security

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Tenant association inspection of 3003 finds minor improvements, many problems

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An informal inspection of 3003 Van Ness by the Van Ness South Tenant Association conducted today that after many months of resident complaints, both exterior doors from Veazey Terrace are working properly. They lock automatically when the doors close, they open with a fob, and they won’t open without a fob. The tenant association has reported problems with these doors for well over two years, and residents are pleased that finally they have been repaired.

On the other hand, the tenant association inspection of 3003 Van Ness found many other problems — some which have been reported dozens of times in the past.

For example, many of the doors leading from the underground garages to the main buildings remain broken. Some open easily without a fob; others won’t open at all even with a fob. The tenant association has reported the broken doors many times in the past, recording approximately 100 short videos of broken doors over a period of more than two years, posting them on its YouTube channel.

The elevators in both 11-story buildings have been in and out of service for more than five years. Currently, of the four elevators in the 11-story West building, two have been completely out of service since December. Often, one of the remaining elevators is used for employees, contractors or resident moves, leaving only one in service. Of the three elevators in the 11-story South building, only one was operating during the inspection of Feb. 2 — the others were stuck on floors with no sign to indicate why they are not working.

In addition, the inspection revealed that there are still large holes in some parts of the ceiling in the garages, some heavy metal hatches hang from the ceiling so low that they could cause injury, ceiling panels in elevators are missing, some fire extinguishers are missing from their locations and are being used to hold open laundry room doors, and dozens of laundry carts remain parked in hallways.

Non-residents may find it hard to believe that this is a substantial improvement from conditions in recent years.

See photos and videos below from our February 23, 2025 inspection of 3003 Van Ness.

FIRST THE GOOD NEWS:

The main door leading from Veazey Terrace to the West building has been repaired, including an industrial-strength handle over the locking mechanism. However, the fob reader has already been broken, and residents on Monday reported that a fob would not unlock the door.

After more than two years of complaints by the tenant association, the second Veazey Terrace door leading into the G-2 level garage has also been repaired and is working properly.


NOW THE BAD NEWS:

1) ELEVATORS OUT OF SERVICE

Two of the four elevators in the West building have been out of service since mid-December. Management says that this is due to the massive flooding that occurred in the West building in December. While this may be the proximate cause of the problem, ALL elevators in both buildings have been out of order intermittently for several years, causing considerable frustration for residents.

In the West building on the day of the inspection, the two elevators on the north side of the West building (near Veazey Terrace) remained out of service. In addition, one of the two remaining elevators was stuck on an upper floor, so residents were forced to choose between waiting a long time for an elevator or walking the stairs of the 11-story West building.

Residents have become irate about the situation with the elevators in the West building. Management says that they won’t be repaired or replaced for months.

Sign on the door of an elevator that has been out of service since mid-December.

One of the two remaining elevators in the West building is temporarily out of service, leaving residents to wait for a long time or to walk.

South building elevators

On the day of the inspection, one of the two elevators in the South building was stuck on the fourth floor. While it appears that the elevator was later back in service, for a period of time the elevator couldn’t be used by residents.


2) SEVERAL SECURITY DOORS DON’T LOCK AND CAN BE ENTERED WITHOUT A FOB

Unfortunately, several of the doors leading from the underground garages are still broken, allowing easy access to the buildings for anyone who gets into the garages. It is easy to get into the garages because the loading dock door is frequently left wide open, and also because people on foot can follow cars through the garage door.

Residents are highly concerned about the fact that intruders can easily walk off the street into the buildings because 3003 Van Ness has experienced an elevated level of crime and extreme nuisance behavior in recent years.

Equity Residential has been told about the doors that do not lock many times. At times, it has made half-hearted attempts to fix the doors, using residential-grade materials that are easily broken.

The tenant association has recorded approximately 100 videos of broken doors at 3003 Van Ness over the past two and a half years, and it has posted the videos to its YouTube channel.

Door from G-2 garage into the West building doesn’t lock

This door has been almost continuously broken for more than two years, with management evidently making little effort to repair it. Through this door, an intruder who has entered the underground garages can easily enter the West building on the G-2 level near the fitness room. From there, no fob is needed to enter the hallways or main lobby .

Door A from the G-1 garage to the West building doesn’t lock

Despite reassurances from management to a resident that this door was being repaired this week, Door A remains broken, allowing easy access from the G-1 level garage to the West building. This door has been broken almost continuously for more than two years.

Double doors from G-2 garage into the South building did not lock

The main doors from the G-2 garage into the South Building have usually been working properly in recent months, with new heavy-duty metal doors and hardware. However, on Sunday Feb. 23, the doors could easily be opened without a fob — see video — allowing easy access to the South building.

Door Q from the G-3 level of the garage to the West building does not lock

This door has been broken continuously for many months. An intruder who has entered the underground garages can enter the building through Door Q without a fob.


3) SEVERAL SECURITY DOORS CANNOT BE OPENED EVEN WITHOUT A FOB

Door D from the G-1 garage to the South building cannot be opened, even with a fob.

This door has been broken continuously for many months.

Door N from the G-2 garage cannot be opened even with a fob

This door has been mostly broken for more than two years.

Door O from the G-2 garage the building does not open even with a fob

This door has been mostly broken for more than two years.

4) FIRE EXTINGUISHERS USED TO PROP OPEN LAUNDRY ROOM DOORS

For reasons difficult to understand, the doors to laundry rooms are sometimes propped open with whatever is at hand, including fire extinguishers. This means that the fire extinguishers aren’t in the boxes where they are supposed to be, a possible problem in the case of an actual fire.

4) HOLES IN GARAGE CEILINGS

In 2022, the tenant association released an extensive report about severe maintenance issues, especially leaks and water damage, in the underground garages of 3003 Van Ness. This report led to inspections by the Department of Buildings, which cited Equity Residential for violations, forcing the company to do extensive repairs.

Nevertheless, problems with the ceilings of the garages still remain. Some of them, like metal hatch left open at head height, could cause injury.

5) SHOPPING CARTS LITTER THE HALLWAYS

Some residents have a habit of taking shopping carts from the nearby Giant supermarket and using them to transport their groceries back to 3003 Van Ness. Often, they remain in the hallways for a long time, making the halls look like a shopping cart junkyard.

CONCLUSION

Because of time constraints, the tenant association did not do a complete inspection of common areas of 3003 Van Ness. In any case, that should be left to the professionals at the DC Department of Buildings.

However, the partial inspection conducted by the tenant association on February 23 found that while two important repairs have been made — the exterior doors leading from Veazey Terrace — many other problems remain, including elevators out of service, security doors from the garages to the buildings that either don’t lock or don’t open, safety hazards in the garages, and dozens of grocery carts that make the halls look like a junkyard.

The DC Department of Buildings continues its inspections for 3003 Van Ness, responding to complaints by residents. Over the past year, DOB has assessed Equity Residential with more than $1.2 million in fines, although DOB subsequently forgave most of those fines because it decided that the housing violations were adequately addressed.

Residents of 3003 Van Ness simply want to live in a clean, well-maintained building, with adequate security, and operational elevators, which fully complies with the DC Housing Code.

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New Year's Eve inspection finds chronic security and maintenance problems

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An informal inspection by members of the Van Ness South Tenants Association found that many of the same security problems that have been reported in the past have not been addressed. The tenant association has recorded well over 80 videos of malfunctioning security doors over the past two and a half years.

Many of the problems recorded on video on December 31st are the same issues that were witnessed by the DC Department of Buildings (DOB) during an official inspection of 3003 Van Ness on December 17th. The DOB discover many malfunctioning security doors, and it issued a 21-page Notice of Infraction to Equity Residential and levied $609 in fines.

On December 31st, two weeks after the DOB inspection, the tenant association found that only two doors had been repaired, while many others remain broken. One door that was repaired is the second Veazey Terrace entrance, which has been broken almost continuously for more than two years — it now has a reinforced handle and lock mechanism. The main entrance from Veazey Terrace also received a stronger door handle, but the hinge mechanism still does not work properly so the door does not close automatically.

The chronically broken security doors are of especially serious concern given that an intruder attempted to light a resident’s apartment door on fire on Monday, December 30th. Equity Residential management has not informed residents about this incident, and it is not clear whether it has taken any steps to prevent the intruder from entering the building again. In any case, as the videos below indicate, it is extremely easy for anyone to enter 3003 Van Ness.

An intruder attempted to light a fire outside a resident’s apartment.

The informal inspection of 3003 Van Ness by the tenant association found that exterior security doors were left open, and other security doors malfunctioned or had broken locks and could be opened without a fob.

The door at the main entrance from Veazey Terrace does not close automatically.

The door in the G2-level garage to the West building by the gym can be opened without a fob, allowing easy access to the West building.

Door N to the South building in the G-2 garage can be opened without a fob, allowing easy access to the South building.

This door has been broken for months, allowing easy access to the apartment building from the underground garage. It is easy to get into the underground garage from other entrances, so it is easy to walk off the street into the garage and then into the apartment area.

Door G on the G-1 level of the garage into the South building won’t open with a fob. As a result, someone frequently props it open with a fire extinguisher, allowing easy access to the building.

Door Q on the G-3 level of the garage remains broken, allowing easy access to the buiding.

The loading dock door is left open at approximately 10 am on December 31st. There is no Equity Residential employee in sight.

The same loading dock door is still open four hours later, allowing easy access to the building.

Two of the four elevators in the West building are broken, including the only freight elevator. One of the remaining elevators is frequently used by contractors, so only one elevator is operational for residents of the 11-story West building.

In the 11-floor South building, one of the three elevators is out of service.

One of three elevators in the South building is out of service.

Residents of 3003 Van Ness are extremely concerned about the fact that there are not enough working elevators to serve the residents of the two large apartment buildings. Older and disabled residents cannot climb the stairs or exit the building easily. Other residents are forced to wait a long time for an elevator. Residents cannot move large furniture in or out of the building due to lack of a service elevator.

LAUNDRY ROOMS

Residents largely welcome the recent upgrade of laundry rooms, with the installation of new washers and dryers.

However, it seems like some of the new washers are leaking or were incorrectly connected to the plumbing. One resident recently alerted management to this leak on the 5th floor laundry room in the West building.

BROKEN LIGHTS

Residents also report that many lights are out in stairwells and some hallways.

While management has claimed that the broken lights are due to the recent massive flood in the West building, residents say that many of these lights have been out for a long time. In fact, there is a lot of email evidence between residents and management showing that residents have complained about broken lighting in stairwells long before the flood.

Long “dolly shot” of maintenance problems in stairwells and hallways of 3003 Van Ness

MORE bROKEN LIGHTS

Residents have recorded more videos of broken lights. The videos below were recorded on January 6th in stairwells 1 and 2 near the 10th floor in the West building. Both show that many lights are out in these stairwells.

We are concerned about this safety and security issue, in part because two elevators are out of service in the West building, forcing residents to walk up or down stairs in some cases.

Exterior security doors are still broken

On the same day (Dec. 10th) that the DC Council held a hearing on proposed legislation to strengthen security at apartment buildings, an informal inspection of security doors at 3003 Van Ness found that four security doors remain broken. The broken doors allow easy access to anyone outside the building to enter the underground garage, and from there to enter the apartment building.

The Van Ness South Tenants Association has been reporting and recording video of broken security doors at 3003 Van Ness for almost three years — more than 80 videos have been posted to VNSTA’s YouTube Channel.

On the same day that the four videos below recorded, the DC Department of Buildings reported that it inspected the doors at 3003 Van Ness that morning - but DOB found only one broken door. However, as the video shows clearly, at least four security doors at 3003 Van Ness were not functioning properly on December 10th, 2024.

The tenant association has reported these broken doors to Equity Residential many times in the past. It reported them to Equity again on Nov. 20th and then again today (Dec. 11th). Today, the tenant association submitted a request to DOB for an inspection of these doors.

Tenant association presidents sends letter to Equity re: broken doors and Nuisance Abatement Act

Harry Gural, president of the Van Ness South Tenants Association, sent a letter today to Equity Residential general manager Dan Burkes, requesting again that the company repair all broken exterior security doors at 3003 Van Ness.

For years, the tenant association has complained to Equity Residential about poor building security at 3003 Van Ness. VNSTA wrote reports on poor security, wrote letters and emails to building management, and asked city officials for help. For more than two years, it recorded video evidence of broken exterior doors at the property, and broken doors leading from the underground garages to the main building.

Today’s letter is another attempt to get the attention of Equity Residential, a $27 billion company based in Chicago. The letter not only provides evidence of exceptionally poor security at 3003 Van Ness, it cites possible penalties for such failures in in buildings that have had problems with drugs, prostitution or firearms. Specifically, it quotes a section of the law which names penalties that a court can order for violating the law:

“Ordering all rental income from the property to be placed in an escrow account with the court for up to 90 days or until the drug-, firearm-, or prostitution-related nuisance is abated;”

“Ordering all rental income for the property transferred to a trustee, to be appointed by the court, who shall be empowered to use the rental income to make reasonable expenditures related to the property in order to abate the drug-, firearm-, or prostitution-related nuisance;”

The letter is cc’ed to senior Equity Residential management, as well as DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, Department of Buildings Director Brian Hanlon, officers of the DC Metropolitan Police, members of the DC Council, and others.

Read the entire letter in print-friendly format.


VNSTA sends letter to Equity Senior Vice President regarding broken security doors

Residents of 3003 Van Ness have continued to share their concern with poor security at 3003 Van Ness, particularly the almost constantly broken security doors that allow easy access to the building without a fob. For this reason, we sent a letter today to Frances Nolan, Equity Residential Senior Vice President, asking again that she take steps to repair the malfunctioning doors and to keep them in working order.


April 4, 2024

 

Ms. Frances Nolan
Senior Vice President
Equity Residential Corporation
Two North Riverside Plaza, Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60606

Dear Ms. Nolan,

I am writing to ask you to please repair all of the malfunctioning security doors at Equity Residential’s apartment building at 3003 Van Ness Street in Washington, DC.

As you know, we have had many security issues in the building – some so serious that the DC Attorney General has pressured Equity Residential under the Drug-, Firearm-, or Prostitution-Related Nuisance Abatement Law. Nevertheless, Equity continues to show little concern for the safety of its residents, with security doors frequently broken so that it is easy to enter the building with a fob.

We have reported this problem to Equity Residential many times in the past – a few of our previous letters are attached. The problem has become so bad that for more than a year we have recorded videos of the broken doors, hoping this evidence would convince the company that it needed to take action. There are now dozens of videos posted on YouTube and on Twitter/X, providing extensive evidence of Equity Residential’s failure to provide this most basic level of security to its customers.

We will continue to record evidence of the extremely lax security at 3003 Van Ness until Equity Residential takes steps to correct it. We request that you immediately repair all of malfunctioning security doors and make sure that they remain in good working order at all times.

Sincerely yours,

Harry Gural
President, Van Ness South Tenants Association

Cc: Stacey Aguiar, Vice President of Property Management, Equity Residential
Josh Luper, Washington Area Manager, Equity Residential

Read the letter in printer-friendly PDF format

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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.

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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.