Courthouse
This week the landlord of Lexington Gardens was due to appear in court, following the hearing in December where a full inspection of the property was ordered. The judge had a scheduling conflict and all cases were rolled over to February 27th.
In the meantime we believe that most of the apartments at Lexington Gardens are being written up by Codes for required repairs. According to a journalist from The Contributor, four units were vacated due to substantial violations. See the full article here.
In addition The Contributor quotes MDHA communications director Mark Drury saying that no additional Section 8 vouchers will be issued for Lexington Gardens in future, in part because the Metro agency has sometimes had to make multiple requests for repairs before the landlord complied.
We have received some interesting comments at this website. They are not identified as being from the Lexington Gardens landlord, but they are generally defensive of the situation there. We are glad to open this site for further dialogue. In those comments we read that “things will be repaired in a timely manner. What more can be done?”
Timely repairs are most welcome. We invite the commenters to tell us more about the repairs that are underway. For example, has a general contractor been hired? How about a licensed electrician?
We have also heard that “Most if not all of the section 8 tenants want to stay. Many are staying and paying rent out of their pockets after the contract is terminated. Their housing is paid for by the government, they have a choice to go wherever they want, but they stay at Lexington Garden Apartments. Are they forced to? Are they scared of retaliation? Obviously not. They choose to stay out of their own free will.” Unfortunately this statement is very far from the experiences shared with us by tenants. It stretches credibility to suggest that a person who was receiving financial assistance via a housing voucher suddenly has no more need for that financial assistance, without any other change in their circumstances.
We hope that the repairs that are underway will make genuine improvements in the fabric of Lexington Gardens, but we fear that they are quick fixes designed to deflect attention from the real changes that need to be made. We invite the landlord to tell us more.
I know a family that lives there. The landlord recently took out all the carpet and replaced it with linoleum. However since this is their 2nd infestation with bed bugs the only furniture they now have is air matresses, everything else had to be thrown out. The landlady said that she was raising her rent to $500(1 bedroom) to pay for this. She has a lease till May for $450. Does she have to pay the increase?
When the lease expires, yes, the landlord can increase the rent. Then the tenant can decide if they want to stay or move out.
If the landlord wants to increase the rent during the lease period, e.g. in February, then it depends on what is written in the lease. The rent can’t be increased during the lease period unless the lease allows rent increases.
We suggest all tenants are very careful to keep receipts from rent payments, or stubs or any other proof of payment. This is an essential protection against unexpected evictions.
Please let us know if this person needs legal help.