4022 Georgia Avenue v. Department of Buildings

District of Columbia Court of Appeals·Decided July 17, 2025·No. 24-AA-0543·Published

Opinion

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS No. 24-AA-0543

4022 GEORGIA AVENUE, LLC, PETITIONER, V.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS, RESPONDENT.

On Petition for Review

of a Decision of the Office of Administrative Hearings (2021-DCRA-000091)

(Argued May 15, 2025 Decided July 17, 2025)

Mark D. Crawford, with whom Thomas J. Powell was on the brief, for the petitioner.

Tessa Gellerson, Assistant Attorney General, with whom Brian L. Schwalb, Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Caroline S. Van Zile, Solicitor General, Ashwin P. Phatak, Principal Deputy Solicitor General, and Graham E. Phillips, Deputy Solicitor General, were on the brief, for respondent.

Before BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Chief Judge, SHANKER, Associate Judge, and CROWELL, * Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Chief Judge: In this appeal we are asked to determine whether petitioner 4022 Georgia Avenue, LLC’s (4022 LLC) administrative appeal of an order to correct issued by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs

* Sitting by designation pursuant to D.C. Code § 11-707(a).

(DCRA) 1 met the criteria for appeals brought under 12-A D.C.M.R. § 112.2. To resolve this question, we must determine whether an agency may order an entity to cure code violations on a property that it does not own. We are also called upon to assess whether the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) committed reversible error by relying on inapplicable regulations in the order giving rise to this appeal. The final issue before us is whether OAH erroneously found that 4022 LLC was responsible for the violations at issue in the order to correct.

4022 LLC acquired ownership of a townhouse containing two units located at 4022 Georgia Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. (the Property) on April 3, 2018. In 2020, 4022 LLC sold both units of the Property. Then, in June 2021, the new owners of the Property notified 4022 LLC that the townhouse experienced “significant swaying” during wind gusts. This led to an inspection of the Property by DCRA in July 2021. Thereafter, on December 2, 2021, DCRA issued an order to correct to 4022 LLC (the December OTC) in which it directed the LLC to mitigate various violations of the District’s Building Code. 2

1 Under the Department of Buildings Establishment Act of 2020, D.C. Code §§ 10-561.01-08, the Department of Buildings assumed certain responsibilities previously held by DCRA on October 1, 2022.

2 In May 2020, the District adopted an updated building code called the 2017 Construction Codes. See 67 D.C. Reg. 5690 (May 29, 2020 – Part 2). The Building Code is contained within the wider 2017 Construction Codes. The 2017

4022 LLC appealed the December OTC on December 16, 2021. After a period of inactivity in the case, OAH held a hearing on April 9, 2024 (the Evidentiary Hearing). In May 2024, OAH issued an order affirming the December OTC (the Final Order). In the Final Order, OAH found that the issues raised in 4022 LLC’s appeal did not meet the criteria for appeals allowed under relevant regulations. 4022 LLC timely appealed the Final Order.

We hold that OAH did not err when it found that the challenges in 4022 LLC’s appeal failed to meet the criteria for appeals set forth in the applicable regulations. We further hold that OAH’s reliance on the Property Maintenance Code does not constitute reversible error. Finally, we hold that OAH did not err when it found that 4022 LLC was the entity responsible for correcting the violations identified in the December OTC. Accordingly, we affirm OAH’s order.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The following facts were adduced from the record in this case.

Sometime prior to April 2018, DV Investment Group (DVI) purchased the Property to convert the existing building into a multi-unit condominium. During the conversion process, 4022 LLC purchased the Property, which was ultimately deeded

Construction Codes were the pertinent regulations in effect at the time DCRA began the administrative process that led to this appeal.

to the LLC in April 2018. Thereafter, 4022 LLC completed construction, and the Property passed the District’s final inspections. 4022 LLC sold one of the Property’s units to Nikola and Darinka Komljenovic in February 2020 before selling the second unit to Swati Sachdeva and Kushan Dave (collectively the Owners) in November 2020. In the purchase agreements for both units, 4022 LLC warranted against structural defects as defined by Section 42-1903.16 of the Condominium Act “for two years after the date of conveyance . . . and[, for] each of the common elements[,] for two years after the date of conveyance of the first unit in the Condominium or completion of that common element (whichever is later).” See D.C. Code § 42-1903.16(b).

In June 2021, the Owners notified 4022 LLC that the Property experienced “significant swaying” during wind gusts. One owner reported that the swaying “feels like there is an earthquake,” with “plants and light[s] mov[ing] and sway[ing]” and dishes falling from opened cabinets. Another said that during high wind events, “it feels like the building will come down like a pancake.”

In July 2021, DCRA conducted an inspection of the Property. Shortly thereafter, on August 4, 2021, DCRA issued an order to correct to Mr. Dave—the head of the Property’s homeowners’ association—citing several violations and directing the Owners to obtain a structural assessment of the Property. The Owners

engaged Bramel Engineering to conduct the structural assessment. After reviewing the permitted building drawings and physically investigating the Property, Bramel Engineering issued a report (the Bramel report) concluding that the building lacked a lateral load system, which resulted in increased lateral flexibility, i.e. building sway.

Soon thereafter, the Owners sent 4022 LLC a demand letter for recission of the sale, citing the conclusions of the Bramel report. The Owners also submitted a copy of the Bramel report to DCRA. Then, on December 2, 2021, DCRA issued the December OTC to DVI and 4022 LLC “as the original permit holders and developers of this project.” DCRA ordered DVI and 4022 LLC to (1) provide DCRA with (a) “a viable engineered plan for the purposes of constructing permanent structural modifications to make [the Property] safe and compliant” within ten business days; (b) “a viable engineered plan for the purpose of constructing temporary structural bracing to make the structure safe and compliant” within ten business days; and (c) “a construction timeline” and “evidence of financial responsibility” concerning review and approval of the proposed permanent modifications within twenty business days; and (2) perform (a) “the construction necessary for permanent structural changes” in accordance with the proposed construction timeline; and (b) “the required construction [necessary] for temporary structural bracing” within twenty business days. 4022 LLC appealed the December OTC. In its notice of

appeal, 4022 LLC “dispute[d] the findings in [the Bramel report],” “dispute[d] the factual basis underlying [the Bramel report] and the conclusions set fort[h]” therein and disputed that the Bramel report “support[ed]” the December OTC.

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