VNSTA president files legal motion to interview Equity senior employees under oath

Harry Gural, president of the Van Ness South Tenants Association, today filed a legal brief with the DC Office of Administrative Hearings, requesting the right to question senior Equity employees and other staff under oath, otherwise known as conducting depositions. The brief also requested the right to compel Equity Residential to provide documents pertaining to its efforts to illegally raise Gural’s rent using so-called “rent concessions,” a method that Equity has used to circumvent the rent stabilization provisions of DC law.

Today’s filing is part of a seven-year battle with Equity Residential and its subsidiary, Smith Property Holdings Van Ness LP, which began when the tenant association received dozens of complaints from residents of 3003 Van Ness that Equity Residential was demanding rent increases that far exceeded what are permissible under rent stabilization (a maximum of inflation plus 2% annually for renters under age 62).

Residents reported that Equity was demanding rent increases of several hundred dollars per month up to more than $1,500 per month, by falsely claiming that the current rent charged was far above the amount actually paid. Gural reported this practice to the office of former Attorney General Karl Racine, which filed suit against Equity Residential, winning $1 million in restitution for residents who were overcharged plus legal fees.

After losing two seminal cases in court, including an appeal by Gural to the Rental Housing Commission, and after the passage of a law clarifying that the words “rent charged” in DC rental housing law mean “the rent that is actually charged,” Equity Residential appears to have ceased using the “rent concession” scam — except in the case of VNSTA president Harry Gural. Gural argues that this is a clear act of retaliation against him for his advocacy on behalf of tenants, and his successful effort to put an end to the rent concession scam citywide.

Equity Residential has overcharged Gural by almost $50,000, of which he has been forced to pay almost $25,000 over seven years, in addition to his monthly rent.

Gural plans to seek damages from Equity Residential and its subsidiary, Smith Property Holdings Van Ness LP. DC law calls for damages up to triple the overcharges, and also calls for $5,000 for each act of retaliation against a member of a tenant association. In addition, Gural seeks compensation for the more than 1,000 hours he has spent working on his case and on related tasks that have occupied much of his time over the past seven years.

In addition, he seeks punitive damages on behalf of Equity customers who were overcharged via the “rent concession” scam, including other residents of 3003 Van Ness and of several other Equity Residential / Smith Property Holdings apartment buildings in DC.

VNSTA warns Equity Residential about circumventing Tenants Option to Purchase Act

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today sent a letter to Equity Residential management about the ownership of 3003 Van Ness, stating "the tenants association’s intention to fully consider its legal right to the first opportunity to purchase the property if it is put up for sale."

The letter cites the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which was circumvented when the property effectively changed hands in 2007 and 2013. The letter simply states that current tenants should be able to exert their legal right to consider purchase of the building.

“It is not clear whether residents would choose the purchase the building given the many problems documented in our recent report, ‘Structural Problems, Security Issues and Safety Hazards’ and the dozens of reports we have received about chronic maintenance issues in individual apartments. However, we intend to give residents a chance to fully consider this option before a sale is made to another party.”

The letter points out that the actual current owner of 3003 Van Ness is not Equity Residential but Smith Property Holdings Van Ness LP. Furthermore, the letter states that Smith may be in violation of an agreement it made with the Van Ness South Tenants Association when it purchased 3003 Van Ness:

Smith Property Holdings Van Ness LP appears to be in violation of a legal agreement it made with the Van Ness South Tenants Association as a condition of residents ceding their TOPA rights and enabling Smith to purchase 3003 Van Ness from JMB/Van Ness Associates in 1996. The 13-page memo of understanding guarantees certain conditions, including those pertaining to maintenance, building security, key control, building access, repair of roof leaks, elevators and broken doors and locks, hot water, cleanliness, staffing, amenities, laundry facilities, trash, and a “rent-to-own” program. The MOU calls for standards of “cleanliness, orderliness, organization [and] quality,” that “shall in no event be inferior to the standards maintained by owners of comparable properties in comparable locations.” Evidence suggests that Smith may in violation of many of these provisions.

The letter also states that the tenants association likely would oppose any effort to sell the property so investors can redevelop it and remove it from the DC rent stabilization program.

Read the entire letter