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Apartment Tenants Win Record $41 Million
In Ruling Over Their Housing Conditions
The District of Columbia’s attorney general’s office announced last week that it has won a record $41 million judgment on behalf of tenants of an apartment complex in Southeast Washington, D.C.
The attorney general’s office called the judgment against the owners of Marbury Plaza – now called Langston Views – the largest housing conditions award ever against a local landlord.
A D.C. Superior Court judge ordered the landlords to pay the tenants $30 million and the District of Columbia $11 million in penalties and attorneys’ fees.
The judgment capped off years of litigation by tenants alleging unsanitary housing conditions that included mold, insects, rodents and plumbing leaks. More than 2,500 tenants live in the complex at 2300 Marion Barry Ave. S.E.
“Our landlord violated our rights, lied to us, and forced us to live in conditions no one should have to live in,” said Barbara Cooper, president of the Langston Views Tenant’s Association. “My apartment flooded dozens of times, and many of my neighbors went through the same thing or even worse.”
The former owners, operating under the corporate name MP PPH, were ordered by D.C. Superior Court Judge Yvonne Williams to pay the $41 million within 90 days. The company has not commented on the judgment but still has a right to appeal.
Previous court rulings determined Marbury Plaza was in widespread violation of housing codes. The owners agreed in a consent decree to repair the problems but failed to make the improvements, according to a separate court ruling last year.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement, “Every Washingtonian deserves a safe, healthy place to call home. When property owners fail to comply with District law, and especially when they defy court orders, my office will hold them accountable to the full extent of the law.”
Legal Aid assisted in representing the tenants.
Treasury Dept. Audits Small Business Program
For Abuse of Contract “Preferences”
The U.S. Treasury Department is reviewing $9 billion in federal small business contracts to try to eliminate fraud and abuse.
The review was prompted by evidence that some contractors are taking advantage of preference-based contracts intended to help small disadvantaged businesses.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said some contractors appear to have used schemes to subcontract work they were supposed to do themselves under the Section 8(a) Business Development Program.
“Treasury will not tolerate fraudulent misuse of federal contracting programs,” Bessent said in a Nov. 6 statement announcing the audit. “These initiatives must benefit legitimate small businesses that deliver measurable value to the government and the public.”
The audit follows the government’s recent decision to suspend contracts of ATI Government Solutions, a tech services contractor. The company had procured $253 million in government contracts.
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Democratic Congressman Targeted
For Mortgage Fraud Investigation
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., is being investigated by the Justice Department for mortgage fraud related to his Washington, D.C., home.
He claims that he is another victim of President Donald Trump’s efforts to seek criminal prosecutions against his critics.
The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency sent a letter to the Justice Department last week asking for the investigation.
He accuses Swalwell of false and misleading statements to obtain favorable mortgage terms on his $1.2 million home in Washington’s Eckington neighborhood.
Swalwell is the fourth Democratic official to face mortgage fraud allegations in recent months.
Power the Civil Rights Work of Our Time
Each day members of our community are experiencing wage theft, the effects of gentrification, discriminatory policing, collateral consequences, marginalization in schools, and barriers to public accommodations.
We fight alongside people facing the effects of gentrification like Amira Moore. Our work empowers the people and communities who need it most, “We can do more than we think. There’s a path to equity, we just have to step to it.” –Ms. Moore
For more than 50 years, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee has been on the frontlines of the fight for civil rights in our community. We deploy the best legal talent, we tackle the tough cases, we fight, and we win.
Our work is as important today as it has ever been. Through your support, you can play a role in creating justice for thousands of marginalized members of our community. Together, we will dismantle injustice and pursue lasting change.
Join us! Donate & subscribe: https://www.washlaw.org/support-us
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For more information, contact Gregg Kelley at Gregg_Kelley@washlaw.org
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Letters to the Editor
D.C. in Brief
U.S. Attorney for D.C. Organizes Team
To Disrupt International Cyber Scams
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro plans a crackdown on scams based primarily in Southeast Asia that steal cryptocurrency and investments from Americans.
Pirro announced last week that she organized a task force of attorneys and investigators that join the forces of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia's office, the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, the FBI and the United States Secret Service.
"We strive to expose these fraudulent contacts and pitfalls so that Americans end up secure in their investments," Pirro said.
Many of the victims are elderly persons who are robbed of their retirement savings, she said. She described one case where an elderly woman lost $1 million and another where a man committed suicide.
A contributing factor for the effort is the emergence of the United States as a “haven for cryptocurrency,” Pirro said. “There are no tricks that can be part of cryptocurrency," she said.
The “Scam Center Strike Force” is directing most of its effort at schemes based in Burma, Cambodia and Laos. They typically contact their victims through the internet, messaging apps or text messages.
The Strike Force uses sanctions, seizures and criminal prosecution to recover stolen funds.
Pirro said her team’s efforts so far have seized more than $400 million and that they plan to file legal actions seeking another $80 million.
The Strike Force is enlisting help from private sector organizations, such as Meta, Microsoft and the AARP.
A recent U.S. government report says Americans lost at least $10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scam operations last year, up 66 percent from a year earlier.
Trump Grants Pardons to Supporters
Accused of 2020 Election Conspiracy
The legal impact remains to be seen over President Donald Trump’s grant of pardons last week to his former attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and his other supporters who faced potential criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The pardons apply only to federal prosecutions but do nothing to eliminate state-level charges that Giuliani and some of the others face.
None of the people pardoned face federal charges, which means Trump’s proclamation is largely honorary. Nevertheless, it could be considered by the state courts.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the 77 Republicans receiving the pardons are “great Americans.”
She said in a statement that they had been “put through hell by the Biden administration for challenging an election.”
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Legal Briefs
We Could Use Your Help
Thousands of DC residents need a lawyer, but can’t afford one. They could be illegally evicted from their homes, lose custody of their children, experience domestic violence, and more, all because they lack legal representation.
You could make a difference. By making a donation to the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, you will provide free, high-quality, zealous legal representation to low-income DC residents.
Your support could prevent homelessness, domestic violence, hunger, or family separation. In fact, if just 10 people who see this ad give $28 to Legal Aid, it will be enough to staff an experienced attorney at the courthouse for a day.
That way, DC residents like Keith King (pictured above) can get the legal representation they need to win their cases. As Mr. King put it, if it wasn’t for his Legal Aid lawyer, “I would have been homeless again.”
Here is the link to the Legal Aid website for donations: https://www.legalaiddc.org/donate-to-legal-aid/
For more information, contact Rob Pergament at Legal Aid at rpergament@legalaiddc.org