COLUMBIA HEIGHTS TENANTS DISPLACED BY GENTRIFICATION WIN FAIR HOUSING SUIT AGAINST THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Four years after the District of Columbia government closed their apartment building located in the predominantly Latino Columbia Heights/Mount Pleasant neighborhood, the former tenants of 1512 Park Road, N.W. won a resounding victory in the form of a jury verdict in their favor against the District.  A twelve-member jury unanimously concluded that the District violated the Fair Housing Act when it summarily evicted the tenants of 1512 Park Road and awarded the seven affected households almost $200,000 in damages.  The trial leading to this verdict took place in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and lasted almost two weeks, beginning on April 13 and concluding late Friday afternoon, April 23.

The tenants involved in the lawsuit succeeded in establishing that a District of Columbia housing code enforcement crackdown in 2000 and 2001, which led to threats of closure of several buildings and the actual closure of 1512 Park Road, had a discriminatory disproportionate impact on D.C.’s Latino population.  At trial, tenants of 1512 Park Road expressed the frustration, fear and vulnerability they felt when the District’s enforcement actions forced them out of their home and out of the Columbia Heights/Mount Pleasant neighborhood, where they enjoyed a high concentration of stores, social service organizations and churches tailored to the Spanish-speaking community. 

The District barricaded and closed the building at 1512 Park Road in late January 2001 with only three-hours notice.  Some tenants were unable to enter the building to retrieve their belongings, including personal photographs and medicine.  With no assistance from the City and no place to go, some were directed to homeless shelters.  Jose Anibal Cruz, one such tenant, said, “I never expected to be in a place like that.  I was very frustrated and embarrassed about the whole thing; I couldn’t believe the City closed our building in this way.” 

Reed Colfax, Director of the Fair Housing Project at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and one of the lawyers for the tenants, commented: “The District’s actions in displacing tenants took place in the context of rapid gentrification and commercial development of public and private property near the recently-opened Columbia Heights metro station, raising serious questions about the City’s motivations.”  Shortly after it was closed, the 1512 Park Road building was bought by a private developer and converted to four luxury condominiums, which each sold for approximately $400,000.  Colfax stated:  “The jury’s decision sends a strong message to the District.  We hope that the City will never again deprive low-income, immigrant tenants of housing in this way and will take seriously its responsibility to preserve rather than deplete the supply of affordable housing in the District.”

The plaintiff tenants in this case were represented by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and the law firms of Tycko Zavareei, LLP and Jenner & Block, LLC.