Reese v. Park Place Condominium Homeowners Association I

CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMarch 21, 2025
DocketCivil Action No. 2022-2660
StatusPublished

This text of Reese v. Park Place Condominium Homeowners Association I (Reese v. Park Place Condominium Homeowners Association I) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reese v. Park Place Condominium Homeowners Association I, (D.D.C. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

ALLISON REESE,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No. 22-cv-02660 (CRC)

PARK PLACE CONDOMINIUM HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION I,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

For six years, Allison Reese and her condominium association played a game of cat and

mouse. At least once a year, Reese contacted the association requesting repairs to her unit. Each

time, the association dispatched contractors to investigate Reese’s concerns. Reese then

responded with more requests, complaints, and, ultimately, this lawsuit. Reese, who is African

American, alleges that the association discriminated against her by refusing to pay for certain

repairs, including through coverage under its master insurance policy, while paying for similar

repairs to units owned by white residents. Now the association seeks summary judgment.

Because Reese has not produced any evidence whatsoever rebutting PCCA’s legitimate, non-

discriminatory reason for not extending access to the master insurance policy, the Court will

grant the association’s motion.

I. Background

The Court draws the following facts from the allegations in the Complaint, Defendant’s

Statement of Material Facts Not in Dispute, and Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

Where the facts are in dispute, the Court construes them in favor of Reese as the non-moving

party. A. Factual Background

Plaintiff Allison Reese is an African-American woman who owns and lives in a

townhome in Building 16 of Park Place Condominiums in Washington, D.C. Notice of

Removal, Ex. B (“Compl.”) ¶ 5. From December 2014 to July 2021, Reese’s unit experienced

problems ranging from termite and water damage to erosion that Reese attributes to a faulty

foundation. Id. ¶ 9. Defendant Park Place Condominium Homeowners Association I (“PPCA”)

is the condominium association for Park Place Condominiums. PPCA Stmt. of Material Facts

Not in Dispute (“SMF”) ¶ 1. Under its bylaws, PPCA is not responsible for all property damage.

PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 1 at 2. It is only responsible for damage that affects buildings as a

whole, including foundation damage; individual owners are responsible for damage specific to

their units. Id.; see PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 18 (“PPCA Bylaws”).

In 2014, a property manager for PPCA consulted an attorney regarding legal

responsibility for a problem with Building 16—Reese’s building—likely caused by settling

and/or erosion under the building. PPCA Summ. J. Mot., Ex. 1 at 3. The property manager

ultimately concluded that PPCA was responsible for repairing Building 16. Id.; Compl. ¶¶ 32–

33. Reese alleges she “was excluded from the list of units requesting the same or similar

repairs.” Id. ¶ 33. She believes PPCA invoked its master insurance policy to cover repairs to the

units on that list. Id. ¶ 34.

One year later, PPCA commissioned a company to survey Building 16. SMF ¶ 8; PPCA

Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 2 at 1. The resulting report recommended comprehensive repairs but did not

find any foundational defects. SMF ¶ 9. Accordingly, PPCA scheduled repairs to Building 16.

Id. ¶ 8; PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 3. There is no indication that the report or repairs excluded

Reese’s unit. See generally PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Exs. 2–3.

2 In 2017, Reese contacted PPCA about a front-door leak, water leak, and possible screen-

door replacement in her unit. SMF ¶ 10; PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 4, ECF No. 29-3 at 29 (page

numbers designated by CM/ECF). In response, PPCA hired a contractor to inspect Reese’s unit.

PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 5. The contractor made some interim repairs, promised to return, and

reported that the front-door leak would be addressed in a building-wide project. Id. PPCA tried

to schedule follow-up work with Reese, attempting to contact her four times over one month.

PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 6. When Reese finally responded, she said: “I appreciate your effort

to get this completed, however rather than informing me of how many times you’ve tried to

contact me, common curtsey [sic] would be to see if I’m in a position to respond.” Id.

Ultimately, citing a recent family emergency, she informed the property manager that “[a]t the

present, my unit is the LEAST of my worries.” Id.

Next, in April 2018, Reese contacted PPCA regarding a termite problem. PPCA Mot.

Summ. J., Ex. 7, ECF No. 29-3 at 40 (page numbers designated by CM/ECF). Three pest

inspection companies conducted inspections on Reese’s unit. PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 20 at 2.

One, a company retained by Reese, confirmed the presence of termites and termite damage.

PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 7 at 45. A PPCA-hired company called Owl Pest Prevention

concluded that it could not yet fix the termite damage because Reese’s unit had “a severe

moisture problem.” PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 8. Owl Pest was the only company that noticed a

water problem. PPCA Mot. Summ., J., Ex. 10, ECF No. 29-3 at 53 (page numbers designated by

CM/ECF).

In May 2018, the PPCA property manager informed Reese that PPCA’s Board had

approved a proposal by another pest control company, Terminix, and asked Reese to follow up to

schedule treatment. PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 10 at 54. In response, Reese informed PPCA that

3 she could not do so because Owl Pest had said that any treatment would not be effective due to

her unit’s water damage and accused the Board of “refusing to take on the liability regarding this

issue.” Id. Because Owl Pest’s inspection report was the only one that identified a water-

damage issue, PPCA attempted to contact to Owl Pest three times to get more information but

did not hear back. Id. at 53. Ultimately, given the urgency of Reese’s request, PPCA went

ahead with Terminix. Id. at 51. It also hired a general contractor who performed a temporary

repair to allow termite treatment and pursued proposals for a permanent repair. Id.; SMF ¶ 12.

Nevertheless, Reese concluded that PPCA’s actions indicated its “refusal to accept the liability

[it] created[.]” PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 10 at 52.

Later, in July 2018, Reese reached out to PPCA concerning a new termite problem.

PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 13, ECF No. 29-4 at 18 (page numbers designated by CM/ECF).

When PPCA informed Reese that it had scheduled Terminix to come by, Reese explained that

her “walls need[ed] to be demoed and damaged wood replaced before treatment[.]” Id. at 17.

PPCA responded that it would cancel the treatment until Reese conducted such repairs. Id.

After considerable back and forth, PPCA requested that Reese list all the repairs she believed it

should cover and any associated invoices. Id. at 9. Reese responded almost a year later, in May

2019. Id. at 8. She claimed that “the Board ha[d] not taken any action to accept any

responsibility for the repairs[,]” attached two reports, and asked how the Board would like to

proceed. Id. PPCA once again asked for a list of repairs and invoices, but Reese again failed to

provide one. Id. at 6. Reese later explained that she “did not respond because [PPCA] referred

to [her] damages as ‘alleged’ repairs.” Id. at 5.

One of the reports Reese provided PPCA was prepared by Scovis Structural Engineers.

PPCA Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 16 (“Scovis Report”). When Scovis visited Reese’s unit, it did not

4 observe the insect damage Reese described. Id. at 3. Instead, Scovis examined undated

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