Attorney General Schwalb Issues Statement on Court Ruling Requiring Slumlord Razjooyans to Immediately Fix Conditions at All Apartment Buildings They Still Control

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb issued the below statement following a ruling from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordering Ali "Sam" Razjooyan and his mother, Houri Razjooyan, to immediately fix the dangerous and illegal conditions at all of the DC apartment buildings they still own and control.

In early 2026, the Office of the Attorney General filed a first-of-its-kind civil lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and the DC Consumer Protection Procedures Act to dismantle an extensive real estate fraud scheme led by Razjooyans. The Court granted the Office of the Attorney General's request for a preliminary injunction against Sam and Houri Razjooyan, ordering them to hire licensed contractors to fix nearly two hundred dangerous housing code violations across five properties within 21 days. The Court wrote that "left unabated, these violations have created unconscionable living conditions that no person-let alone a resident of our nation's capital-should be forced to endure."

"This legal ruling is another step toward shutting down the Razjooyan slumlord empire and repairing the damage it has inflicted on tenants and the District," said Attorney General Schwalb. "We filed this lawsuit to put an end to the Razjooyans' illegal scheme of preying on DC residents and cheating lenders and the District government, and the Court has now ordered the them to fix up every building they still control. We will keep fighting to ensure the repairs are made, to permanently ban the Razjooyans from operating residential rental properties in the District, and to hold them accountable for all the harm they have caused."

The ruling is available here.

The preliminary injunction order is available here.

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