On December 14th, the VNSTA submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the District of Columbia, requesting crime statistics and police analysis of crime in Police Service Area (PSA) 203, which includes the Van Ness neighborhood.
The text of the request follows:
On Monday, December 6th, members of the Security working group met with building manager Josh Luper and Equity Residential Regional Vice President Stacey Aquiar to discuss problems with security at 3003 Van Ness following the recent stabbing of a resident.
Management claims that the stabbing was an “isolated incident,” but VNSTA working group members express concerns not only about the possibility of more violent crime, but about the many shortcomings in Equity’s security at 3003 Van Ness — including the lack of a security guard, a poor and outdated security camera system, little screening of visitors, and broken doors and locks.
Equity management promises that it will present a security plan in the near future. It says that it has hired a security guard for the overnight shift, although it isn’t clear how long that will be in effect. Equity agrees to meet with the VNSTA working group bi-weekly.
The DC Metropolitan Police Department report that a resident of the West building of 3003 Van Ness has been stabbed in his apartment.
The MPD found the victim an elevator. He was suffering from several lacerations and puncture wounds. The police believe that the incident was related to narcotics.
Security cameras at 3003 Van Ness failed to capture any video of the assailant.
On November 20th, VNSTA president Harry Gural led a meeting of approximately 30 members of the tenants association in the courtyard at 3003 Van Ness. Residents shared their frustrations with many aspects of Equity' Residential’s management of the building, including serious security issues, rising crime, deteriorating building infrastructure, fewer services for residents, etc.
Attendees formed working groups to meet separately to address these issues:
Maintenance and physical plant
Security
Resident services
Legal
ADA compliance
Communications
After a long break due to COVID-19, members of the Van Ness South Tenants Association met in the courtyard at 3003 Van Ness to discuss pressing concerns about the building and future plans for the tenants association.
The Van Ness South Tenants Association, representing the tenants of the apartments at 3003 Van Ness Street, NW, submitted on January 31, 2019, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for rent records of seven properties owned or operated by Equity Residential Corporation or its affiliates. The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) processed the request, releasing data on February 21, 2019.
The records reveal that Equity Residential very likely has incorrectly reported the rents received on many of its apartments in rent stabilized buildings, vastly inflating many of the figures. At 3003 Van Ness, Equity was pressuring tenants into signing leases listing the “rent” as several hundred dollars or well over one thousand dollars higher than the amount actually received per month. Equity based annual increases on these inflated figures, breaking DC rental housing law.
The data can be found in three compressed files:
On January 18, 2018, the DC Rental Housing Commission issued a ruling overturning a lower court order in the case of Gabriel Fineman v. Equity Residential.
The tenants association submits several written complaints about Equity Residential’s failure to follow construction codes during repair of balconies at 3003, spewing fine concrete dust into the air and into many residents’ apartments.
The complaints are sent to the DC Department of Regulatory Affairs. DCRA eventually issues mild fines against Equity, which doesn’t correct its behavior until weeks later.