WASHINGTON — They bought a new home filled with joy and promise, only to find out: a hidden secret might cost them more than a hundred thousand dollars in repairs.
“We’re supposed to be nesting right now, not fighting with the Department of Housing,” said Amanda Valerio-Esene, who is pregnant.
When Amanda and her husband Brai bought their new home in a historic Southeast D.C. neighborhood, visions of filling it with laughter and joy was soon replaced with fear and uncertainty.
“It’s been incredibly stressful,” Amanda said. “Very stressful. We’ve lost a lot of sleep over this.”
Sleepless nights over more than $100,000 in repairs DC’s Historic Preservation office said the couple would have to pay for to get their new home in compliance with the city’s historic preservation laws.
Laws, they had no idea the home violated when they bought it from developer Enobong Usanga, owner of Innovative Quarters LLC.
“He checked all the boxes that said there were no violations. No infractions,” Brai said. “Everything was free and clear.”
“He lied,” Amanda added.
The couple was shocked to learn, DC Government wanted them to fix it all.
“You know we did everything we were supposed to do,” Amanda said.
In 2021, Innovative Quarters was served with a notice of infraction from DC Government. Turns out, when Usanga flipped the run down home, he violated a host of historic preservation laws rebuilding it.
“There's nothing obviously wrong,” Amanda said gesturing to the home’s front windows with Brai by her side. “But a lot of historic windows have a different framework. So, these original windows were much like longer, and they had a trim around them.”
The city also took issue with the homes redesigned porch.
“So if you look at the porch, again, it looks perfectly fine,” Amanda said. “It looks not like a super modern porch. But it doesn't match the original historical profile.”
Records show the developer initially took responsibility with the city, agreeing in an order to correct the historic violations. But he never did it.
And he didn’t disclose any of the problems when he sold the home to Brai and Amanda six months later, checking “no” when asked: “has the property been cited for a violation of any historic preservation law?”
A title search paid for by the Valerio-Esene’s should have showed a lien placed on the house by the city, because of a $200 fine the developer failed to pay on time. The couple later found out never DC Government never took out that lien, despite the outstanding debt and violations.
Instead, DC’s Office of Planning told the couple in an email they were responsible for correcting all the problems. The estimate to do that came in at more than $103,000.
“We've just bought this house, we just got married – baby on the way,” Brai said. “We're not sitting on that pile of cash.”
The couple said they were most frustrated by the feeling DC Government appeared to be coming after them instead of the developer.
“It's almost like a myopic obsession with enforcing the rules, rather than holding the guilty party accountable,” Brai said.
Innovative Quarters and owner Enobong Usanga did not respond to multiple requests for comment from WUSA9. But the company still touts the renovation right on its website.
So WUSA9 turned to DC Government. The DC Office of Planning declined an interview but said via email:
The Office of Planning (OP) recognizes the situation with 1333 Maple View Place is an unfortunate one and understands the predicament of the current owners of the property. OP is pleased to have reached a reasonable resolution with them that settles the violations and brings the home into alignment with historic preservation standards.
That “reasonable solution” turned out to be paring back the historic violations the District would force the couple to fix. But the Valerio-Esene’s were still forced to replace their brand-new front windows at a cost of about $10,000.
After hearing the city’s response, Brai told WUSA9 “in what world is it ‘reasonable’ to make us pay just over $10,000 to fix infractions that we didn’t commit!?”
His wife agreed.
“There should be government systems in place that prevent that from happening,” Amanda said. “DC needs to do better.”
The DC Office of Planning tells WUSA9 it is investigating the original source of the violations at this property, which is nearing completion.
“As the investigation is ongoing, OP cannot provide further comment at this time,” a spokesperson wrote.
OP said it is also considering what can be done to ensure potential homebuyers in the District are made aware of key information like permit infractions and building code violations.
Right now OP tells WUSA9 prospective buyer can find outstanding violations by searching a property address on the Department of Building’s Scout database.
But the couple said that is not an acceptable solution.
"If there’s $100,000 in work on the line, they need to actually put a lien on the house that will show up in a title search," Amanda said.