Saturday, January 26, 2008

Adapted from Apartment Life, Sara Gebhardt's online discussion about rental issues.

Q: A roommate who moved out more than six months ago left several items behind, including a couch. He now calls every time he's in town and asks to pick up the items, which he said he "forgot." He never asked to store things in the place and never said they were temporary loans. At first I was amenable, but as the months ticked on and this happened every holiday, I told him this wasn't a storage facility. He hasn't quite gotten the message. Is there is a statute about abandoned property?

A: I'm not sure what legal rights your ex-roommate has. One easy thing to do would be to put in writing that you plan to get rid of the items after a certain period. You should give him a reasonable amount of time, perhaps a month if he lives out of the area. You're not responsible for housing his things, but if you create a paper trail, you'll be safer with the courts should you decide to discard the stuff and he seeks a legal remedy.

Q: I have a relative who is thinking about moving to the District. Are there resources available to help him find a temporary residence, such as a shared house, apartment or basement, until he gets a job and gets established? Are any areas of the city better to look at for this type of housing?

A: Apartment and shared housing listings are easily found on Web sites including Craigslist. Your relative could also post a message describing his need for temporary housing. Also, have him talk to people he knows in the area and spread the word that he is looking for a place. That may open up opportunities to rent rooms or find roommates that may not be listed publicly.

Q: Do you have any advice for a "ghost problem"? My roommate told me there was a spirit that inhabited our apartment before I moved in. Of course, I thought she was joking; more importantly, I don't believe in ghosts. Or rather, I didn't. Now I come home to find light bulbs unscrewed, water running, or my oven door ajar. Our little ghost seems friendly; however, I'm still a little scared. Do you have any advice about how to carefully rid a home of a supernatural presence? The last thing I want to do is anger him, but I'd like to go back to a normal living environment.

A: This is a first. Is your roommate playing a joke on you? In case there really is a spirit inhabiting your apartment, I'd advise you to do some research on the supernatural. That is not my area of expertise. I'd imagine, though, that a spirit who got there before you may feel a little territorial, so there may not be a "normal" living environment to go back to. But what is normal, anyway?

Sara Gebhardt's Apartment Life column appears biweekly in this section, and her Web chat appears monthly onhttp://www.washingtonpost.com. The next chat is scheduled for 2 p.m. Feb. 7.