D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb announced on Thursday that the managers and owners of two subsidized apartment complexes in Ward 8 — Atlantic Terrace and Southern Hills — will pay $2 million in penalties and restitution, including rent credits, for violating D.C. law and endangering more than 400 tenants.
An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General uncovered evidence of hundreds of housing code violations at the properties, including many pertaining to the health, safety and well-being of the tenants. To resolve the investigation, the owners agreed to pay restitution in the form of rent credits to hundreds of tenants across the 451 units, pay $1.15 million in penalties to the District, complete remaining repairs, and ensure the properties remain safe and habitable in the future.
“Far too many D.C. residents are living in unstable, substandard, unlawful conditions — an unacceptable reality that the Office of the Attorney General is attacking every day,” the attorney general said. “Every D.C. tenant has the right to live in safe and healthy conditions, and this right is especially critical as affordable housing in the District becomes increasingly scarce. Thanks to our dedicated attorneys and investigators, hundreds of tenants at Atlantic Terrace and Southern Hills will receive rent credits to compensate them for the substandard and hazardous conditions they were required to live with. When housing providers — including those that provide subsidized housing — systematically neglect their properties and force their tenants to live in unsafe, unlawful units, we will use every legal tool available to hold them accountable.”
D.C. Council member Trayon White (D-Ward 8) thanked Schwalb and the OAG staffers for “listening and taking action on behalf of our residents.”
As a Public Housing Resident,Activist/Abvocate I Honor the Standard the Attorney GeneralsOffice is setting under the Leadership of Brian L.Schwalb by Inforcing our Human Rights and the acknowledgment there of, to Long the suffering of many have gone unanswered these injustices are Far more Deeper ,It is my Hope that the AG Office will continue to address more of the Housing injustices in our City I speak as a Legendary Scholar ANC Commissioner For almost 30 years we need this movement more than Ever Thank You and all that are in this struggle with us Respectfully Karen Settles