Apartment City

Darrow Montgomery When  Matthew Pfaff was looking for a rent- controlled apartment in D.C. last year, he thought he could find one within his budget and in a convenient location—without much ado. But more than a year and a half later, Pfaff is reflecting on how much of a headache that process became. After applying for a one-bedroom unit at the historic South Cathedral Mansions apartment building in Woodley Park, property management staff repeatedly delayed his move-in date and made conflicting statements about what his rent would be, according to a lawsuit Pfaff ’s attorney Aaron Arce Stark filed in D.C. Superior Court this summer. The Silver Spring resident is suing for damages he allegedly suffered because he had to go month-to-month on his existing lease at a higher rate, hired movers, and sold some furniture. “I didn’t want to move every year to stay in an affordable unit,” says Pfaff, who remains in the same apartment he was living in when he applied. “I’m not entirely sure...

A loophole that allows landlords in Washington, D.C., to get around the city’s rent-control policy is going to court. A legal case between a local, named Matthew Pfaff , and Woodley Park’s South Cathedral Mansions apartment building will be one of the first in local civil court to directly address the issue of rent concessions, according to Washington City Paper , who further reported: “The practice goes like this: A landlord of a rent- controlled building offers an applicant a discount on monthly rent as an incentive for that person to move in. That landlord registers a higher rent amount with the city, even though the tenant usually has no idea there’s a second value in play. (Or if they do, they don’t know what it means.) When the lease comes up for renewal, the landlord raises the rent based on that higher number ... The tenant must decide whether to move out or try and negotiate down.” Generally, the maximum standard annual rent increase is 0.3 percent for tenants living in a...

RENO, Nev. (AP) — It's a journey that most people eventually take. Fifteen years ago , Anne Carte decided to leave the familiar comforts of home and family to move out on her own. For Carte, who was 20 years old at the time, moving to the Biggest Little City from San Jose, California, represented an exciting and crucial juncture in her life. "I moved to Reno to grow up and be an adult," Carte said. The year 2002 had its fair share of memorable moments. That same year, "Star Wars: Episode II" debuted in theaters, Tiger Woods won the 66th Masters Tournament and "American Idol" premiered on television. One thing Carte specifically remembers was the cost of rent. Back then, the monthly rate for Carte's first studio in Sparks was only $495. For a young person who just moved out of home and landed an entry-level job at Target, an affordable place to stay was not a luxury. It was a b...

Damonte Ranch area is a sign of the city's need for housing in Reno, Nev. The recent influx of new workers combined with near-zero residential development during the recession gave birth to a classic supply-and-demand scenario that saw the cost of housing skyrocket in the Biggest Little City." title="In this March 24, 2017 photo shows a new apartment complex in the Damonte Ranch area is a sign of the city's need for housing in Reno, Nev. The recent influx of new workers combined with near-zero residential development during the recession gave birth to a classic supply-and-demand scenario that saw the cost of housing skyrocket in the Biggest Little City." src="src" /> In this March 24, 2017 photo shows a new apartment complex in the Damonte Ranch area is a sign of the city's need for housing in Reno, Nev. The recent influx of new workers combined with near-zero residential development during the recession gave birth to a classic supply-a...

Dhan Subedi flipped through sheets of apartment listings on Thursday, 15 days before the deadline for her four-person household to vacate Glenbrook Apartments . She’d circled and called the most affordable units in Boise. The earliest one would be available was Oct. 15, nearly a week after her deadline to leave a one-bedroom, $575-a-month apartment. Her 13-month-old son, Kaden, rolled around the floor at the feet of her mother, Mina Subedi. The families of both Dhan and her husband, Prem Subba, are Bhutanese, though Dhan was born during her family’s two-decade stay at a refugee camp in Nepal. Subba’s was one of thousands of Nepalese- speaking families evicted from the country. Located at the corner of South Curtis Road and Cassia Street, the family’s sparse Glenbrook unit is close to the Boise Airport, where Subba works, and State Street, where Subedi works at a market. It’s also close to the former Boise International Market , where the couple owned the Bhutanese and Nepali grocery...