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.