On Nov. 13, the Office of the Attorney General gave a press release that stated that the notorious slumlord, Sanford Capital, will return over $1.1 million dollars to the 155 tenants that were subject to unsafe and unhealthy living conditions. This payout is also apart of the 2018 settlement regarding the Terrace Manor complex where Sanford and its president, Aubrey Carter Nowell, had to pay restitution to tenants in the building that totalled $325,000. This settlement also forced Sanford out of D.C. and banned them to do business within the district as well.
All of this comes after years of lawsuits against Sanford Capital by the tenants that lived in their properties across D.C. that include the Congress Heights Apartments and the Terrace Manor apartment complex. These lawsuits found that Sanford was failing to provide habitable living conditions, violating the District’s house and fire codes, as well as misrepresenting their apartments as safe and habitable.
“The Office of the Attorney General fought Sanford Capital’s shocking abuses for years alongside tenants and their advocates,” said AG Racine in the press release. “I am pleased that this settlement will provide long-overdue monetary relief to vulnerable residents who were forced to endure inhumane living conditions. Today’s settlement sends a message to slumlords that business practices that put profit ahead of the safety and wellbeing of their tenants will not be tolerated in the District.”
The entire settlement includes the over $1.1 million payout to former tenants and the District will also receive $755,000 from Sanford with up to $738,000 to be also returned to former residents as restitution.
The big $1.1 million payout is one of the biggest settlements that the District has ever won.
