Q I recently signed a sublease that includes the following: "Occupancy of the Premises shall be limited to the Sublessee. In the event the Sublessee and Sublessor shall disagree on whether a person, other than Sublessee, is occupying the Premises within the meaning of occupancy under this paragraph, the burden of proof shall be upon the Sublessee to prove to the satisfaction of the Sublessor, in the sole discretion of Sublessor, that the person(s) in question are temporary, short-term, house guests, with their own principal residence(s)."
This is for a Dupont Circle apartment, meaning it's pricey, so I'm having a friend of mine split the studio with me for about six weeks during the summer. I didn't want to mention my friend during the negotiations, thinking it would complicate things and lessen my chances of getting the apartment. I don't know if six weeks qualifies as a houseguest, but I'd like my friend to come and go freely from the apartment without sneaking around and with a copy of the key. Any suggestions? -- Chicago
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AIt looks as if the person issuing the sublease might be on to a scheme like yours, and that is why the clause is there in the first place. A six-week stay certainly violates most "houseguest" rules. A typical guest policy requires that visitors stay no more than two weeks.
Technically, you need to abide by the rules of the lease. That means you should tell the landlord there will be two of you living there and see where the chips fall. If you lose out on this sublet, you will just have to find one where the landlord isn't opposed to two people sharing a studio.
Should you decide to proceed without informing the landlord and thus risk getting busted even though you are aware of the lease terms, make sure you are willing to kick your roommate out (or move out yourself) if you are found out.
How do you politely tell your roommate to change a few habits? My roommate thinks that running a load of laundry with hot or warm water doesn't mean that the shower water will be cold at the same time. (I've had a few harsh Saturday showers because he'll start the laundry midway through my shower.) Also, we have recycling, and he doesn't seem to understand that you need to rinse out the milk jug and aluminum cans. The recycling smells of spoiled milk and tuna. He's six years older than me, and I get the feeling he thinks I know nothing about life. The reality is that he has no common sense and it drives me up a wall! Any suggestions about how to approach this politely? Should I tape a list of recycling rules to the wall? -- Rosslyn
How do you handle any kind of personal conflict? If you don't know how to politely broach the topics, start with a simple, non-antagonistic conversation. It seems that you have already jumped to conclusions about him, so the hardest part of your discussion will be appearing as if you understand and are willing to compromise. Of course, you should go about this in a sincere manner and actually be amenable to finding a middle ground on certain subjects. You should listen to his gripes about your habits as well to create a more perfect roommate union.
So before you go the passive-aggressive route of taping a list of rules to the wall, try to talk to your roommate about recycling and water use. If he still doesn't see your point of view and change his behavior to your liking, then perhaps you should try another avenue. Consider living alone, or at least with someone with whom you can live more easily.
I live in a small, walk-up apartment building. My neighbor came to me last night very upset because she came home to find her front door open, her bathroom messy and her shower curtain torn. It seems our landlord had let some workers in to do some repairs without alerting her beforehand. When she called the landlord to find out what happened, he said that he was very sorry and that he forgot to lock the front door, but also that because he was in the neighborhood he thought he might as well make the repairs. This is not the first time our landlord has come into our apartments to make non-emergency repairs without alerting us. He keeps saying he forgot or the plumber called him and that day was the only time he could do it. Our lease says he needs to give us at least 24 hours before he enters. We do not think he understands how disrespectful his actions are. How do we let him know in a very loud and clear way that his behavior can no longer be tolerated? He raves constantly that we are all good tenants, yet he does this and makes us want to look elsewhere. How do we address this issue? -- Beltsville
You should start by telling him, both orally and in writing, exactly what you have told me: You expect 24 hours' notice before non-emergency entries. You may write a collective letter signing the names of all residents who agree that he is taking the lease too lightly -- as well as the local statute regarding 24-hour notice. Reiterate that you are good tenants who respect him as a landlord and hope that he can show you the same respect.
If this fails, then you should keep track of all instances of your landlord's noncompliance with the access policy and bring it to the attention of the local housing authorities.
There's a clause in my lease that states that from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. you are not allowed to disturb your neighbors with excessive noise. A tenant constantly violates this rule, and management is not acting. I have called the police, and they have come out. The noise stops that day, but it starts right back up again. Police have better things to do than to come out and ask people to turn down their stereos or televisions, but I just want a record of it. I have even politely spoken to my neighbors about the noise, but they don't do anything about it. Management told me to put my complaint in writing, which I did three times. Nothing has changed. Can I move without breaking my lease? -- Washington
Generally, tenants cannot break leases without extremely good reasons. Most often, those are things such as military orders that require someone to move out of state, a serious problem that makes a living space uninhabitable or some kind of tragedy or unexpected hardship, such as the death of the principle rent-payer.
Very rarely and only in extreme circumstances do tenants break a lease without penalty because of excessive noise. But, since you've followed the protocol by asking your management to handle the issue and by keeping a written record of the excessive noise, it won't hurt to ask your landlord to let you out of the lease.
Judging noise problems is subjective. Apartment construction often makes normal decibel levels seem much louder to those in surrounding units, so it is possible that your neighbors are not violating the apartment rules or local noise ordinances. Your complaints will carry more weight if others have complained about the noise.
Because the noise your neighbor makes is not a standard reason to break the lease without penalty, if you still want to get out of your lease if your landlord refuses your request, you would have to convince a judge that your neighbors were excessively loud and that management knew about it and failed to act. Even then, there's no guarantee you will succeed.
Remember, you could also escape without much hassle by paying the fee for breaking the lease early.
Do you have questions, comments or ideas about apartment life? Contact Sara Gebhardt via e-mail at gebhardts@washpost.comor by mail, c/o Real Estate Editor, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.
