rent

I love the pool but Equity Residential is awful

I originally moved to 3003 Van Ness for the pool. It’s the main reason why I stay here. The location also is great — about a two minute walk to the Metro. The apartments are large and have hardwood floors.

However, the corporation that owns and manages the building, Equity Residential, is awful. It sells itself as a high-end provider of luxury apartments, but at 3003 it has run the building down and taken advantage of residents. This seems to be a company strategy because it has gone on since almost the beginning that Equity took over.

Equity was implicated in the rent “concession” scam — a way to circumvent rent control and overcharge tenants. The tenants association fought the company for years over this practice and it even got the DC Attorney General involved.

I was caught in a classic bait-and-switch scheme

I was caught in a classic bait-and-switch rent scheme at 3003 Van Ness apartments. The apt was advertised for $1800.00 a month online -- no mention of "concessions." When I came in to sign the lease, the leasing agent told me to (and I am NOT making this up), "pay no attention to the other $3200.00 a month rent numbers and language about concessions, you don't need to worry about that. We have a rent deal with the city to keep our prices affordable."

The next year, my rent shot up to $3400.00 per month, OR I could sign another lease for $2300.00 a month for 12 months. TRAPPED! I could not afford to move, so I had to go in debt for a year to pay the 2300.00, then sell most of my household belongings in order to afford the move.

I am still paying off that debt two years later, and it hurt my credit score. I moved into 3003 with a 800 credit score, and left with a 597 score because I was trapped and had to pay rent on a credit card ....

I took Equity to court, but their big lawyers won in mediation. I could not afford a lawyer, and the DC Office of the Tenant Advocacy refused to help me after the said they would.

Mary
40s