AG Schwalb Compels Owners of District Apartment Complexes – Including Foster House and Marbury Plaza – to Remedy Housing Conditions

Outcomes Build on OAG Efforts to Require Landlords to Fix Hazardous Living Conditions Affecting Thousands of District Residents

WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced successful outcomes in three separate cases against the owners of four residential properties in the District – Foster House, Marbury Plaza, Garfield Court Apartments, and Concorde Gardens – each of whom failed to comply with previous court orders to remedy numerous housing code violations that threatened the health, safety, and security of thousands of District tenants.

“All District tenants are entitled to live in a safe, habitable, code-compliant home. These outcomes will have an immediate and positive impact on thousands of people across the city who for far too long have been forced to live in deplorable, unsafe conditions,” said AG Schwalb. “When landlords and property managers violate tenants’ rights, or worse, ignore court orders to repair their properties, OAG will take all necessary measures to ensure compliance with the law.”

A.J. Edwards Realty – which owns Garfield Court Apartments and Concorde Gardens – and the owners of Marbury Plaza were separately found in civil contempt for violating previous court orders requiring them to make necessary repairs to their multifamily properties.  In addition to the contempt finding, a judge ordered the owner of Marbury Plaza to provide all tenants with a 50% rent abatement, retroactive to June 2022 and continuing until the code violations are addressed.

In the case against the owners of Foster House – where issues included a broken fire alarm system and fire hazards that required 24-hour fire monitors to physically occupy seven floors of the apartment complex in case of an emergency – a judge ordered that a receiver be appointed to address the dangerous living conditions.

Additional details on the three cases are below:

Foster House (801 Rhode Island Ave, NW)

Background

  • Foster House is an eight-story, federally subsidized apartment building located in the Shaw neighborhood. 
     
  • Since 2018, inspections have documented the rapid decline in living conditions at the property, threatening the health, safety, and security of tenants.
     
  • In March 2021, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) filed a lawsuit directing the owner of Foster House to address the dangerous living conditions, which included mold and serious water leaks, malfunctioning heating systems, defective HVAC systems and faulty air-circulation equipment, exposed wires, missing carbon monoxide alarms and inoperable smoke detectors, malfunctioning elevators, bedbug and rodent infestations, and insecure doors.
     
  • Following OAG's filing of the lawsuit, the owner of Foster House agreed to two consent orders requiring it to address the health and safety concerns, but it failed to comply with the deadlines in either order.  As a result, conditions worsened to the point where it became necessary to employ 24-hour fire monitors on all seven floors of the building to warn tenants in case of a fire, and tenants were forced to relocate to hotels for months because of dangerous mold in their units.  

Outcome

  • In April 2023, given the ongoing and persistent nature of these violations, a judge granted OAG’s request that a receiver be appointed, saying that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results…it would be irresponsible... to just allow [the owner of Foster House] to continue to engage in the same pattern of neglect about the conditions of the building that have persisted in this case for far too long.”
     
  • The receiver will assess the issues and determine a course of action to stabilize building conditions and coordinate the safe relocation of the tenants while repairs are being made.

The full court order is available here. 

Marbury Plaza (2300 - 2330 Good Hope Road, SE)

Background

  • On January 28, 2022, as a result of a lawsuit filed by OAG, the court entered a consent order agreed to by the owner of Marbury Plaza, a 674-unit apartment complex in Ward 8 with approximately 2,500 residents, to address numerous housing code violations that left tenants living in deplorable, unsafe conditions including mold, water and sewage leaks, flooding, failing plumbing and electrical systems, insect and rodent infestations, and non-functioning elevators and chairlifts.
     
  • As a result of the owner’s subsequent failure to comply with the court order and address these threats to tenants’ health and safety, OAG asked the court to find the owner in civil contempt and take additional steps to force it to address the conditions at the property.

Outcome

  • On April 26, 2023, a judge ordered a 50% rent abatement, retroactive to June 1, 2022, writing that “it would be a miscarriage of justice for [the owner] to be allowed to retain the residents’ rent in the face of its flagrant and extensive violations…”. The retroactive rent credits alone will return approximately $5 million to Marbury Plaza’s residents.
     
  • The 50% rent abatement will remain in effect until the owner complies with the order to repair the property and will increase to 60% if the owner remains out of compliance 120 days after the date of the order (August 24, 2023) and to 75% if noncompliant by October 23, 2023.

The full court order is available here.

Garfield Courts Apartments and Concorde Gardens

Background

  • In June 2022, OAG filed a complaint against A.J. Edwards Realty and Adolphe Edwards (AJE) – the owner and manager of Garfield Courts Apartments and Concorde Gardens in DC - after the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) reported nearly 300 housing code violations at AJE’s properties and the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) reported violations of the Lead-Hazard Prevention and Elimination Act (LHPEA).
     
  • Following OAG’s complaint, AJE continued to violate the housing code and the LHPEA. AJE agreed in a consent order to meet strict deadlines to address the hazardous conditions – including electrical and fire hazards, doors without locks or deadbolts, mold, hazards for tenants with disabilities, an absence of emergency fixtures and equipment, water and sewage leaks, rodent infestations, lead-paint hazards, and broken lights – to avoid having a receiver take over the property under the District’s Tenant Receivership Act.
     
  • AJE failed to meet every single deadline and made only minimal efforts to fix the deplorable state of their properties.

Outcome

  • On April 26, as a result of the AJE’s noncompliance, the Court found the defendants to be in civil contempt and granted OAG’s request to appoint a receiver to oversee repairs and address the multiple threats to tenants’ health, safety, and security. The Court also awarded OAG its attorneys’ fees.
     
  • The District has proposed receivers to take over the properties.

The full court order is available here.

Resources for Tenants 
OAG works to make sure residents across the District have access to safe and affordable housing and holds landlords accountable if they violate the law. Access OAG’s resources to help renters and tips on how to report problems with your landlord or your housing conditions.