Join the Royal Courts and Savannah Heights Tenants Union
The Peasants Are Revolting!
Tenants of Royal Courts and Savannah Heights are organizing to resist maltreatment,
mismanagement and disrespect from our landlord and its agents. We also
strenuously object to landlord’s very invasive attempts to prohibit us from smoking in
our own homes.
What is a Tenants Union?
A Tenants’ Union can take collective action—including rent strikes—to redress
grievances for violations of D.C. codes and statutes pertaining to human rights. We are
also exploring prospects for filing a class action lawsuit against the owners and their
management company.
Click the button to join the Union and receive texts and/or email to stay up to date.
Share your story of incompetence, unprofessionalism, or indifference from
management or staff by emailing the facts and photos if you have them, to tenantsunion@biscuitsofcolumbia.com
Please indicate if we may contact you to follow up.
Our Grievances
In January, contractors were making very invasive repairs on the air conditioning systems that required emptying closets for multiple visits from the workmen. We understood that the repairs were necessary and endeavored to be as cooperative as possible as Royal Courts was managing a very large problem. We did not insist on strict compliance to DC Code § 4.51. which stipulates “Written notice must be provided to the tenant at least 48 hours before the time the housing provider wishes to enter the unit.” However, we did insist that one of us be present when strangers are in our home.
We spoke with the contractors who were amenable to scheduling a date and time that would work for all parties. However, the front office would not honor our agreement, insisting that a memo informing residents that AC repairs would be conducted over a two-week period gave them carte blanche to enter our homes at any time during that fortnight. Attorneys for DCRA have confirmed that this does not satisfy Royal Court’s obligation to provide 48-hour notice.
Sincerely,
Unnotified Tenant
A few weeks ago, I called Royal Courts to speak with the manager, who apparently spends most of her time at her alternate work location at Savannah Heights. The receptionist informed me that her boss was not in that day. When I asked if she would be in the next day, she explained curtly, “I am not required to tell you.” I don’t understand how it is to her advantage to prevent a tenant from speaking to his property manager, but she chose to be a contentious gatekeeper that day.
Very Truly Yours,
Karen (“May I please speak to your manager?”)
On the coldest day of the year, I was standing in the Royal Courtyard to meet my Uber. However, the driver cancelled because he could not find my home inside the gate. This meant I had to call Metro Access to arrange another ride. As a disabled senior, climbing back up several flights of stairs to my home was a minor hardship. Had the temperature been above freezing (it was in the 20s), I would have taken a seat on one of the benches and waited for my ride outside.
However, it was nearly opening time at the ironically named Community Center. I tried the door and found it unlocked. I took a seat next to the door and ventured no further inside. As I made my phone call and waited for my ride, the Leasing Agent demanded that I leave the building immediately. I asked her to show a little mercy because of the extreme cold, but she was having none of that. Fortunately, Uber found me inside the gate this time and I exited the “Community” Center very promptly.
A more professional leasing agent might have displayed the tact and grace to state that because of exigent circumstances, she would permit the old man to sit at the door this one time, but he should never again enter her fortress before official opening time. She did not have the goodness in her heart to tolerate one very minor infraction.
Denying a disabled senior momentary comfort from extreme cold reflects very poorly on her character. Worse, as the on-site representative of Residential One, her cruel indifference reflects very poorly on her employer as well.
Respectfully,
Older & Colder
I returned from work one Friday last summer and discovered that the air conditioning was not functioning. I was dismayed because the temperature was 90+ degrees and it was already uncomfortable inside my home. As it was after 5:00 and the maintenance crew would not return until Monday, I reached out in desperation to the Royal Courts emergency custodian. Not only did he refuse to assist, he literally brought me to tears lecturing me incoherently about the technical aspects of air conditioning repair. If this man had been more knowledgeable (or more sober), he would have known that the solution was simply to flip a switch in the breaker box. When the contractor arrived on Monday morning, he knew what to do and my air conditioning was back on in less than a minute. My long, hot weekend was finally over.
I must say that this unprofessional act of nonfeasance would never be tolerated in a Res1 property in a more affluent zip code and with a more diverse demographic.
Best,
Hot & Bothered
(but not in a good way)
Approximately four weeks ago, contractors embarked on a major excavation project on the front lawn of my building. During several noisy days, a crew of 4 or 5 men with shovels and a backhoe dug a deep hole, but they seem to have abandoned their project they have not returned for several weeks. Their hole has been covered with plywood and pieces of equipment lie atop mounds of earth. The site has been “secured” with flimsy yellow “crime scene” tape that does nothing to prevent curious children from exploring a potentially dangerous abandoned work zone.
Not only is it a hazard, it is also an eyesore that tenants have endured during the entire month of October.
Signed,
Attractive Nuisance