Attorney General

photo by angela n.

From the Office of the DC Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that the makers of Zyn nicotine pouches will pay $1.2 million to resolve allegations that the company facilitated the sale of tens of thousands of flavored products in DC in violation of the District’s 2022 ban on flavored tobacco and nicotine products. After the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) opened an investigation, Swedish Match North America LLC (SMNA), a subsidiary of Phillip Morris International, quickly halted nationwide sales of its products from its website, shop.zyn.com. Now, as part of the settlement agreement with OAG, SMNA will also be required to monitor its distributors and take affirmative steps to ensure they comply with the District’s ban on flavored tobacco products. (more…)

photo by Diane Krauthamer

From the office of the DC Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today filed a lawsuit against StubHub, Inc. (StubHub), an online ticket exchange and resale platform, to put an end to StubHub’s deceptive and unfair practice of hiding mandatory fees from consumers until the end of a lengthy purchase process, and then failing to provide clear and accurate information about the purpose of those fees or how the fees are calculated. These deceptive and unfair practices interfere with consumers’ ability to compare prices and to otherwise make informed decisions about their ticket purchases, in violation of the District’s consumer protection laws. (more…)

From the Office of the DC Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb introduced the Secure Apartments For Everyone (SAFE) Regulation Amendment Act to improve safety and reduce incidents of crime at District apartment complexes. Each apartment building has unique characteristics and challenges, and the SAFE Act sets forth a series of interventions that allow District tenants, owners, and government agencies to work together to identify building-specific problems and implement solutions that will make communities safer in the short and long term. (more…)

photo by Phil

From the DC Office of the Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that the nation’s third largest tax preparation company, Liberty Tax, will pay $550,000 to more than 7,300 DC residents who were misled and overcharged for tax preparation services. As part of a settlement resolving the consumer protection lawsuit that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) filed against it, Liberty Tax must also pay $200,000 to the District and permanently end the deceptive marketing and pricing tactics it used across the US. (more…)

From the The Office of the DC Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced a lawsuit against RealPage, Inc. (RealPage) and 14 of the largest residential landlords in the District for colluding to illegally raise rents for tens of thousands of DC residents by collectively delegating price-setting authority to RealPage, which used a centralized pricing algorithm to inflate prices, costing renters millions of dollars.

The defendant landlords are some of the largest providers of multifamily housing in the District, and the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) investigation revealed that RealPage’s technology was used to set rents for more than 50,000 apartments across DC, in violation of the District’s Antitrust Act.

“RealPage and the defendant landlords illegally colluded to artificially raise rents by participating in a centralized, anticompetitive scheme, causing District residents to pay millions of dollars above fair market prices,” said AG Schwalb. “Defendants’ coordinated and anticompetitive conduct amounts to a District-wide housing cartel. At a time when affordable housing in DC is increasingly scarce, our office will continue to use the law to fight for fair market conditions and ensure that District residents and law-abiding businesses are protected.”

The 14 landlords named in the lawsuit are: (more…)