VNSTA releases new report on security failures at 3003 Van Ness

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today released a detailed new report on security failures at 3003 Van Ness. The report finds that Equity Residential for years has failed to provide adequate building security, leading to rising levels of crime and nuisance behavior.

Specifically, it finds that:

• Exterior doors and locks frequently are broken.

• Many security and safety lights often don’t work and don’t get replaced for months.

• The security camera system is practically inoperable, with broken cameras, extremely poor coverage and limited recording capacity.

• The key fob system is outmoded and fails to prevent unauthorized entry.

• There is no 24/7 security guard.

• There is poor screening of visitors, with many non-residents freely entering both through the main entrance and through other exterior doors to the outside that are not monitored.

• Equity Residential takes no responsibility for handling even simple problems, and instead simply tells residents to call 911.

The report finds that recent pressure on Equity Residential by the DC Metropolitan Police Department and DC Attorney General Karl Racine has moved the company in the right direction. Recently, Equity has repaired exterior doors and lights, although some already are broken again. It also has announced that it plans to replace the outdated and poorly functioning security camera system, without providing additional details or a timeline. However, the pace of change has been glacial and few details of concrete plans have been shared.

The report on security failures follows VNSTA’s 45-page report on maintenance problems at 3003 Van Ness.

Sept. 14, 2021 — An officer at the main entrance of 3003 Van Ness tells a resident that police and the Secret Service are pursuing an armed individual.

VNSTA asks the Bowser administration to provide a list of rent-stabilized properties

VNSTA president Harry Gural today sent a letter to Lauren Pair, Rent Administrator for the DC Department of Housing and Community Development, requesting release of a list of DC apartment properties with 50 or more apartments that are subject to rent stabilization.

The letter argues that by failing to provide prospective renters with such a list, the Bowser administration deprives them of information that would enable them to choose apartments that in the long run would be less expensive — making housing less affordable in the District of Columbia.

The letter begins:

Dear Ms. Pair,

I am writing to request a list of apartment buildings in the District of Columbia that are subject to rent stabilization, including the owners and operators of those properties.

Prospective renters in the District of Columbia should be able to search for apartments based on whether or not they are subject to rent stabilization. The failure of the city government to provide such information makes rental housing less affordable in the District.

I understand that DHCD was supposed to have created a rent database that would include such basic information, along with much more detailed information about rents. Despite the fact that rent records reside in DHCD’s Rental Accommodations Division archives, the agency failed to deliver such a database. DHCD has published some rent records in PDF format, but this is like providing access to thousands of file boxes in one’s attic. The City Council reassigned responsibility for the database to the Office of the Tenant Advocate, which also has failed to deliver.

Read the entire letter

VNSTA asks DCRA to set firm deadline for analyses of structural problems at 3003 Van Ness

VNSTA president Harry Gural today sent a letter to DCRA Director Ernest Chrappah, requesting that DCRA set a firm deadline for professional analyses of possible structural and other problems in the underground garage at 3003 Van Ness.

Dear Mr. Chrappah,

I am writing to request that DCRA set a firm deadline for Equity Residential to provide structural analyses of the massive leaks, cracked beams, and falling plaster in the underground garage at 3003 Van Ness Street. Equity missed the Feb. 15th deadline previously set by DCRA; apparently no new deadline has been set.

Read the entire letter in print-friendly format.

VNSTA demands that Equity Residential to stop spewing concrete dust into the air

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today sent a letter to Equity Residential, requesting that it stop work on the exterior façade of 3003 Van Ness until the company can implement procedures to control silica dust that video shows is being spewed into the air.

The letter from VNSTA president Harry Gural begins:

“I am writing again to express our concern about silica dust generated by the concrete work on the façade of 3003 Van Ness. Recent video shows clouds of fine concrete dust spewing into the air – clearly without the vacuum dust-mitigation system that in your letter of January 27, 2022 you claimed were in use. That letter, along with our first letter about this issue, are appended below.

Residents have reported such dust on numerous other occasions and have never seen the “dustless shrouds and HEPA vacuum systems” that you promised in your letter. We remember Equity Residential’s similar false assurances in 2013 when it did work on the concrete balconies and ended up being fined by the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs for failing to contain the silica dust. At the time, we recorded similar video of clouds of dust spewing into the atmosphere.”

Read the entire letter here.

VNSTA begins releasing results of its maintenance survey

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today began releasing the results of its recent survey on the maintenance of individual apartments at 3003 Van Ness. More than 100 residents of 3003 Van Ness completed the survey.

The survey was conducted because of the large number of complaints the tenants association had received from tenants, who reported that they were experiencing chronic problems with poor ventilation, plumbing leaks, mold, rodents and other issues that Equity Residential had failed to fix properly. Most respondents did not blame the maintenance staff — many said that they believed that it was Equity corporate policy to devote few resources and staff to maintaining residents’ apartments.

Preliminary review of the survey results found that:

• Many people reported that they currently experience several maintenance problems. Some reported as many as 6 different problems.

• The #1 reported problem was poor ventilation, especially smoke from other apartments. 40% of respondents reported that they currently have a problem with poor ventilation.

• Almost 1/3 of respondents reported that they currently have problems with rodents.

• 1/4 of respondents reported that they currently have problems with mold.

• Almost one in nine respondents report that they currently have no maintenance problems. Of those, only one respondent reported that he has had no maintenance problems at all.

Many respondents wrote several paragraphs or more about the frustrations they have experienced. The tenants association plans to release representative samples of their accounts via Twitter.

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.

Read the entire letter

DC requires full expert analysis of problems outlined in VNSTA report

Several weeks after the Jan. 5th release of the VNSTA report titled, “Structural Problems, Security Issues and Safety Hazards” and after the tenants association pushed hard for an expert analysis of the widespread leaks in the garage and other issues, Equity Residential wrote a letter to the tenants association stating that it would make progress and it had planned to do so anyway.

While this doesn’t completely ring true because residents had complained above some of the problems — for example, broken doors and locks — for a long time, we appreciate any constructive steps that Equity makes toward fixing some of the serious problems outlined in the report.

On Jan. 31, VNSTA was able to find out that DCRA would require some of the strong measures that the tenants association had demanded. For example, it has required the following reports by Equity Residential:

• An expert report on the causes of the large leaks in the underground garages, including plumbing and waterproofing

• Analysis by a certified structural engineer of possible damage to columns, beams, and other critical support elements in the garage

• Reports on repairs of all doors and locks

DCRA has required Equity to provide these reports by Feb. 15th.

This is a substantial although tentative victory for the tenants association. We plan to follow up to find out the content of those reports, to see if they fairly analyze the situation or if they are biased toward Equity Residential, and to push for repairs to the more serious damage described in the report.

VNSTA asks Equity Residential to stop construction work without silica dust mitigation

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today sent a letter to 3003 Van Ness building manager Josh Luper, requesting that Equity Residential stop work on the exterior façade until the company can implement procedures to contain potentially hazardous silica dust.

Equity has claimed that its contractor uses dust mitigation techniques such as HEPA vacuum systems and “dustless shrouds,” but there is no evidence that such equipment is being used. Meanwhile, fine dust billows from the construction site.

In 2013, Equity Residential was fined by the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs for failing to contain silica dust during maintenance work on exterior balconies. The tenants association recorded extensive video of construction work without dust mitigation, which led to the investigation.

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Follow up: The following day, Feb. 27th, 3003 Van Ness Building Manager responded to letter from the tenants association saying claiming that: “mortar removal by saw-cutting will employ hand-held diamond-blade angle grinders attached to dustless shrouds and HEPA vacuum systems which are industry specific for the arrest and collection of fugitive dust.” Moreover, he wrote that:

“We are confident that the facade work at 3003 Van Ness is being performed in accordance with regulations to keep respirable crystalline silica within permissible levels. Our construction team has confirmed that the facade contractor is using appropriate engineering controls and work practices to mitigate dust during brick and mortar removal. We have kept DCRA apprised of this work as well.”

— 3003 Van Ness Building Manager Josh Luper

When Equity Residential did work on the concrete balconies in 2013, dust the fact that dusts was getting into residents’ apartments, the company claimed that it was using all proper cautions to contain dust. However, the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs disagreed, forcing Equity to change its procedures in order to capture dust.

To be clear, that work currently being done does not seem to create as much dust as the balcony work in 2013. Nevertheless, the tenants association will continue to watch the situation closely, because silica dust can be carcinogenic and also very annoying if it gets into apartments. Here is some vivid video of mass amounts of dust during the 2013 construction:

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Work on the balconies at 3003 Van Ness continues to generate clouds of dust, even after a settlement with the city to stop create so much construction dust and to use dust mitigation techniques.

Equity Residential threatens to evict VNSTA president Harry Gural

On Thursday, Jan. 20th, a neighbor of VNSTA president Harry Gural found a letter from one of Equity Residential’s attorneys, taped to Gural’s door. The letter, dated Dec. 30th, threatened Gural with eviction for supposed underpayment of rent. Equity Residential claims that he owes $30,979 in overdue rent, despite the fact that he has paid the rent in full.

Although many have assumed that Equity Residential no uses “rent concessions” to circumvent DC rent stabilization laws, this is clearly not true in the case of the tenant association president, who already has paid — in addition to his actual rent — more than $21,000 over five years under a protective order in Landlord and Tenant Court, where in 2016 Equity had filed suit against Gural for refusing to pay an illegal “rent concession” surcharge.

Today, Gural sent a letter to Equity Residential management demanding that the company rescind its threat of eviction and that it stop all such retaliation against him for his work as the president of the Van Ness South Tenants Association.

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Follow up: Soon after VNSTA president Harry Gural sent a letter to Equity Residential demanding that the company revoke the legal threat to evict him, Equity Residential responded by saying that it was it was a mistake.

Gural responded with a second letter demanding that Equity Residential stop retaliating against him for his work as tenant association president. For example, although it appears that Equity generally has stopped using the “rent concession” scam to circumvent DC rent stabilization laws, it continues to use it against Gural, claiming that he owes the company more than $34,000 in overdue rent, even though he has paid his rent in full. He has been forced to pay more than $21,000 under a protective order in the Landlord & Tenant Branch of DC Superior Court — even though he has paid his rent in full.

VNSTA launches maintenance survey

In response to may complaints from residents about serious maintenance problems in their apartments — water leaks, rodents, poor ventilation, mold and other problems — the Van Ness South Tenants Association has posted a maintenance survey for all residents of 3003 Van Ness.

VNSTA plans to compile the survey data and share it with the DC Department of Consumer Affairs and with Equity Residential, so proper steps can be taken to fix current problems in individual apartments and address chronic problems that may be more widespread.

This effort follows the recent report by VNSTA, "Structural Problems, Security Issues and Safety Hazards," which documented extensive maintenance issues in common areas at 3003 Van Ness. The report was covered by the real estate business publication BisNow and by the Forest Hills Connection.

The tenants association urges all residents of 3003 Van Ness to complete the survey, whether they have current problems, experienced problems in the past, or have no problems at all. The goal is to produce a fair, comprehensive report that will help shed light on Equity Residential’s maintenance of individual apartments at 3003 Van Ness.