• Distict of Columbia Court of General Sessions Papers
  1. Rudolph Saunders
  2. Ethel Javins
  3. Gladys Grant
  4. Stanley Gross
• Landlord-Tenant Court Forms
  Consent Judgment Agreement
• Distict of Columbia Court of Appeals Papers
  Stipulation of Trial Proceedings:
  1. Rudolph Saunders
  2. Ethel Javins
  3. Gladys Grant
  4. Stanley Gross
  Briefs:
  1. Tenants' Brief
  2. Landlord's Brief
  3. Tenants' Reply Brief
  Other Documents:
  1. Tenants' Motion to Calendar for Argument
  2. Landlord's Motion for Continuance
  3. Tenants' Opposition to Continuance Motion
  4. Statement of Oral Argument Proceedings
  5. Statement of Results
  6. Judgment
  7. Remand
• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Papers
  Petition to Appeal:
  1. Letter to D.C.C.A.
  2. Notice to D.C.C.A.
  3. Tenants' Petition for Review
  4. Landlords Opposition to Petition for Review
  5. Grant of Review
  6. Denial of Review
  Briefs:
  1. Tenants' Brief
  2. Landlord's Brief
  3. Tenants' Reply Brief
  4. Amicus: Neighborhood Legal Services
  5. Amicus: Washington Hsg. & Planning Assoc.
  6. Amicus: Nat. Hsg. Law Project
  Other Documents:
  1. EnBanc Suggestion
  2. Judgment
• Supreme Court of the United States Papers
  Petition for Certiorari
  

Clifton Terrace Apartments
(Now Called Wardman Court, The Original Name)
[Additional Pictures]

Javins v. First National Realty Corporation, 428 F.2d 1071 (D.C. Cir. 1970) was one of the most important landlord-tenant cases of the twentieth century. Read by most first year law students all over the country, Judge Skelly Wright's famous opinion firmly established the implied warranty of habitability as a staple of American property law. The story of the litigation and the myriad events that swirled around the occupants of the then dilapidated Clifton Terrace Apartments, is told comprehensively in Richard Chused's article, Saunders (a.ka.a Javins) v. First National Realty Corporation, 11 Geo. J. Pov. L. & Policy 191 (2004). It is a compelling tale of racial and class conflict, local politics, urban planning gone terribly wrong, and law reform. The article, also published in abridged form in Gerald Korngold & Andrew P. Morris, Property Stories (Foundation Press 2004), makes use of an array of court documents in the case. A list of the documents available on this site is on the left. All are in PDF format. You can also see additional pictures of the buildings involved in the case—the Clifton Terrace Apartments, now known as Wardman Court—by using the link under the picture at the top of this page.

The initial judicial proceedings were in the District of Columbia Court of General Sessions. This court, which was later replaced by the Distict of Columbia Superior Court, rendered eviction judgments against Rudolph Saunders, the most important of the tenant organizers, Ethel Javins, Gladys Grant, and Stanley Gross on June 17, 1966. The cases were then appealed to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which affirmed the evictions on September 23, 1968, well over two years after the cases were heard by Judge Fickling in the Court of General Sessions. At the time of Javins, the United States Court of Appeals had discretion to review decisions of the local District of Columbia courts. The tenants requested such review. It was granted in three of the four cases (Grant had paid all of her rent and mooted her case.). Judge Skelly Wright issued his famous opinion in the case on May 7, 1970. First National Realty Corporation's petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States was denied later that year.

The Landlord Tenant Court Form link is for a form settling rent disputes allowing for entry of consent judgment if a tenant fails to make the payments called for in the agreement. It is referred to in the Javins article as part of a larger discussion about the modesty of the changes in judicial practice produced by the decision.

The three buildings involved in Javins have now been remodeled into two condominiums and a rental apartment with some subsidized units by the Community Preservation and Development Corporation. Pictures taken during and after the remodeling are available here. In recent years, residential districts in the center of Washington, DC have undergone rapid rehabilitation and many new apartment buildings and houses have been built. Values in many areas of the city have risen dramatically. Units in the Wardman Court condominiums, as the advertisment to the left makes clear, are now on the market for over $300,000.

Comments or questions about this site should be directed to Professor Richard Chused by email.

Revised November 1, 2005 (RC)