Chris Donatelli, a prominent local developer and political donor, will pay $450,000 to hundreds of tenants living in a Northeast apartment complex for improperly charging them for water usage, the D.C. Attorney General’s Office announced on Thursday.

The settlement resolved a years-long OAG investigation into Donatelli’s development company at the Park 7 Apartments, though it doesn’t necessarily resolve the longstanding tensions between Donatelli and several residents who continue to complain about the building’s conditions.

Tenants have been claiming since 2014 that Donatelli’s company was charging them for water use in violation of lease agreements that specified water was included in rent. According to the attorney general’s office, Park 7 mislead people about the true costs of living in the building, and also about the terms of lease renewals, which made tenants responsible for water payments without explanation.

At least 470 current and former Park 7 residents will receive money back, according to the OAG. Park 7 will also have to pay the city $200,000 to compensate it for the cost of the investigation, report water billing details to the attorney general’s office for the next two years, and forgive all outstanding debts related to water bills for its tenants, according to a release announcing the settlement.

Donatelli, for his part, admits that his company erred in charging some tenants for water, but insists that it wasn’t done purposefully.

“A mistake was made, in good faith, by our prior management company regarding responsibility for the water bills. Under the rental program put in place at the apartment building, tenants are responsible for their own utilities, however, some of the leases indicated that the landlord is responsible. When this error was discovered, we worked diligently with the OAG and the management company to resolve the discrepancy,” he wrote in a statement to DCist. “The resulting agreement is a great outcome for our tenants. We look forward to a continuing good relationship with our tenants and the city.”

But some residents of Park 7 say they have a laundry list of problems beyond their water bills that have gone unaddressed for years.

“Chris does not respect us. He does not want to put the money in to keep our building up,” says Taylar Nuevelle, a resident who has been organizing tenants. “Our building just should not look the way it does five years out.”

Nuevelle describes a litany of problems with the building, including an ongoing mice and roach infestation, dingy carpets, and a lack of access to community amenities advertised in the lease. She says that due to a broken back gate, “people are just coming, just wandering onto the property.”

In a Washington City Paper story about Park 7 published in August, tenants described constant leaks in their ceilings. One man said he had taken to sleeping in the living room with his wife and 2-year-old child to escape the water and resulting damage. Neighbors also described trash piling up in the hallways and beer bottles filled with urine.

Donatelli, who owns the building, took over direct management in February, after consistent complaints about its previous manager, Edgewood Management. (Edgewood is the same company that had been in charge of the Arthur Capper senior housing complex, which burned down in a fire last year. The company told the city that it had accounted for all seniors living in the complex, before later learning that a 74-year-old man was trapped in his room for five days).

Donatelli tells DCist that after his company took over, they created a checklist of maintenance requests and it was completed on October 18. In a PDF with attached photos, Donatelli lists dozens of complaints and attaches pictures of the corresponding repair, though in some cases the company determined a repair wasn’t needed (in one example, residents complained about a lack of cameras, but Donatelli wrote that “cameras aren’t needed with new security.”)

“We have completed all of the checklist items, and the property is in very good condition,” Donatelli tells DCist. “I think the majority of the tenants are pleased with the condition of the property.”

But on November 15, Nuevelle called into the Kojo Nnamdi Show to speak with Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray, who represents the neighborhood where the building is located, and claimed there were still outstanding issues.

Gray responded that “there have been improvements. I’ve seen those improvements myself. If there are continuing issues, I certainly want to know what they are.”

Park 7 tenant Geraldine Johnson, who has lived in the building since 2016, says that she still does not believe the conditions of the building are acceptable. She tells DCist that she still sees roaches crawling on walls, and that she does not believe the cleaning staff Donatelli hires is enough people to thoroughly clean the common areas. The newly installed carpet, Johnson says, already looks old.

Nuevelle, meanwhile, describes a confrontational relationship with the management company, saying people who work in the building have repeatedly called the police on her. Earlier this week, Nuevelle says she was arrested for allegedly stalking the compliance manager at the property. She denies the charge and believes the arrest to be in retaliation for her work organizing the tenants at Park 7.

Donatelli denies that allegation. “Her arrest had absolutely nothing to do with any tenant organizing or issues she had with the building,” he says.

The settlement with the attorney general comes just days after the city approved a multimillion dollar contract for Donatelli to build permanent supportive housing for 100 people experiencing homelessness in Hill East.