Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

88138813 t1_j1anrm2 wrote

  1. Talk to OTA ASAP

  2. Even if you blatantly violated the terms of the lease, there's a (very long) process that goes into formally evicting a tenant. It's not like 1 lease violation and your lease is instantly null and void. To me, it sounds like the landlord is trying to scare you into moving out on your own so she doesn't have to deal with the long formal eviction process.

60

tealccart t1_j1bdlhx wrote

Agree. Eviction cases go through landlord/tenant court and the cases I’ve seen take about 6 months before there’s an eviction. Furthermore the police (MPD) do not carry out evictions, the U.S. Marshals do. OTA keeps a list of scheduled evictions that is updated at least monthly. Here is the latest list: https://ota.dc.gov/page/scheduled-evictions

Please also familiarize yourself with OTA’s evictions page: https://ota.dc.gov/page/guide-eviction. This page specifically says “Judicial process is required for all evictions. Any eviction must be pursuant to a court order, and must be scheduled and supervised by the US Marshals Service.”

And, most importantly, that OTA link says: ”Self-help evictions (where the landlord attempts to evict a tenant without the involvement of the US Marshals Service) are not allowed. Contact the Metropolitan Police Department if a landlord attempts a self-help eviction.”

18

lolahey OP t1_j1asto2 wrote

What should we do in the mean time? I am out of the city for the holidays.

5

LessDramaLlama t1_j1bdp0h wrote

As much as ditching your celebration would suck, your holidays are going to suck more if you lose your belongings. You might be able to stop the eviction, or you might be able to prove it’s illegal and get some sort of remedy after the fact. Regardless, if you want to safeguard your stuff, it’s probably best to be back in DC.

Whatever happens, it sounds like you’re losing your housing within the next few months. Time to get a storage unit and make plans to stay somewhere until you lock down a more stable situation. Probably best to apply for new apartments before an eviction potentially hits your credit report.

But, yeah, contact OTA as soon as possible. That may help delay any action taken by the landlord.

25

tealccart t1_j1bfg6z wrote

OTA advises calling the police department if a landlord tries to evict you without a court order and US Marshals involvement. I put the OTA link in another comment.

13

LegitimateFail3 t1_j1dx2lg wrote

Contact OTA as everyone else has said - (202) 719-6560.

Also when it's cold outside they literally do not do evictions. Evictions, when legal, aren't handled by the "7th district police" but by federal marshals.

3

bubba0077 t1_j1cmcjc wrote

Also worth noting, they can't violate the original lease since they were not a party to that lease. A lot may hinge on whether they violated the sublease and whether they were aware the sublease violated the original lease. But IANAL, so see what OTA says (be prepared for those distinctions).

1