The district attorney of Washington, D.C., has filed a lawsuit against a district property management company after it allegedly facilitated a hostile housing environment that subjected Black women tenants “to persistent pervasive race-based and sex-based harassment, including threats of physical violence,” according to a news release from the district attorney’s office.
The civil complaint filed Jan. 31 states that UDR, Inc.’s refusal to take action to protect its tenants violated both the D.C. Human Rights Act, which serves to protect tenants against race and sex discrimination, and the Consumer Protection Procedures Act, designed to shield tenants from deceptive housing practices.
The suit filed by Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb claims that UDR ignored months of complaints “and repeated pleas” about the behavior of another tenant of Waterside Towers Apartments, located in Ward 6 in the heart of Washington.
Waterside Towers is one of several apartment complexes managed by UDR across the United States, including some in the nation’s capital.
Gueorgui Iskrenov, described in the news release as a white male tenant, allegedly targeted abuse toward the Black women living in the towers.
“Residents in the District of Columbia are legally entitled to live in homes free of persistent, hostile, discriminatory behavior, and it is against the law for property managers to facilitate a hostile housing environment,” Schwalb said in a statement.
Atlanta Black Star has reached out to UDR for a comment.
Among the shocking complaints are UDR’s alleged refusal to take any action after “Iskrenov almost ran over a Black female tenant with his car,” allowing the abuse to continue, according to the district attorney’s office.
In February 2023, Iskrenov was found guilty of bias-related assault stemming from a hate crime involving him spitting in a female neighbor’s face, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The…
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