District Government Amends Slumlord Lawsuit; Adds Properties, Owners

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced that the District Government has amended its lawsuit against the landlords of nuisance rental properties to include three new owners and two new properties, while removing six owners and 14 properties from the complaint.

The lawsuit, announced April 4, affects more than 330 apartment units across seven wards of the District.

“The lawsuit’s goal is to protect tenants in the District by making landlords comply with the law,” said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “Our attorneys built in the flexibility to add landlords and properties as we discover them, and to remove landlords and properties if our inspections show they’re doing what they need to do.”

The District’s legal team, led by Interim Attorney General Peter Nickles, also filed a motion asking the court to appoint the DC Housing Authority as receiver for 13 buildings with the worst housing code violations. The court-appointed receiver would collect rent instead of the owner, and use it to repair the housing-code violations. If the rent collected is not sufficient to make the repairs, the District will ask the court to order the owner to do so – under penalty of civil contempt or fines.

The DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) performs about 40,000 housing inspections in a given year. Landlords abate the vast majority of housing code violations after inspection. When owners persistently refuse to come into compliance with the law after DCRA’s enforcement efforts, the agency refers cases to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

A copy of the complaint, which includes the buildings’ addresses and the names of their owners, is attached.

• Amended Complaint*