HEROES

The “rent concession” scam was finally shut down due to the combined efforts of those who worked for years to stop it.

1. Members of the Van Ness South Tenants Association — VNSTA members won two court cases against Equity Residential, helped to pass a law to reaffirm that the word “rent” in DC rental housing law has the common dictionary meaning, convinced the DC Attorney General’s office to investigate the use of the “rent concession” scam by Equity Residential corporation, and built the Fair Rent DC website to help educate the public about the “rent concession” scam.

2. Councilmember Anita Bonds introduced the Rent Charged Definition Clarification Amendment Act, which affirmed that the word “rent” in DC rental housing law is essentially the plain English definition of the word — the amount you actually pay to live in a rental unit. This simple law helped put an end to the “rent concession” scam. Councilmember Bonds and her staff always have been willing to listen to tenants’ concerns and to try to find workable solutions to pressing problems.

3. DC Attorney General Karl Racine filed suit against Equity Residential for using false advertising to snare tenants in the “rent concession” scam. A DC Superior Court judge ruled that Equity Residential had tricked tenants into signing leases with absurdly high amounts listed as the rent, not revealing to them that future rent increases would be based on those high “rents.” The judge awarded the residents of the apartment complex at 3003 Van Ness Street $1 million in restitution for overcharges.