Joseph Andrew Mokodean

Joe was my main point of contact at the DC Tenants' Rights Center and his professionalism and ability to keep me calm during a campaign of harassment was greatly appreciated and was perhaps the most helpful element of my recent experience. This small firm of incredibly dedicated and knowledge lawyers... helped me negotiate a situation that I otherwise would never have been able to navigate. I knew nothing about tenants rights law in the city as a recent transplant and ran up on a landlord who tried to illegally evict me so he could bring someone else in to his very illegal basement apartment (it violated an extraordinary number of city housing codes), whom he hoped would pay significantly more in rent. After a few years enduring a campaign of harassment, The DC Tenants' Rights Center helped me finally reach a settlement with the landlord, and kept me sane in the process. I know my case was particularly harrowing for them as well -- the landlord in question was aggressive and unpredictable -- but they maintained calm demeanors and simply followed the law, and helped me file court documents myself to keep my attorney fees low. It was a great experience and one of those moments in life where you know someone has sent you help that proved the difference in the outcome. I really cannot thank them enough and wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone who needs an affordable advocate in the face of overwhelming bullying and outright lawbreaking on the part of shady landlords. And Joe, who listened to me cry more than once, was patient enough to let me try to determine what I thought was the best course of action, while gently feeding me information regarding the parameters of the law. Good man, good lawyer.