Cribs XII: The Inaugural Edition *updated*

You’re right, it is tempting, but I wonder if any of the downtown condos allow this type of short term rental? Ultimately it’s not worth it to me, but I can understand why some would do this if condo rules allow. Hell I imagine many people will do it even if condo rules don’t allow it.

Someone leafletted all the cars in our condo garage yesterday with a “RENT YOUR HOME FOR PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION” The number on the flyer is 202-347-6940.

Our condo does not allow for short term rentals of this type and fines owners who do this. And I wonder if this person somehow broke into our garage?

Renting your place for a week? It could be trashed!
Hefty security deposit.

I saw these ads flood Craigslist back in 2004 and wondered if anyone rents these condos. Did any readers actually rent their unit(s) in 2004?

Don’t put a stranger in your condo — it could create a nightmare for you, your neighbors and your condo association. I did a quick Craigslist scan and it seems that condos around D and 7th, 400 Mass and 7th and H (Gallery Place?) as well as by the Convention Center (Whitman perhaps?) have quite a few rentals available. I doubt there condo docs allow this. How are the condo associations going to handle this?

Is there evidence that visitors will pay for these type of accomodations? I know the hotels are booked, but $800 or $900 hundred a night?!

Is anyone who reads this blog renting their place out?

What are the chances that someone paying $800 a night (in advance) to rent out a 750 square foot apartment trashes the place or causes trouble for other condo owners? Methinks not too likely so long as you stay away from under 21 college kids. People want to be here for the parties, not to party with themselves inside someone else’s condo (and b/c people renting would necessarily be from out of town, the chances that they throw a party for others inside the rented place is slim to none–who would they invite? and who would actually accept the invitation?).

I know that the Red Roof Inn at 5th & H is charging $700 a night for rooms. If a hotel like that can get room rates that high, I think its realistic that condo owners can get $1000 because of the added convenience of kitchens, privacy, and free internet access.

For me, the quick cash isn’t worth the potential headaches. Renting out my condo is against condo rules; it means giving the renters my fob and therefore access to the entire building, including the rooftop; potential damage to my apartment; potential damage to common areas; reporting the income on my taxes; getting my apartment in order (locking up financial files for example); moving out of my apartment for a few days; etc.

Anonymous (11:06 a.m.) — how do you get around the fact that short term rentals of this type are a violation of most condominium documents?

Most condo docs state that if your condo is a business holding (ownership is a business, not an individual person), the minimum lease times do not apply for that specific condo.

A quick search through the DC property database will show that there are only a handful of condos in PQ owned by a business.

…I wonder what the language in most condo by-laws really is. A sole proprietorship is a perfectly valid business entity, and in this town of lawyers, I can certainly imagine that a loophole could be found in most any condo by-law. Plus, of course, there is the practical consideration that if no damage is done, will the condo board (a) know about it, and (b) take on the expense of doing something about it. If my condo board decided to use my condo fees to bring legal action against someone who didn’t bother the community at large or cause any harm–and with the very likely outcome that the fine would be far less than the legal costs required to obtain it–I would cry bloody murder at such an imprudent waste of my condo fees. That would be a serious breach of trust in my opinion.

Our condo docs state that “No unit can be used for transient or hotel purposes.” And the minimum lease is 6 months. Condo boards cannot enforce for some and not for others. If the folks renting for the inaugural created issues in the condominium — it could be difficult to track down the unit they are in as noone knows them. Abandoning a unit and leaving your neighbors to deal with the “guests” if they are unduly noisy, messy, drunk or something else is not fair. So I would disagree with Anonymous 12:32 — Condo boards cannot address this individually after the fact. It would be a breach of trust to not enforce the rules that are already in place and which every owner has signed and every tenant is obligated to follow. I for one, do not want complete strangers wandering around my building for a week that are not guests of one of my neighbors.

Why would anyone want to leave, and miss the opportunity to witness what will surely be the most moving, and historic, presidential inauguration ever? We have endured eight horrific years of the Bush administration…..the darkest hour is just before the dawn, and the sun is about to rise. So stay home, invite friends and family from around the country and the world to sleep on your living room floor, CELEBRATE!!!

I’m considering doing this and I don’t even own my unit! What’s the big deal if all 150 or so neighbors in my building don’t know the person I’m renting to? They don’t know me, so who cares if they don’t know them?? As for condo rules/renter agreements – what’s the big deal if nobody gets hurt in the process??? People that are looking for a place to stay and paying $500+ a night aren’t going to trash the place nor be any louder than I would be by watching TV, talking on the phone, etc. To me this is like house swapping, are all you guys going to get upset if your neighbor house swaps with somebody from another country? I don’t see how that would be against any condo rules because no money is transferred and it’s the same as letting a friend stay at your place.

No offense, but I think too many condo owners care too much about the business of their neighbors. Precisely the reason I sold my condo and went back to renting one. If people aren’t bothering other people then I say MYOB

Re: anonymous at 3:05pm. I don’t want my fellow condo neighbors bringing in their large gaggle of friends to roam around the hallways at all manner of the day and night (as it is a certainty that people will be left to “do their own thing” by their condo owner “host”). As others have pointed out above, it causes noise problems, and unnecessary wear and tear on my condo buidling–plus potential damage that will have to be reparied. One or two quiet guests is okay as a MAXIMUM, but you should make sure to chaperone them in the hallways and common areas at all times, and to make sure they understand that they should come and go at reasonable hours of the day and to not make loud noises in the hallways. This is penn quarter, not the french quarter.

This is about one thing, making money. As a capitalist, renting out my unit is the best idea for that week.

Thanks 3:30 p.m. and 3:12 p.m. — you have just motivated me to go to my next condo board meeting to talk to them about clamping down on this. If you think a condo is the same as a single family home, you are mistaken. I don’t know how you can assure anyone that a total stranger will respect the rules of the community. One person already let someone in to trespass in our parking garage so they could paper it with flyers for this. Will these folks you rent to keep the building secure that week? Are you going to admit to liability? What is your responsibility to the common areas?

I am offering my condo for $3K for the week — and have had multiple offers. I am now interviewing people to see who I trust enough to stay here. Even created a web site.

Since I wish to avoid the throngs (I can still watch the celebration on TV), this seems like a no-brainer. Can even afford to watch from a luxury suite in NYC with room service. Hehe.

I wonder if my HOA can recover the full amount of the rent from the unit if it is rented for the week in violation of the condo rules? I mean, the renters ARE going to treat our front desk folks like they were hotel concierges. We will easily find out who has rented in this manner when they pick up the keys and ask for assistance making dinner reservations.

Reagon’s second inaugural parade in 1985 was cancelled due to weather. January 20th was a Sunday and he was sworn in at the White House. On Monday, the 21nd the oath was repeated in Statuary Hall @ the Capitol. (aside: Tour guides get paid to know stuff like this)

I hope Jon, etc. are OK with paying the condo association’s fine. Is it still a good deal with the fine? Do your temporary renters have to abide by any other rules? This sounds like you might be asking for trouble trying to turn such a huge profit. Also seems like you might be more of a McCain fan. Don’t forget to pay/claim this on your taxes!!

I’m not surprised people are doing this – it sure sounds like an easy profit. But, I pulled out my condo docs because I don’t want to break any rules and here’s what they say (as written by our legal counsel Leibner & Potkin P.C.):

“A Unit Owner shall not lease his Unit for a term of less than 6 months or any other minimum Unit leasing term established from time to time by the Board of Directors (provided that such minimum period shall in no event exceed one year) – and under no circumstances permit his Unit to be used for a hotel or transient purposes.”

So, I suggest you all pull out your condo docs and see what your building has to say.

We called the condo company that is aggressively trying to get our condo residents to rent out their units for this purpose and told him that this would violate our condo docs. We told him that he could not rent units to people through this service for the inauguration.

I have now asked our HOA attorney whether we can sue this guy if he does indeed broker rental agreements for our building as he is interfering with our business. We will likely send him a cease and desist letter. Attorneys out there — do you think we can sue?

My comments got deleted! I’m no longer going to read this blog if my comments keep getting deleted. I think all viewpoints should be heard here.

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thanks,
the Management

This has been a fascinating conversation to watch progress. Now I’m curious to hear some follow up….
To those of you who have mentioned your plans to rent out your place, are you reconsidering after reading this discussion and checking your condo rules?

I am guessing that some folks are seeing the Inauguration as a ‘special situation’ that allows them to break/make an exception to the rules. But really, renting out your personal space on a short term basis to total strangers as if you’re a hotel? Good golly Miss Molly – I bet you would NEVER consider doing such a thing if you weren’t able to rake in such a huge amount of cash. Be careful that your greed doesn’t bite you (and your neighbors) in the butt.

To ‘Anon @7:38 – good call on the point of claiming the rental income on your taxes. Betcha’ most people didn’t think of that!

Thank you for the “good call” on the taxes.
I apologize for having two “n’s” in Annon. I am not the best speller on the internets.
How is this for a compromise?: To all the new hotel managers in PQ (I think of the guy with the top hat from the game Monopoly)… Why not take the amount of money you make over what you usually pay for your mortgage/rent and donate it to a charity? That would be very cool. Just don’t tell anybody you did it. Just do it. You’ll feel better, and heck, you just got a free month of rent/mortgage and you helped a lot of people… just like Obama.

Per the IRS (http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc415.html):

There is a special rule if you use a dwelling as a home and rent it for fewer than 15 days. In this case, do not report any of the rental income and do not deduct any expenses as rental expenses.

It may be against the condo rules, it may be a little weird to have someone sleep in your place a few nights, but a crummy economy and the opportunity to pay a month or more of your mortgage for little hassle seems like a really really good deal.

Doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me…I wouldn’t be too concerned about the renters annoying my neighbors or destroying my building, I’d be WAY more worried about the nice stuff in my own apartment, so I’d definitely screen hard.

I want to attend the festivities though, so I’m working hard on trying to find some tickets to the inauguration ceremony to get a decent view. I doubt that’ll happen though!