A D.C. man was taken into police custody this morning after he reportedly locked himself in his K Street apartment and ran the water in an attempt to flood his entire building. more ›

Lest ye drift from the gospel of McMillan, repent now! So sayeth D.C. Chief Tenant Advocate Johanna Shreve, who once again confirmed that indeed, thou rent hath been lifted to the point of damnation. more ›

UPDATE (10:30 a.m.): The scene is all clear, and people are now being allowed back inside buildings in the area. more ›

I have to be honest -- the DCist staff was about 95 percent sure that the Craigslist ad for a 16-cat Dupont sublet which we featured yesterday afternoon was a fake. And that was well before I received an email from one "Fred Decatt" (get it?) last night, claiming to be the poster and asking me to be "more receptive and tolerant of cat enthusiasts such as myself" in future posts. Of course, by the time another reader forwarded us an email exchange in which the photo to the right was proffered as a photo of Bitnum, one of the cats listed in the ad, well, the inauthenticity of the ad was pretty much a foregone conclusion. more ›

U.S. News and World Report has it that a spike in rents in the District "could exceed 10 percent," since the recession hasn't affected Washington in the way it has other cities, leading to more demand from renters. more ›

Adventures in Craigslist is a whenever-we-find-something-interesting series in which we dive headfirst into the vast complexities of the Washington region's Craigslist. Today: that's...a lot of cats.

I don't use the term "cat lady" loosely. It's actually kind of offensive, and The Simpsons has really cornered the market on the joke. But sometimes, the moniker just seems totally appropriate. For example: when applied to the kind of person who places an ad on Craigslist for a Dupont Circle sublet which the new occupant will have to share with 16 cats while the original renter is in Denmark attending a cat convention. more ›

When I first moved into the District of Columbia, I rented a room in a very old, large group house in upper Northwest that housed as many as eight different people at any given time. The rent was fantastic. But one of the many, many drawbacks was that, during the winter, we couldn't really heat the place. (Of course, whether that was worse than having to battle two other guys for bathroom space in the morning is arguable.) See, the house wasn't really in the greatest shape, and so turning the thermostat anywhere above the low 60s was a recipe for a gas bill a mile long. Yeah, it sucked -- especially when one of my former roommates almost burned down the place by leaving his space heater on all night. With that said, it warms my heart to see that the District's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs trying to get the word out to the public about heating regulations for apartments in D.C. more ›

Dan Steinberg theorizes the Wizards' number one pick just might, after Wall told reporters last week that he wants to live as close to the Verizon Center as possible so he can "come [to the arena] any time I want." Wall, not surprisingly, is a bit of a gym rat -- so he's looking to be able to access the Center's practice court at all hours. (Hey, when searching for housing, it's always important to position yourself close to the amenities you need -- especially those open 24/7.) It's rare for professional athletes who ply their trade for Washington teams -- with a few notable exceptions, like former D.C. United great Ben Olsen -- to actually reside in the District. So, anyone have a room open around 7th and H? more ›

Yesterday Mayor Fenty announced a new Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs program that will put all 4,800 apartment buildings in the District on a mandatory four-year inspection cycle (two years if inspectors find substantial code violations). Before now, DCRA inspections only occurred after tenants reported problems. The program is being touted as a more proactive way to protect residents, particularly low income ones, from slumlords. (Check out Hamil Harris's story in the Post for an amusing anecdote from the presser, which took place at a Southeast apartment building that Fenty was holding up as an inspection success story. Harris reports that city officials appeared "taken by surprise" by a group of residents who interrupted the mayor to point out existing code violations in the building.) more ›

The Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs is officially launching a new blog next week associated with its Collegiate Off-Campus Housing Initiative, called ThisShouldBeIllegal.com. The basic idea of the web-based program, according to DCRA spokesperson Michael Rupert, is "to try and get college kids to make sure they are being rented to legally." Under D.C. law, your landlord is required to have a business license, and the process of obtaining one prompts an automatic safety inspection to check for things like working smoke detectors and fire exits. more ›