Dive Brief:
- Petra, owner and manager of three Washington, D.C., apartment complexes, agreed to pay $700,000 and reform its practices to resolve a lawsuit alleging that it had illegally discriminated against lower-income residents in order to boost profits, thereby limiting local affordable housing options, D.C.’s attorney general office announced Thursday.
- An OAG investigation uncovered evidence that Arlington, Virginia-based Petra Management Group, LLC, and three other LLCs collectively known as Petra, illegally exploited a D.C. law exempting apartments from rent control requirements when they are leased to tenants with government-funded housing vouchers, per the release.
- The settlement, filed in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Petra illegally leased rent-controlled apartments solely to voucher holders, enabling it to charge significantly higher rents subsidized by the federal and D.C. governments.
Dive Insight:
Under D.C. law, all units built before 1976 are subject to rent control unless landlords qualify for certain exemptions. In a complaint filed in January, the OAG alleged that Petra deliberately excluded tenants without subsidies who would have been eligible to rent at lower rent-controlled rates, and advertised its apartments exclusively at the increased subsidized rates without disclosing the rent-controlled rates it was legally required to charge.
Petra was found liable for not abiding by rent-control laws at the following apartment buildings, which have more than 100 units combined:
- The Adams at 4825 – 4829 North Capitol St. NE in Ward 5
- The Keystone at 743 Fairmont St. NW in Ward 1
- The Madison at 5616 13th St. NW in Ward 4
The attorney general will not tolerate income-based housing discrimination that further limits affordable housing options in D.C., said Beth Mellen, assistant deputy attorney general and senior counsel for housing protection and affordability, in the release.
“Petra illegally exploited the District’s housing voucher program for profit—taking advantage of DC taxpayers as well as tenants without vouchers in need of affordable housing, including seniors and people with disabilities on fixed incomes,” Mellen said. “Today’s settlement both holds Petra accountable and ensures that more Washingtonians can access affordable housing.”…