ADVOCATING FOR TENANTS’ RIGHTS

DC rental housing law provides strong protections for tenants – at least as it is written. However, Equity Residential has found myriad ways to circumvent the law; for example:

• Systematically misleading tenants about their legal rights

• Failing to maintain the building or individual apartments in compliance with the housing code

• Failing to control rodents and other pests

• Failing to remediate mold within the time period mandated by law

• Failing to turn on the heat or the air conditioning at times mandated by law

• Forcing tenants to sign leases that include incorrectly list the “rent” as much higher than the actual rent

• Demanding annual rent increases that exceed what is allowed by law

• Denying tenants their right not to sign a new lease after the first year of residency

• Illegally subdividing or subleasing apartments

• Depriving tenants of their rights under the Tenants Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)

• Retaliating against tenants for asserting their legal rights or actively participating in a tenants organization

HOW WE HELP

Individual tenants have little ability to fight powerful landlords, many of them multi-billion dollar corporations, on their own. The District of Columbia often does not police landlord behavior unless tenants complain. For these reasons, an active tenants association is indispensable.

The Van Ness South Tenants Association gives residents of 3003 the tools to fight for their rights, by:

• Sharing information to them about their rights – knowledge is power

• Organizing residents – we are stronger when we work together

• Reinforcing tenants’ complaints to management through persistent emails and follow-up

• Pressuring city officials to help and working cooperatively with them to provide results

• Passing legislation to make sure that housing laws are implemented as intended

• And when no other method is effective, fighting Equity Residential in court