Archive: D.C. Landlords
DC Region: City Fires Construction Inspectors
In a follow-up to its Forced Out series about D.C. landlords mismanaging properties, Debbie Cenziper reports that Linda Argo, the head of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has fired seven commercial inspectors. The firings come a month after she fired half of the city's housing-code inspectors.
By The Editors | August 15, 2008; 11:23 AM ET | Comments (0)
D.C. Region: City Can't Account for Repair Dollars
The Post's Debbie Cenziper for months has been writing about how D.C. landlords forced tenants out of rental buildings in recent years so they could be converted to condominiums. Now, Cenziper reports that the city can't say exactly how it has spent a $30 million repair fund meant to improve dangerous properties. Only a fraction of the money has gone to repairs, and much of that went to fix empty buildings.
By The Editors | August 14, 2008; 10:35 AM ET | Comments (1)
DC Region: City Housing Inspectors Fired
The firing of more than half of the city's housing code inspectors is shaking up a department that, in many cases, failed to protect tenants in dangerous apartment buildings, The Post's Debbie Cenziper reports. The firings follow a Post series, "Forced Out," published in March, which found that the city's...
By Derek Kravitz | July 15, 2008; 05:28 PM ET | Comments (2)
Post Series Prompts Building Inspections
In light of a Post series focusing on landlords who had emptied more than 200 buildings of tenants in recent years, thwarting a decades-old tenant protection law, the District announced today it will inspect the city's 11,000 rental buildings regularly, with the city's most troubled buildings coming under inspection this...
By Derek Kravitz | June 24, 2008; 07:21 PM ET | Comments (0)
D.C. Tenants Get Little Help
Despite a multi-million-dollar fund created to fix neglected District buildings when landlords fail to step in, only a fraction of the money has gone to repairs and an even smaller amount has been spent on the most troubled apartment complexes. The Post's Debbie Cenziper and Sarah Cohen report that, in...
By The Editors | May 5, 2008; 10:20 AM ET | Comments (0)
City to Sue Landlords
D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced this morning that the city is suing 23 landlords whose 70 residential buildings have been racked by housing code violations and is asking the court to put 13 of the buildings into receivership to make sure the repairs take place. "In a number of...
By The Editors | April 4, 2008; 03:30 PM ET | Comments (1)
Council Acts to Protect Tenants
The District Council has voted to end a policy that council members said had become an incentive for landlords to empty apartment buildings so they could convert to condominiums. In a series published last month, the Post's Debbie Cenziper and Sarah Cohen reported that landlords had emptied more than 200...
By The Editors | April 2, 2008; 10:55 AM ET | Comments (0)
Going After the 'Slumlords'
D.C. officials are pressing efforts to hold accountable negligent landlords who have allowed their buildings to deteriorate into unlivable conditions. The Post's Debbie Cenziper, an investigative reporter on the Metro staff, and Sarah Cohen, a Post database editor, exposed the citywide problem in a three-part series that ran last week,...
By The Editors | March 18, 2008; 11:30 AM ET | Comments (0)
D.C. Law May Be Rewritten
Reacting to an investigation that appeared in The Washington Post, two District Council members say they want to repeal a provision that has encouraged landlords to force tenants out of apartment buildings. Members Jim Graham and Mary Cheh said they will propose that the city no longer grant "vacancy exemptions,"...
By The Editors | March 12, 2008; 04:55 PM ET | Comments (0)
Coming Soon: "Forced Out"
Like many urban centers across the country, Washington has undergone an economic resurgence over the past decade, bringing new development into neighborhoods and transforming aging apartment buildings into upscale condominiums. But that celebrated renewal has come at a price: landlords have forced hundreds of families out of apartments, thwarting longstanding...
By The Editors | March 7, 2008; 10:19 AM ET | Comments (1)
