If any of you have issues or problems you can email me directly and we’ll fix them. While I can appreciate past frustrations, a lot of things have changed in the past two years and we are much, much better as we’ve trained employees, upgraded IT systems, and are working on getting rid of outdated policies and rules. Are we perfect? Absolutely not. But contact me directly at michael.rupert@dc.gov and we’ll do our best to solve any issues. Give us a chance. Thanks. And “Darkside,” come over and we’ll be happy to do a job exchange.

- Mike Rupert, DCRA Communications Manager

PS- but at least they got a brand new office last year. I’m sure that helped them all do a similarly crap-tastic job of whatever they do in an more ergonomic and well-lit fashion.

I live in a building experiencing these problems, too, and along with the other owners, have been battling these issues for the two years I’ve lived here, all with no support or help from the District. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs? More like “Department of Good Luck and You’re on Your Own.” DCRA could not produce the construction blueprints for which we asked (which they were required to have). DCRA could not produce the proper construction permits for the project (hmmm). Were they even ever filed in the first place? Doesn’t surprise me, since our inspection identified a large number of construction items that weren’t even to code. Isn’t that the point of HAVING “code?” Without an engineer, are all new buildings being approved for sale without an inspection? And with this economy, more than EVER, developers are encouraged to take short cuts to cut costs. There was a new restaurant in Boston that had huge ceiling tiles fall (like 6′x8′), crashing atop dining guests recently – all because of shoddy construction.

Is this another area akin to the Property Tax scandal where DC and DCRA allows scam developers to build below-grade buildings? Is someone getting a kick-back somewhere?

I’m not an attorney, but something tells me there’s a class action law suit against the District somewhere in here. DC sets ‘regulations’ to which they’re even unable to comply. Those procedures in place to support residents and “consumers” then are inherently incapable of supporting them (warranties expire because the District cannot complete it’s end of the deal). Fraudulent, scamming, and deadbeat developers are then given ALL OPPORTUNITIES to continue to build more below-code buildings, with no oversight or legal ramifications.

Any thoughts from anyone?

“sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks”