Hi all:

I looked through the memories, the DC code, and tons of landlord-tenant law guides, but I'm feeling overwhelmed by all the information and the legalese out there. So plain and simple:

I live in a house with four other college students. We just moved into this house at the end of August. The washing machine stopped working. We contacted our LL. He came, looked at it, told us that he'd have someone in. It was discovered that here were bits and pieces caught near the pump that caused the noise and drainage problems. Now we have a bill of $500 from the LL. So that means $100 from each person, and the LL holds us at fault because the bits and pieces, which included a bra under-wire and an ID card, were obviously ours, and "He (the LL) has never had a problem with the washing machine in the past 4 years." However, these things were caught in the washing machine because of a plastic bit that was inside which broke off from the drum, which is a problem that occurred because of wear-and-tear. Also, even before those things were lost, we were having problems with the washing machine.

We want to know if what the LL is doing is legal, and if he is allowed to do this. We would also like to know if there is some sort of agency out there that will provide Tenant Advocacy of some kind because we are all Deaf, and we would like a hearing person to advocate for us, in order to avoid any communication problems.

Thanks in advance,

Victoria

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http://dcist.com/2009/11/go_home_already_428.php

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http://dcist.com/2009/11/committee_approves_same-sex_marriag.php

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