Attorney General Schwalb Sues Landlord for Horrific Housing Conditions Including Gas Explosion That Displaced 50 Residents

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today sued the owners of two apartment complexes in Ward 1 for allowing their buildings to fall into extreme disrepair and for failing to pay back the District for the cost of re-housing dozens of tenants after a gas explosion severely damaged one of the buildings and forced them from their homes.

The lawsuit alleges that John and Herminia Steininger allowed their properties located at 1433 Columbia Road NW and 1841 Lamont Street NW to fall into extreme disrepair, putting the health and safety of their tenants at risk. Since 2018, they have received citations for over 120 housing code violations as well as fines of over $140,000, yet they made no changes to fix the properties.

“These landlords neglected their properties and legal obligations, forcing their tenants to live in deplorable conditions and leading to a dangerous explosion that displaced dozens of residents and cost the District hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Attorney General Schwalb. “Keeping DC’s existing housing supply safe and habitable is a critical part of addressing our housing affordability crisis. We’re suing to get these units back into working condition and secure money back for the District and tenants who were harmed.”

“After the 2024 explosion, the District government led an immediate and aggressive multi-agency response to protect residents,” said Department of Buildings (DOB) Director Brian Hanlon. “We evacuated and inspected the building, provided no-cost emergency accommodations, translated resources for non-English speakers, and connected victims to the help they needed to rebuild their lives. We also set to work compiling evidence for enforcement actions against the owner. DOB is proud to support this lawsuit, which will help protect Washingtonians by sending a clear message that negligent landlords will be held accountable. DOB continues to work closely with our partners to ensure that tenants understand their rights to safe housing and that owners face the consequences of not living up to their legal responsibility.”

“The Attorney General’s action today is about holding landlords accountable to both tenants and District residents. Landlord neglect of poor housing conditions causes chaos and grief for tenants – and drains taxpayer dollars that are badly needed elsewhere,” said Chief Tenant Advocate Johanna Shreve. “The OTA’s Emergency Housing Assistance Program provides displaced tenants with emergency housing when the government has to close an apartment building due to uninhabitable conditions. When the District can recoup these expenses from derelict landlords, this helps to ensure that the OTA can continue to assist affected tenants the next time a building closure causes displacement.”

1433 Columbia Road NW is a 33-unit multi-family residential apartment building and 1841 Lamont Street NW is a 4-unit building, both located in Ward 1. Since 2018, the Department of Buildings (DOB) has cited the Columbia Road property for 71 housing code violations and imposed fines totaling $77,617, and cited the Lamont Street property for 53 housing code violations and imposed $62,573 in fines. The violations include broken windows, sinks, and toilets, rodent infestations, hazardous electrical wiring systems, water leaks, inoperable smoke and fire alarms, and use of hazardous lead-based paint. To date, the owners have addressed none of these violations.

On September 20, 2024, the owners’ continued failure to address hazards at the Columbia Road property led to a large gas explosion. One tenant experienced first and second degree burns to her face, limbs, and torso. According to incident reports, tenants had reported issues with their stoves and gas, which the owners ignored. After the explosion, DOB declared the property unfit for human occupancy, and all of the tenants and their household members were abruptly forced to leave their homes. As a result of this displacement, the Office of the Tenant Advocate provided the impacted tenants with emergency housing assistance, which cost the District $260,299. To date, the owners have not paid OTA back for these expenses.

OAG’s lawsuit alleges that the property owners violated DC housing and consumer protection laws by:

• Allowing their properties to fall into disrepair, putting tenants’ health and safety at risk. By falsely representing to tenants that the units were safe and habitable, the owners violated the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA).
   
• Failing to reimburse the District for the emergency re-housing costs following the Columbia Road gas explosion.  The Office of the Chief Tenant Advocate Establishment Act requires a property owner to pay a bill for the cost of providing emergency housing assistance in full within 30 days after being served or to contest the bill and request a hearing (which the defendants have not done). OAG’s complaint seeks reimbursement for these expenses from the Estate of Herminia Steininger. John Steininger currently has a pending bankruptcy case, and OAG is pursuing recovery through that proceeding.  

With this lawsuit, OAG is seeking to address the property maintenance and housing code violations at the buildings, and to recover restitution and damages for harmed tenants, reimbursement of costs for OTA, and civil penalties for the District.

The complaint is available here.

This matter is being handled by Stephon Woods, Special Counsel for Post-Judgment Compliance and Accountability, and Argatonia Weatherington, Special Counsel for Housing and Property Maintenance Code Enforcement.

OAG’s Enforcement Authority

OAG exercises its enforcement authority under several District statutes and regulations to protect tenants, including the Tenant Receivership Act and the Construction Codes, which gives OAG authority to force landlords to fix health and safety issues at rental properties, and the Consumer Protection Procedures Act, which protects consumers—including tenants—from deceptive and unfair business practices.

Resources for Tenants

OAG works to ensure that residents across the District have access to safe and affordable housing and holds landlords accountable if they violate the law. Access OAG’s resources to help renters for guidance on how to report problems with your landlord or your housing conditions. If you are a District tenant and have a landlord issue, please contact our Consumer and Tenant Response team at 202-442-9828, consumer.protection@dc.gov, or oag.dc.gov/complaint.