WASHINGTON (7News) — Two D.C. landlords are being sued by Attorney General Brian Schwalb after his office accused them of letting two apartment buildings deteriorate for years, leading to a gas explosion that forced 50 people from their homes.
According to the lawsuit filed Friday, John and Herminia Steininger ignored more than 120 housing code violations at the apartment buildings on the 1400 block of Columbia Road Northwest and the 1800 block of Lamont Street Northwest, even though they received more than $140,000 in fines since 2018.
A gas explosion damaged the building on Columbia Road in September 2024. The Office of the Attorney General said the explosion forced 50 residents to move out of the 33-unit apartment building, leaving one tenant with first- and second-degree burns all over her body…