Billing Email Adds Twist to Brookfield Tenant Suit

Tenants of Brookfield Properties in Washington, D.C., are taking their landlord to task — and a new twist in the clash over the back-and-forth over fees.

A class action lawsuit filed in December against Brookfield by a tenant of a luxury apartment complex claimed residents were overbilled for utilities. The lawsuit accuses the New York-based investor of unfair charging of “rental application fees, common area electric and trash fees, and service fees” at its 843-unit Yards Collection in the Navy Yard neighborhood of the nation’s capital.

The complaint took issue with Brookfield’s practice of excluding certain units — particularly affordable units subsidized by federal tax credits and vacant apartments — from utility billing calculations, effectively shifting those costs to remaining tenants without their knowledge.

Some market-rate tenants were charged variable monthly fees, while others in similar units paid fixed amounts or nothing at all.

Brookfield has denied any wrongdoing and claimed in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit it was “charging fees that were prominently disclosed” in leases.

But an email mistakenly shared with a tenant showed third-party platform Conservice admitting to overbilling, the Washington City Paper reported.

“We are overbilling the units that are billable,” billing manager Shelly Elliott wrote in an April 18 email, attributing the issue to some occupied units being marked as vacant in its system.

Tenant advocates say the email proves residents’ claims that Brookfield’s billing methods disproportionately burden market-rate renters with inflated costs.

“This exchange is direct evidence that private equity puts profit over people,” Noelle Porter, an organizer for the Brookfield tenants’ group and director of government affairs at the National Housing Law Project, told the City Paper.

A spokesperson for the property responded to the outlet’s inquiry on the email by promising a “comprehensive audit.”

“Upon being notified by our utility provider on Friday afternoon about a potential coding error in utility billing, our team immediately initiated a comprehensive audit. If any billing issue is verified, we will rectify it right away,” the spokesperson told the City Paper, adding the firm would credit tenants if overcharges are verified.

The tenants’ legal challenge has gained support from local lawmakers. Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen in February reintroduced a bill to ban deceptive utility billing practices, calling out “large, national corporations” for exploiting residents.

D.C. law doesn’t prohibit landlords from charging tenants for utilities consumed in vacant units, according to the Office of the Tenant Advocate. Legislative director Joel Cohn told the outlet

— Dana Bartholomew