A number of readers have emailed me asking for updates on the lost Ferret in Adams Morgan, Abu. While not a worst case scenario, there is a disturbing update:

“I do have some infuriating news. As I kind of expected, someone has decided Abu is so cute they want to keep him.

I got a call last night from a woman with a MD ferret rescue group, who had just seen my lost ferret posting on one of their message boards. They were doing a ferret event at the Petco in Owings Mill, MD on Saturday when a guy came in with a ferret matching Abu’s description. He said that he worked down in DC, and found this ferret Friday afternoon/evening when he was wrapping up for the day. He was kind of vague to the ferret people’s question about tracking down the owner, but he apparently told a Petco worker that he had no intention of giving back “Guido” (as he has re-named Abu). His reasoning is that if I’m so irresponsible that I can’t protect my ferret from getting lost, then I don’t deserve him!

This man obviously doesn’t entertain the thought that Abu got out because my new roommate stupidly left a window open, not realizing any curious ferret would push through the screen. This man doesn’t know that I saved Abu from a completely caged life with a homeless woman, and nursed him back from malnutrition and muscle atrophy.

The Petco and ferret people regrettably didn’t get the man’s name or info, but they’re rallying to my cause now that they know Abu’s story, and doing what they can to track him down. What they do know: He is a white male in his 50s with salt and pepper hair. They describe him as “about three feet wide,” and average height. He lives in Pikesville, MD, but was down in our hood for a short-term work gig. They’re not sure what he does exactly, but got the impression it was construction or some kind of outdoorsy skilled labor.

So if you have any readers who employed or saw a crew (with one particularly large middle-aged man) working on their house/building/street last Friday, I’d be very interested in any information that would help track this guy down. I’ll be driving to Pikesville today to paper that whole town with flyers.

If you can give a shout out to the Baltimore Ferret Club, that would be great. They’re organizing to help track him down.

This will all get sorted out and Abu will come home. To quote the Big Lebowski again: “This injustice will not stand, man!”"

In real life, hipchickindc is actually the not-so-hip Suzanne Des Marais, an associate broker with Urban Pace. Voted one of the best real estate agents in DC by the Washington City Paper Readers’ Choice Poll in 2009, Suzanne is currently Chair of the DC Public Policy Committee for the Greater Capital Area Association of REALTORS® and is President Elect of the Washington, DC Association of REALTORS®. She lives (and sells a lot of houses) in Bloomingdale, but works all over DC, with everyone from first time buyers to highly regarded developers.

Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 1235 W St NW

Original List Price: $974,900.

List Price at Contract: $949,000.

List Date: 10/05/2009

Days on Market: 68

Settled Sales Price: $920,000.

Settlement Date: 05/17/2010

Seller Subsidy: $2500.

Bank Owned?: No

Type Of Financing: Conventional

Original GDoN is: here.

Listings for both the shell (a year ago) and recent sale are: here. Pics can be seen once you open the link to the listing (click on the main pic to scroll).

The DC Spring real estate market was a frenzy encouraged along by historically low mortgage interest rates and buyers eligible for the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit. While the tax credit played an important role in motivating first time homebuyers, what about higher priced homes? As we saw from last week’s Good Deal or Not Revisited (GDoN-R), houses in price ranges not likely to be affected by the tax credit are moving along quite nicely. Today’s GDoN-R is another example of a property in an expensive price range.

This property is a complete renovation of what was, until quite recently, a dilapidated run down shell of a building. It was purchased with cash for $395,000. in May 2009 by a member of the Koutromanos family, who has been renovating DC real estate for many years. The comments in the recent listing indicate that the house was stripped down to the brick walls and is otherwise completely new construction.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

I was gonna ask another tax question about the D.C. Council considering commuter income tax but I’m sorta tired of tax discussions. Though I am intrigued about a commuter tax…

But since it’s Friday and a reader wrote in and I am obsessed with pizza…here we go:

“Dear PoP,

I live in Adams Morgan and last week I found a menu from Many and Olga in my house mail box. In the evening I tried to order the special $15. For 5 toppings, sounds great deal, when the pizza arrived the receipt was $17.80 or so, because tax $1.50 and $1.25 delivery, I know it is not much, but I rather give the delivery guy a 25% tip and not cut him short because he works hard, but I end up give him less, because I did not know of the the delivery charge. Do you know if is only pizza places that do this?”

Hmm, I think most of the big chains do this but I’m not 100% sure. Do you guys think that a delivery fee is reasonable or does it just end up hurting the tip the driver will get in the end?

And now for the Friday question of the day and a topic I will never ever get tired of discussing – pizza. Who delivers the best pizza in DC? I know there are some places where I really like the pizza in the restaurant but when they deliver it’s a bit disappointing. So let’s make this a two part question – who do you think is the best chain pizza delivery and who is the best brick oven delivery?

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured. Ed. Note Griffin & Murphy is a PoP advertiser. You can find previous questions featured here.

Bonus question this week since we missed last week.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Rukasu1

Question:

I am on a condo association board for a property here in DC. At least two units in the property have been subject to foreclosure and are currently owned by banks. These banks are not paying condo fees. My questions are pretty simple: Aren’t these banks obligated to pay condo fees like any other homeowner? And if they are obligated, what options does a condo board have to pursue fees that are past due (for example, is small claims court an option?)

Answer:

Once a bank forecloses on a condo unit and assuming that the bank becomes the owner of the property, the bank is responsible for paying condo fees. However, the bank will not be liable for any condo fees that accrued prior to the foreclosure sale. The D.C. Condominium Act states that in the case of an “involuntary transfer” like a foreclosure sale, the transferee of the condo unit will not be liable for assessments that became due and payable prior to the transferee’s acquisition of the property.

Your condo board has a fiduciary duty to make its best efforts to collect outstanding condo fees. Your condo association has a has a couple of options with regard to collecting the past-due condo fees from the bank.

(1) The association can try to track down the person at the bank responsible for the condo or the property manager hired by the bank to maintain the condo and to pay monthly assessments (most banks do this for their REO properties), but it can be difficult to get in touch with the right person at the bank or at the management company.

(2) The association could also seek payment by enforcing the lien granted to it by the D.C. Condominium Act to secure the payment of monthly assessments. To enforce the lien, the association has a statutory right (unless it is prohibited by your condo documents) to sell the property to satisfy the assessments owed by the bank. The steps for conducting the sale can be found at D.C. Code § 42-1903.13(c)(1).

(3) The association could also file a lawsuit to recover the assessments owed by the bank, and if the association wins, the statute provides that it will be entitled to reimbursement for its costs and attorneys’ fees. The downside to this approach is that it can take several months or over a year for the matter to be resolved in the courts, and even though the association could recover its legal fees from the bank, the association will probably front them initially.

It has been our experience that the easiest and cheapest approach is to wait for the past-due condo fees (and any interest thereon) to be paid when the bank ultimately sells the condo unit, which I’m sure the bank is anxious to do.

This response was prepared by Mark G. Griffin and Patrick D. Blake of Griffin & Murphy, LLP. The material contained in this response has been prepared for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice or as a substitute for a consultation with a qualified attorney. Nothing in this response should be considered as either creating an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Griffin & Murphy, LLP or as rendering of legal advice for any specific matter.

Well I’ve kinda morphed Horse’s Ass Award nominees to those who have let great buildings in DC stay boarded up in serious states of disrepair. This week’s is from Ledroit Park not far from Anna J. Cooper Circle.

Anyone know how long this building has been in this condition?

Congrats to K St. with:

“MPD’s decision to shift funding from crime prevention to their performance team is finally beginning to pay off.”

And the bonus contest winner goes to Ragged Dog:

“DC Construction code Chapter 6, Part 5, Sub-chapter 7 clearly states whereas female mannequins may be fixed within window openings, they are restricted to non-permanent attachments, but may be supported by one or two birds of the same species native to florida, colored in historic fashion.”

Please email me directly so I can get you t-shirts.

There must be blues in the air because both (above) Mom n Pops Antiques (Georgia and Otis) and Som Records (14th and T) both featured blues albums this week.

This great one by the gas station off Calvert in Adams Morgan is looking terrific. If memory serves I think it was brand new last year.

I’m digging the door but I’ve been told that you’re not supposed to store firewood that close to your home.

Sorry about the house being a bit obscured by the tree but I still think it’s worthy of HotD honors (I think I once featured the door before).  I was really digging the third floor up top.

Photo by PoPville flickr user DCin3MP

If you are looking for things to do this weekend that are fun and inexpensive, check out these low cost and totally free events from Free in DC!

Highlights for Thursday, May 20th – Sunday, May 23rd

Tonight…
Happy Thursday everyone! Lots going on tonight to choose from. Stroll through the gardens and enjoy “Dumbarton at Dusk” with a guided house tour that begins at 6pm for $5, free for students with ID. The first ever LitArtlantic, a free three day arts extravaganza, kicks off tonight at 8pm with “Story/Stereo” an event that includes music, poetry & fiction. Biagio hosts another Complimentary Chocolate Tasting with Fleurir tonight from 6:30pm – 8pm. The Fiesta Asia Film Festival is also screening two films tonight from 6:30pm – 10pm, free with RSVP.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

Photo from PoPville flickr user hellomarkers!

I thought this was pretty cool from DCPL:

The Library Store, Books Plus

Where Every Purchase Supports Your Library!

The library store offers used books, greeting cards, postcards, posters and small gifts for sale.

Proceeds from the sale of items in Books Plus are used to buy new books and materials for the library.

You can also support the library by buying Books Plus books online through Better World Books or B-Logistics.

• Donations
• Volunteer Opportunities

Store Design

The distinctive curvilinear design of Books Plus, The Library Store, was conceived and created by the D.C. architecture firm of Arthur Cotton More in 1984.

Store hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Location: Great Hall
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
901 G St. N.W.

And in other Library news the Tour de DCPL is this Sat.:

“May 22, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Starting @ Martin Luther King Library
Join us Saturday May 22, for the Tour de DCPL, and explore D.C. through your libraries!
The Tour de DCPL is a library-oriented bicycle ride of downtown D.C., stopping at five DC Public Library neighborhood libraries. It is being organized by bicycle-loving library staff as a way to promote environmentally friendly transportation to D.C.’s libraries and show what all the excitement at DC Public Libraries is about! The ride meets at the Martin Luther King Library (901 G St. N.W.) at 9 a.m. and begins shortly after.

The ride will end back at Martin Luther King Library at 12:30 p.m.

Register using this form, and e-mail bikedcpl@gmail.com for more information.”

Finally, Also on Sat. “ Mt. Pleasant Interim Library Invites Community to Open House”:

What: Celebrates Opening Mt. Pleasant Interim Library with Open House featuring family-friendly activities.
When: Sat., May 22, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Mt. Pleasant Interim Library
3162 Mt. Pleasant St. NW

The Mt. Pleasant Interim Library will serve the community until spring 2011, when the renovated Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Library re-opens at its 16th St. location. Family-friendly activities will include children’s story time and craft activities.

Photo From PoPville flickr user JosephLeonardo

“Dear PoP,

I hope that you and your readers can help me track down my bag.

I play in a band and we performed in Wheaton on Sunday. After the show some of us headed home on the Metro and I did something I’ve never done before – I accidentally (!!!) left my knapsack on the bench on the platform at the Wheaton Metro when we boarded the train. I got off at the Silver Spring station and made an inquiry (the Metro employee called and asked the attendant at Wheaton to look for my bag) then headed back to Wheaton to search for it. A Metro employee called Metro Police and I filed a report and the officer (a nice guy) helped me look. I am hoping, hoping, hoping that someone turns it in. All of my Batala gear plus some other stuff was in there. Nothing of value to anyone else!

I would really love for my bag and its contents to be returned. It’s a lightweight dark gray knapsack (Eagle Creek) containing: 2 surdo (drum) mallets; 2 beige belts with hooks (for wearing my drum); 2 black knee pads (also for drumming); 2 sets of earplugs; 1 roll of athletic tape; 1 7/16 wrench; 1 black hip sack (Mountain Equipment Coop); 1 light green corduroy jean jacket; 1 stainless steel water bottle w/ red lid (Starbucks).

I filed a lost & found report with Metro and have been calling there daily but my bag has not yet turned up. I’m playing Friday (tomorrow), Saturday and Sunday and really need this stuff!

So, why am I sharing this? Well, maybe some collective good thoughts will help bring it back to me! Maybe one of your readers knows something and/or saw my bag. If someone has my bag, please return it! Thank you.”

If you find the bag please email me at princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com and I’ll connect you with the reader.

Photo by PoPville flickr user KJinDC

“Dear PoP,

Last week, as I ran through the rain with a stroller and no umbrella, I stopped under the awning of The Park at 14th to wait for the light to change. Two workers from The Park – a man and a woman, of whom I’m very sad I didn’t find out the names – popped out and offered me an umbrella. The umbrella was nice and large enough to cover both me and my daughter in her stroller. I couldn’t believe how generous and thoughtful two strangers could be. The people in this city utterly amaze me sometimes and I really hope a restaurant/club with such nice people working at it is successful. My husband and I are scheduling a date night there very soon!”

This rental is located at 1436B Oak St, NW:

View Larger Map

The Craigslist ad says:

“Beautiful, one bedroom, one bathroom, English basement apartment with separate entrance in Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC. The apartment has lots of room (500 square feet) and light (five windows and good interior lighting). Walk to Target, Best Buy, Washington Sports Club, restaurants. Metro and bus lines nearby. Central AC, Washer/Dryer in unit. No pets. $995/mo plus electric. One year minimum lease. Security deposit of one month rent. Street parking available. Walk score of 85 out of 100″

This looks like another nice under $1000 option. Do you think $995 sounds reasonable for this 1 bed?