safety

VNSTA sends letter to Equity Residential senior VP regarding potentially dangerous leaks

Last week, a resident of 3003 Van Ness sent two emails to building manager Josh Luper, warning him about a large water leak in several laundry rooms of the West building. The leaks were directly next to electric outlets and therefore could pose a risk of shock to residents.

Today, the Van Ness South Tenants Association sent a letter to Equity Residential Senior Vice President Frances Nolan, calling on her to take action to make sure that the leaks are addressed and that residents are safe. Specifically, the letter calls for Equity to hire plumbing and electricity experts to assess the seriousness of the situation and to repair the problems.

Since the discovery of the large leak, Equity has not informed residents of the situation or told them that there is a possible risk of shock. The tenant association today called on Equity to alert residents to the possible risk.

The letter stated:

“It has been almost a week since a resident alerted the front desk and emailed Equity Residential building manager Josh Luper about the leak, reporting that dripping water could be seen through holes in the laundry room walls, that “the wall to the right of the [laundry] outlet on the 8th floor is moist to the touch” and that “the wall holding the outlet on the 7th floor is saturated with water.” Equity Residential appears to have taken no action, not even to post a sign or send an email to residents warning them of the danger.”

Read the entire letter in printer-friendly format at this link.

VNSTA sends letter to Equity Residential asking it not to remove information about inspections

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today sent a letter to Josh Luper, Equity Residential building manager for 3003 Van Ness, requesting that he instruct Equity employees not to remove posters informing residents about building-wide inspections of 3003 Van Ness by the DC Department of Buildings.

The letter states that the tenant association posters are important because they provide residents essential information about a very serious electrical problem that has been discovered in recent investigations, which can be life-threatening in certain circumstances. The flyers also tell residents that they must fill out a permission form to have their apartment inspected.

The posters are particularly important because Equity Residential has not made vigorous efforts to inform residents about the inspections. For this reason, the Van Ness South Tenants Association has taken steps to make sure that residents receive information that may be important to their personal safety.

See the letter in print-friendly format at this link.

We ask that you instruct your employees not to remove tenant association flyers of any sort, specifically, those that are designed to alert them to a potential safety hazard and to let them know that they must sign a permission form to get an inspection of their unit. We also ask that you instruct them specifically not to remove information posted by the Department of Buildings.