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In Spring 2004, the Housing Clinic
represented a Latino family facing
an unlawful eviction from their
apartment. Hoping to remove all
the low-income tenants in the building
in order to build luxury condos,
the landlord served all tenants with
defective and misleading "Notices
to Quit."
The notices wrongfully stated
that the tenants could rerent their
apartments at a significantly higher
rent, in violation of DC law that
gives tenants the right to re-rent at
the same price. Also, service of the
notice was not proper, with the
landlord failing to follow strict procedural
rules to ensure the tenants
were properly notified.
The plaintiff-landlord
(represented by a big DC law firm)
filed a motion for summary judgment
and we shortly thereafter filed
a cross-motion for summary judgment.
In July 2004, DC Superior
Court Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters
granted our motion for summary
judgment. In a rare written
opinion by a Superior Court judge,
Judge Duncan-Peters agreed that the
notice was defective and misleading,
and therefore the family's eviction
would be illegal.
The decision was subsequently
published in the October 6, 2004
edition of the Daily Washington
Law Reporter.
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