The Attorney General’s Office sued Sanford Capital over conditions at Terrace Manor in Ward 8. (Photo via Google Streetview)

For the second time, D.C.’s attorney general has announced an agreement to resolve deplorable housing conditions at a complex owned by the developer Sanford Capital.

Citing more than 120 violations of housing code and a “pattern of neglect” at the Terrace Manor Apartments in the Shipley Terrace neighborhood of Ward 8, Attorney General Karl Racine announced that he was suing the company in October. The suit alleged that the property was plagued by inoperable smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, rodent infestations, lack of heat and hot water, and other issues. When the lawsuit was filed, 14 of the 61 rental units across the 11 buildings of Terrace Manor were occupied.

“Protecting affordable housing in the District is a priority at OAG, and this abatement plan is a strong first step toward ensuring that the remaining tenants at Terrace Manor can live in habitable homes,” Racine said in a statement. In addition to short-term mitigation efforts, including cleaning the property, Sanford has agreed to fully rehabilitate two of the eleven buildings with the goal of eventually moving the remaining residents there.

The announcement came several months after the AG’s office and Sanford agreed to a similar court-monitored plan to resolve an earlier lawsuit about a property in Congress Heights, where residents had complained for years about bed bug infestations, rodents, and safety issues.

But unlike the Congress Heights suit, the attorney general’s office is also seeking restitution for the Terrace Manor tenants under the Consumer Protection Procedures Act for rent payments made during the period when the facility was in violation of housing code. That part of the lawsuit has not yet been resolved.

Update 9/29/2017: The attorney general reached a settlement with Sanford as part of a bankruptcy sale of the property. Tenants will be paid a total of $325,000 in restitution and penalties, which will average out to about $9,500 to former residents who lived in the building under the substandard conditions.