District Sues 23 Landlords for Code Violations

The District held out the promise of relief to hundreds of tenants living in deteriorating buildings yesterday, suing 23 property owners whose 71 rental buildings have a history of "egregious" code violations.

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Employing a rarely used legal hammer, the city asked to have 13 of the properties placed in receivership and declared "public nuisances" to ensure prompt repairs.

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Officials said the lawsuit follows years, in most cases, of efforts to get landlords to bring their properties up to code, mostly through requests, fines, demands and civil lawsuits by the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.

Employing the receivership law is laudable and a "great conceptual idea," said Michael Diamond, a Georgetown University law professor who runs a housing and community development clinic. Under the law, a court appointee would manage the 13 buildings targeted for receivership, collect the rent and use the money for repairs.

Washington Post