Residents of two rent-controlled D.C. apartment complexes say they’ve been dealing with mold, mice, rats, insects and no air-conditioning — and now the District’s attorney general is suing the apartments’ owner and his business partners. News4’s Aimee Cho reports.
Residents of two rent-controlled D.C. apartment complexes say they’ve been dealing with mold, mice, rats, insects and no air-conditioning -- and now the District's attorney general is suing the apartments’ owner and his business partners.
The lawsuit accuses them of creating poor living conditions that “shocked even seasoned investigators,” while collecting housing voucher money.
One resident says he opened his oven drawer to find it full of mouse droppings and six baby mice.
"It's a lot of stuff," that resident, Jayshaun, Gill said. "It’s a lot more than mice. It’s a lot of flies; flies are a big problem, too."
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Gill and his daughter live at a rent-controlled apartment complex on W Street SE.
Their neighbor Mae Gupton says building management refuses to fix the issues.
"Me and my daughters are living with rats," Gupton said. "This whole building is infected with rats. I even called the exterminator. The exterminator said, 'Ma'am, you won’t be able to pay that bill."
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Gupton said the rats have been coming out from behind her stove, too, so she’s afraid to walk in that part of her kitchen.
"I’m terrified; my family, it’s like I’m … It got me and my daughters sick," she said.
In addition, her dishwasher is broken, so every time she uses it, she has to use a plunger to drain the water that comes up out of the sink, she said.
On Monday, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced two lawsuits against the building’s owner, Ali “Sam” Razjooyan, and his business partners for allegedly creating poor conditions there, as well as at the Minnesota Commons Apartments in Northeast.
Residents there sent News4 a video of water pouring down inside. Video also shows black water in a sink and trash piled up outside.
"It's bad," said Minnesota Commons resident Christine Smith. "Nobody should be able to live in this condition."
Schwalb said: "The properties at issue in these lawsuits are in deplorable condition, some of the worst conditions that we’ve seen in the District."
He says the lawsuits are aimed at forcing Razjooyan to make repairs, pay damages to tenants and pay penalties for violating D.C. housing code.
"That certainly happens far too often in our city, where landlords prey upon those who are least able to have the economic flexibility to move to take care of problems," Schwalb said.
News4 went to Razjooyan’s house for comment, but no one answered the door. We also tried calling several phone numbers associated with the building owner but didn’t hear back.
At the W Street apartments, resident Kianna Smith says there are still stains on the wall from an hours-long sewage leak.
"Feces coming down my wall," she said.
She said management doesn’t pick up the phone when she calls.
"This is not fair to anyone," she said. "I’m pretty sure they’re not living like this, so why should we live like this?"
The D.C. Department of Buildings says it issued seven stop work orders at Minnesota Commons this year. But the owner allegedly ignored them.
