VNSTA sends letter to DHCD asking if rents database will contain historical data

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today sent a letter to Colleen Green, Director of the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), asking if the much-awaited database of citywide rents will include historical data.

If the database does not include historical data, it will prevent the public and the press from finding out the extent of the “rent concession” scam, by which many DC residents were overcharged by rental housing companies.

Only the residents of 3003 Van Ness who were overcharged are slated to receive $1 million in restitution. There may be thousands of other tenants of Equity Residential and of other rental housing companies that may be due restitution for overcharges.

Read the letter in printer-friendly format.

See the written response from the Director of the DC Department of Housing and Community Development, who reports that ““Once completed and launched for public use, the rent control database will not include historical rent data beyond the past three years.” 

Tenant association members demand hot water at 3003 Van Ness

Harry Gural, president of the Van Ness South Tenants Association, wrote a letter today to Equity Residential building manager Josh Luper, expressing residents’ anger about the lack of a reliable supply of hot water at 3003 Van Ness.

“While we realize that repairs are sometimes necessary, we also are aware that Equity Residential’s long-time poor maintenance of 3003 Van Ness is largely responsible for chronic problems. If Equity had invested some of $2,000 plus per month it receives on most of 625 apartments, such repairs could be made – and residents could have a steady supply of hot water.”

““Ironically, we are writing to you about the lack of hot water on the same day that DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced that he is filing suit against Equity Residential and 13 other very large rental housing companies in the District for price-fixing via RealPage and driving up rents on DC residents. This follows former DC Attorney General’s successful lawsuit against Equity for using the “rent concession” scam to overcharge residents of 3003 Van Ness.”

Read the entire letter in print-friendly format.

DC Attorney General Schwalb files new suit against RealPage, Equity Residential and 13 others

DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb today announced that he has filed suit against RealPage and fourteen large rental housing companies, including Equity Residential. The suit alleges that they were driving up rents on DC residents by colluding and price-fixing by allowing RealPage to set rents for all the participants. According to Schwalb, the price-fixing scheme may have cost DC residents millions of dollars.

Get more information from press coverage in The Washington Post and WAMU/DCist.

DC Attorney General seeks residents of 3003 who were overcharged by Equity Residential

The Office of DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb seeks residents of 3003 Van Ness who were overcharged by Equity Residential in the “rent concession scam.”

In total, $1 million will be distributed to current and past residents of 3003 Van Ness who were overcharged. Residents of other Equity Residential apartment buildings, who also may have been overcharged using “rent concessions,” were unfortunately not covered by the lawsuit.

Here is a link to a list of residents who are due restitution but have not yet been contacted. Those who find their names on this page should email their current mailing address to the Van Ness South Tenants Association at vnsta@vnsta.org.

The tenant association’s efforts to fight the scam were covered in an investigate report in the Washington City Paper. More information about how the scam worked can be found at Fair Rent DC.

Find out more about the Attorney General’s successful lawsuit against Equity Residential in The Washington Post.

Tenant association meeting to be held Saturday, Oct. 14th at 2:00 pm

The Van Ness South Tenants Association will hold a general meeting at 2:00 pm on Saturday, October 14th. The meeting will take place in the main courtyard at 3003 Van Ness. We will move inside if it rains.

We will discuss, among other topics:

1. The building-wide inspections by the DC Department of Buildings, the best chance for you to get problems fixed in your apartment.

2. How this affects your rent.

3. Fire alarms and fire safety problems.

4. Possible legal complaint against Equity Residential for attempting to prevent the tenant association from organizing.

5. Security issues.

If you would like to help, please print a copy of this flyer and post it in your laundry room.

Hope to see you there!

Tenant association warns Equity about allowing subcontractors into apartments

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today sent a letter to Equity Residential, warning the company that it should not allow subcontractors to enter residents’ apartments unannounced and unaccompanied.

Many apartments at 3003 Van Ness are in need of repair in order to meet the DC housing code. Recent building-wide proactive inspections by the DC Department of Buildings have found that many apartments lack Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) electric outlets in kitchens and bathrooms, that are designed to prevent electrocution. Many apartments require other repairs.

The tenant association strongly supports any responsible effort by Equity Residential to make needed repairs. However, there must be protocols in place to protect residents’ privacy and security. Specifically, there must be strict rules about getting permission to enter residents’ apartments, about coordinating with residents’ about the timing of repairs, and about escorting third-party subcontractors when they enter apartments.

Read the entire letter at this link.

“The workers, who apparently were not employees of Equity but who were subcontractors hired by Equity, have been entering apartments without permission of residents and without being accompanied by Equity Residential employees. This is a breach of privacy and security.”

— Letter to Equity Residential

Tenants again warn Equity Residential that taking down tenant association flyers is against the law

For the third time in recent weeks, the Van Ness South Tenants Association sent a letter to Equity Residential management, reiterating that DC law prohibits landlords from removing tenant association informational material from bulletin boards.

Recently, the tenant association has been posting flyers informing residents of 3003 Van Ness that the DC Department of Buildings is conducting building-wide proactive inspections at the property. VNSTA believes that Equity has made insufficient effort to alert residents about the inspections, and as a result it has impeded progress. For this reason, the tenant association has been posting informational flyers. Evidence strongly suggests that Equity Residential employees have been taking down many of those flyers.

The flyers are particularly important because they let residents know that they must fill out an official permission from the Department of Buildings in order to have their apartment inspected. Equity’s efforts to take down flyers deprives residents of that important information, decreasing the chance that they will get a needed inspection, and slowing the work of the Department of Buildings. For these reasons, the tenant association has sent Equity Residential a third letter reminding the company that it is illegal to take down tenant association flyers from community bulletin boards, and that the law stipulates steep fines for doing so.

“I am writing to you for a third time about Equity Residential employees removing flyers that were posted by the tenant association.

We are concerned because the flyers inform residents about building-wide inspections by the DC Department of Buildings, which have found that many apartments lack electrical outlets in kitchens and bathrooms that are designed to prevent electrocution. We also are concerned because it is illegal for Equity Residential to remove tenant association posters, under DC law §42–3505.06.
”

— Quote Source

Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel denies VNSTA's appeal of DHCD denial of FOIA request

The Mayor’s Office of Legal counsel today denied an appeal by the Van Ness South Tenants Association regarding the denial of a FOIA request by the DC Department of Housing and Community Development.

The FOIA request by VNSTA stated:

We request the most up-to-date draft version of the Rent Control Housing Database mandated by DC law under §42–3502.03c. Public Accessible Rent Control Housing Database.

We request access to an operational version of the database so we can review its functioning before it is released to the public later this year.

VNSTA’s appeal of the DHCD denial of the initial request stated:

There is an urgent public need for a publicly accessible database of rents, which was mandated by the DC Council via a the “Rent Control Housing Clearinghouse Amendment Act of 2015 (B21-0119).” The District of Columbia has failed to deliver the database for eight years, depriving DC residents of important information that likely would slow the rising cost of rental housing.

The appeal also argued that:

If the database had been produced in a timely manner, renters, the DC Council, and the press could have used the historical information to easily detect the “rent concession” scam, by which some landlords falsely reported rents and systematically overcharged customers.

VNSTA tells Equity Residential that taking down posters may be illegal

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today sent a second letter to Equity Residential senior employees, telling them that Equity’s practice of taking down tenant association posters may be illegal.

Last week, after receiving reports that Equity staff was taking down posters designed to inform residents about inspections by the Department of Buildings and a potentially dangerous electrical problem in many apartments, the tenant association sent a first letter expressing concern to building manager Josh Luper.

Subsequently, another Equity Residential employee admitted via email that the staff was taking down tenant association posters. For this reason, VNSTA wrote a second letter to building manager Luper, cc’ed to senior Equity Residential executives, pointing out the sections of DC law that state that such actions are illegal, and that stipulates stiff penalties for violating the law.

VNSTA sends Equity Residential another letter about broken security doors

Residents of 3003 Van Ness today discovered two broken security doors leading from the underground garage into the apartment building. The tenant association has reported these broken doors many times in the past.

In addition, residents found that the loading dock doors were again left open, allowing easy entrance to the underground garages.

Harry Gural, president of the Van Ness South Tenants Association, sent a letter today expressing concerns about these issues to Equity Residential. The letter begins:

“I am writing to complain about two broken security doors leading from the underground garage into the apartment building. I have told you about these doors many times in the past. Video taken today of the two broken doors is here and here. In addition, the loading dock door is again wide open – see photos posted on Twitter.”

Read the entire letter in printer-friendly format.