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 ›

A few days ago, Columbia Heights blogger The Heights Life shared a rather miserable plight with the Twittersphere: "We have no AC and haven't for NINE DAYS! Anyone know if our landlord has any legal requirement to keep us cool?" Well, actually, they probably do. According to The Housing Regulations of the District of Columbia (Section 510.10 of the DCMR14: Title 14, chapter 14), "The owner of a rental habitation, who provides air conditioning as a service either through individual air conditioning units or a central air conditioning system, shall maintain such unit or system in safe and good working condition so that it provides an inside temperature at least fifteen degrees Fahrenheit less than the outside temperature." If your landlord is cheaping out and depriving you of that sweet, recirculated cold air, you can call DCRA at (202) 442-4400 to report the violation. 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 ›