Evening star., 1943-07-18
Rent Control Office
Issues New Rules
On Sub|easing FLATS

dIiu ldllQlOl Us llOIIl uIlSCl ClupulOuS
middlemen, the District Rent Con-
trail Administration yesterday issued
two new regulations controlling the
subletting of housing Accommodations
here.
One of The new orders requires an
owner to give seven days notice to
all Subtenants before dispossessing
the person to whom he originally
rented the property. 1t applies to
every rental agreement entered into
after August l which permits sub
letting by its express terms, by i'm
plication, by waiver or otherwise"
The other order, effective i'm
mediately. requires that all persons
offering to sublet apartments or
houses in return for the purchase
of furniture submit copies of their
advertisement to the rent control
| Office in advance of publication
| These advertisements must contain
the full name and address of the
person making the offer, as we'll as
the maximum rent ceiling and COM
plete address of the housing ac-
commodations involved.
Result of Recent Disclosures.
The person proposing to sublet
in return for furniture purchase will
be further required to send the
| original landlord a statement of the
contemplated change in tenancy.
Issued by Rent Administrator
Robert F. Cogswell as General Or
ders Nos. and 10, the new regula-
tions resulted from recent disclo-
! sures of cases in which landlords
and subtenants have been victim
lied.
In revealing to The Star recently
that the orders were being prepared,
Ernest F. Henry, chief attorney for
the District Rent Control Admin
istration, pointed out that because
of the scarcity of apartments here,
home hunters sometimes buy furni-
ture for several hundred dollars
more than it is worth in order to get
a place to live.
Mr.. Henry said few spectators
are understood to be making busi-
ness of locating apartments. fur
nishing them and then subletting to
persons willing to pay high price
( for the furniture.
Irregularities Alleged.
In some cases, he said. Subtenants
have bought the furniture and taken
possession of the apartment only to
discover that the middleman had no
.,ol, - -, lot 1or
have long waiting list of persons
to whom he wishes to rent, only to
find that one of his tenants has
moved and someone he has never
seen before is occupying the place
as subtenant.
The new regulation is expected by
rent-control officials to discourage
all but the legitimate cases of sub
letting. 1t will not prevent sub
letting in exchange for the purchase
of furniture, but it will give the
original landlord adequate notice
and will prevent the charging OF
premium prices in violation OF lent
ceilings.
The new general order requiring
an owner to give weeks eviction
notice to all subtenants provides
that the notice shall include clear
statement of the basis for the ac-
ton
Must Report Action.
The notice may be served on the
subtenants personally by mail. Or
it may be posted in some consplcu-
Gus place on the premises. A copy
of the notice. together with snort
statement of how service was rlade.
is to be filed with the rent-control
office within "a hours after service.
This order is greatly needed to
protect families in low income
groups. Mr.. Henry said. He pointed
out that rooming or boarding mouse
operators in poorer sections of the
city, when served with notice that
they must correct violations of
health or safety laws. may often
decide it is, cheaper to move the
necessary repairs.
One method by which the middle
man sometimes gets rid of his ten
ants is to quit paying rent to the
owner. who then brings eviction
proceedings.
Under the old law, the subtenants
might know nothing of the owners
proceedings against the middleman
and might be evicted without notice.
The new order will give the sub
tenants time to find other places to
live, or may enable them to work
on the intermediate landlord" and
get him to make the necessary re-
pairs, Mr.. Henry said.