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Tenant association president threatens Equity Residential with legal action over poor security

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Harry Gural, president of the Van Ness South Tenants Association, today sent a letter to Equity Residential, requesting that it repair broken exterior doors within two weeks — or face possible legal action in Housing Conditions Court.

For well more than a year, the tenant association has repeatedly asked Equity Residential to fix broken exterior doors and locks, presenting evidence of dozens of videos showing that it is easy to enter 3003 Van Ness without a fob. Equity has promised to repair the doors, but some doors have remained broken for months. Broken doors are a violation of DC Housing Code, 14 DCMR 705.5.

In the past, the DC Metropolitan Police Department has referred Equity Residential to the DC Attorney General for possible prosecution for poor security under the Drug-, Firearm-, or Prostitution-Related Nuisance Abatement Law.

The tenant association for a long time has argued that Equity Residential, a Real Estate Investment Trust with a market capitalization of approximately $23 billion, must provide adequate security at its property at 3003 Van Ness.

Read the entire letter at this link.

“I am contacting you to request repairs of DC housing code violations in common areas of 3003 Van Ness. If the three security doors are not repaired within the two weeks, I intend to file a complaint against Equity Residential Management in DC Housing Conditions Court.”
— Letter to Equity Residential
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Third tenant inspection in two months finds that exterior doors remain broken

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Members of the Van Ness South Tenants Association found on February 1st that three key security doors remain broken at 3003 Van Ness, allowing easy access from outside the building into the garage, and from the garage into the apartment area. This is the third time that tenants have recorded video of these broken doors since early December.

The tenant association has archived dozens of such videos in recent years, posting them on YouTube and Twitter/X, and sending them many times to Equity Residential management.

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Another tenant inspection of 3003 finds that problems have not been fixed

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Tenants conducted another inspection of common areas on Friday, Jan. 19th, and found that none of the problems that had been repeatedly reported to management in the past have been fixed.

As in past inspections, tenants found that many security doors are broken, allowing easy access from the outside into the building. These include one of the most highly trafficked entrances to the building, and several doors from the underground garage into the apartment hallways. In most cases, the doors can be opened without a fob. In other cases, the doors cannot be opened — even if a fob.

In addition, tenants found that almost a half dozen security lights in the lower courtyard remain missing or broken. Some appear to have been torn completely from concrete pedestals, others simply lie on the ground.

These security vulnerabilities are particularly concerning given that the DC Attorney General already has threatened suit against Equity Residential for poor security at 3003 Van Ness under the Drug-, Firearm-, or Prostitution-Related Nuisance Abatement Law.

The tenant association has extensively documented security problems at 3003 Van Ness since Equity Residential took control of the property in 2014 — writing reports, sending letters to Equity management, posting photos to Twitter/X, and conducting many inspections of the property.

Despite the fact that Equity Residential may bear legal liability for residents’ safety when the company fails to provide adequate security, many well-documented problems persist, with little apparent effort by Equity to fix them.

VNSTA requests more information about the Runwise temperature control system

The tenant association today sent a letter to Josh Luper, General Manager for 3003 Van Ness, inquiring about Equity Residential’s email announcement that it plans to adopt a new temperature control system.

Residents of 3003 Van Ness shared their concerns with the tenant association about the proposed change. In response, the tenant association has sent a formal letter to Equity Residential, asking for clarification about how the level of heat or air conditioning is set individual apartments.

Read the entire letter at this link.

“Will residents be able to maintain control of the heat and air conditioning in their individual apartments and raise or lower the temperature to suit their individual needs?”
— Letter to Equity Residential Management
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Despite warning, Equity Residential has not repaired security problems at 3003 Van Ness

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Another informal inspection by the Van Ness South Tenants Association finds that security and maintenance problems that were reported to Equity Residential in early December have not been repaired.

The inspection was conducted on the morning of December 31, 2023. It found that four security lampposts in the lower courtyard remain broken. The locks on several security doors remain broken, providing intruders easy access to the buildings. There has been no apparent attempt by management to fix the vandalism in the elevators.

In addition, the recent inspection finds a large pile of broken furniture and other garbage at the loading dock.

The tenant association has warned Equity senior management about the broken exterior doors many times over recent years. In addition, the DC Attorney General has threatened to file suit against Equity Residential for poor security at 3003 Van Ness under the Drug-, Firearm-, or Prostitution-Related Nuisance Abatement Law. Nevertheless, Equity has not taken steps to keep the security doors in good working order.

The DC Department of Buildings is currently conducting a building-wide inspection of all apartments at 3003 Van Ness. The inspection has revealed numerous serious housing code violations, which may lead to large fines against Equity Residential.

The Van Ness South Tenants Association requests that Equity Residential take proactive steps to make 3003 Van Ness clean and safe.

See photos and videos below from the Jan. 31, 2023, VNSTA inspection of 3003 Van Ness.

Garage door E doesn’t lock — allowing easy access to the building

Garage door O doesn’t lock — this already has been reported many times.

Garage door N has not been fixed — allowing easy access into the building

Door into the west building from the garage does not lock. This has been reported many times, but never fixed.

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Tenant association inspection of 3003 Van Ness finds numerous problems

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Members of the Van Ness South Tenants Association found numerous problems during an informal inspection of common areas at 3003 Van Ness on Saturday, December 2, 2023. These included several security doors that don’t lock, several broken lampposts, elevators that have been vandalized, inoperable washing machines, laundry rooms without working lights, and courtyard paving stones that wobble and constitute a trip hazard.

Most of these problems have been reported previously to Equity Residential building management. Some problems, like the broken security doors, have been reported many times — despite the fact that the DC Attorney General has warned Equity about poor security at 3003 Van Ness.

Even the lock to the front door at the main entrance was broken, with visitors able to freely enter the building without a fob — see video below.

Tenant association members widely believe that it should be the responsibility of the owner and manager of the building, a $25 billion company, to frequently inspect the building for problems and to fix those problems expeditiously. That is not happening.

It is particularly important for Equity to fix problems that cause security vulnerabilities — for example, the broken security lights listed in photos below, or the several broken security doors that provide easy access to the buildings — see videos at the bottom of this page. The Van Ness South Tenants Association has reported such problems to Equity Residential management many times. However, despite the DC Attorney General’s threat to file suit against Equity for poor security under the Drug-, Firearm-, or Prostitution-Related Nuisance Abatement Law, the $25 billion corporation still has not taken adequate steps to keep security systems in working order.

Fortunately, the DC Department of Buildings (DOB) is currently conducting a building-wide inspection of apartments at 3003 Van Ness. We hope that the DOB inspection, which includes fine for housing code violations, will encourage Equity Residential to fix numerous problems in residents’ apartments as well as the many other problems documented below.

Even the door at the main entrance doesn’t lock. It is easy to enter the building without a fob.

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.