WASHPO | D.C. housing complex’s decline raises questions about management, politics

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Excerpt:

According to court records, interviews and correspondence obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act: Park Southern owes the city $628,262 in mortgage and interest payments. It owes about $400,000 more for utility and other bills, mostly to Pepco and Washington Gas. Tens of thousands of dollars are missing from the account holding tenants’ security deposits. 

Tenants also allege in a lawsuit filed in April that Scott and the board racked up tens of thousands of dollars in unexplained travel expenses, salaries to nearly 100 people even as residents saw only two or three at the property, and let herself, her daughter and close associates she helped win seats on the board live rent-free. 

In April, the city sent in a property management company to take over. According to court documents, interviews and correspondence, Scott’s alleged “gross mismanagement” of Park Southern and its finances are under review by the D.C attorney general. Ted Gest, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said city code inspectors, the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service have been alerted to “alleged malfeasance” by Scott and the board. Regarding a possible criminal probe, Gest said only that the attorney general is working with Gray’s housing department to protect the city’s rights as a lender.