One of Greater Washington’s largest property management companies disputes Montgomery County’s classification of two of its properties as “troubled” in terms of code violations — a classification that invokes stricter rent control than would otherwise apply.
McLean-based Southern Management Cos., which owns some 25,000 apartments across 77 properties, has two properties cited in the county’s recent annual report based on inspections of more than 300 properties: Summit Hills and Nob Hill, both in Silver Spring, the first- and seventh-largest properties on the list, with 1,120 and 396 units, respectively.
“Upon information and belief, as well as the evidence in our possession, we are confident that both properties were placed on the list in error,” Gabrielle Duvall, Southern Management’s president, told me in an email earlier this month.
She reiterated that stance in a phone call Wednesday, saying the company “stands by the quality” of its communities and expects the two identified as troubled will be removed from the list “in due time.”
