gave me lots of (free) advice before declining my case, so it would be worth at least talking to him, I think. My email's in my profile.
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:58 PM on October 22, 2006