IN COURT
Three recent cases have helped put an end to the “rent concession” scam:
Harry Gural vs. Equity Residential / Smith Property Holdings Van Ness LP (see below)
The third case, which was filed by Harry Gural in 2016, is still pending final adjudication in the DC Office of Administrative Hearings. An overview of the case, along with a detailed list of developments and filings, appears below. The next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 24-25, 2024.
Harry Gural vs. Equity Residential / Smith Property Holdings Van Ness LP
Harry Gural, president of the Van Ness South Tenants Association, filed a tenant petition against Equity Residential Corporation for demanding a $297 rent increase — much more than allowed by law.
The judge in the Office of Administrative Hearings, an administrative court that rules in supposedly simple cases of complaints by tenants against landlords, ruled in favor of Equity Residential.
Gural appealed to the Rental Housing Commission, the three-person panel that hears appeals in housing cases. The case was heard in March, 2019.
The Rental Housing Commission largely ruled in favor of Gural in February 2020, in an exceptionally strong opinion.
This decision paves the way for other residents of Washington DC to file tenants petitions to win back previous over-payment to companies like Equity Residential that have used the rent “concession” scam to bilk residents.
CASE FILE — HARRY GURAL VS. EQUITY RESIDENTIAL
April 1, 2015
Harry Gural (Tenant) pays Equity Residential (Housing Provider) $1,830 on a recurring basis as a month-to-month tenant for the right to occupy apartment S-707 at 3003 Van Ness.
January 15, 2016
Housing Provider sends Tenant notice that his current rent actually is $2,118 and that his rent will increase to $2,192 on April 1, 2016. This constitutes at $362 per month increase, almost 20 percent more than Gural paid the previous year. This is more than five times the maximum legal increase in a rent stabilized building, which for that year was 3.5 percent.
March 18, 2016
Gural negotiates a new monthly rent with property manager Avis Duvall. They agree on a new monthly payment of $1,895, an amount equivalent to the maximum legal percent increase, 3.5%, which amounts $65. However, Duvall states that she can only offer that amount if the Tenant signs a lease falsely stating that the rent is $2,192. Tenant refuses to sign a lease because it is his right by law to live as a month-to-month tenant. He also refuses Duvalls demand to sign a lease listing a higher amount than the rent he would actually pay.
March 25, 2016
Tenant issues a check to Housing Provider for $1,895 — the maximum legal rent increase — plus $100 for parking. This also is consistent with advertised market rates for similar apartments in the building. However, Equity Residential demands $2,192 if the Tenant refuses to sign a new lease that would falsely report the rent as $2,192. Gural refuses to sign.
April 25, 2016
Equity Residential Management LLC, files suit against Harry Gural in the Landlord and Tenant Branch of the DC Superior Court, claiming that the Tenant had not paid the rent in full.
May 12, 2016
Tenant files a Tenant Petition (TP 30,818) in the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), claiming that Equity has demanded a rent increase that exceeds the percent allowable under the DC rental housing code.
May 19, 2019
The parties appear before Judge John Campbell in Landlord and Tenant Court. Campbell issues a Drayton Stay, delaying a decision on the case until a decision is made in the Office of Administrative hearings. Judge Campell issues a Protective Order requiring Tenant to pay into escrow the difference between the rent he is willing to pay and the rent the Housing Provider says it is owed, $297 per month. This is approximately $300 above the advertised market rate for similar apartments at 3003 Van Ness Street.
June 28, 2016
Equity Residential files a Motion for Summary Judgment in the Office of Administrative Hearings, claiming that neither the facts of the case or the interpretation of the law are in dispute. If the motion is granted, the judge will make a decision without a hearing.
July 2016
Harry Gural complains to the office of DC Attorney General Karl Racine that Equity Residential is using a scam involved so-called “rent concessions” to overcharge residents at 3003 Van Ness.
July 27, 2016
Tenant files a reply to the Housing Provider’s Motion for Summary Judgment, and also requests voluntary dismissal of the Tenant Petition because he has been advised by an attorney to seek remedy in Superior or Federal court.
July 28, 2016
Administrative law judge Vytas Varekojis Vergeer issues a final order granting voluntary dismissal of the tenant petition.
August 23, 2016
Equity Residential files a motion to lift the Drayton Stay in Landlord and Tenant Court. If the motion is successful, the Tenant will lose his case and will lose the money he has paid into escrow. The Housing Provider’s attorney, Greenstein, DeLorme and Luchs, drops the filing off at the Tenant’s apartment while the he is away for several days in Boston, but the signed document states under penalty of perjury that the motion was hand delivered to the Tenant. Because the Tenant is representing himself in court, he will now have to prepare his case very quickly because this improper filing did not provide him the required week to prepare his response.
August 30, 2016
Tenant refiles a Tenant Petition (TP 30,855) in the Office of Administrative Hearings. He also submits in Landlord and Tenant court his opposition to the Housing Provider’s Motion to lift the Drayton Stay.
September 1, 2016
Parties appear at a status hearing in Landlord and Tenant Court. Judge John Ramsey Johnson maintains the Drayton Stay.
October 10, 2016
Parties participate in OAH mediation with Administrative Law Judge Margaret Mangan. They are unable to reach an agreement.
October 25, 2016
Housing Provider files a Motion for Summary Judgment in OAH. Attached are almost 100 pages of exhibits, including documents related to the case.
November 4, 2016
Tenant files an opposition to the Housing Provider’s Motion for Summary Judgement.
November 17, 2016
Tenant files a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the DC city government, requesting rent filings by Equity Residential for 2006 to 2016.
December 6, 2016
OAH Administrative Law Judge M. Colleen Currie releases and Order Scheduling Oral Argument on the Housing Provider’s Motion for Summary Judgment, to be held on January 13, 2017.
December 30, 2016
Housing Provider files a Reply to the Tenant’s Opposition to its Motion for Summary Judgment.
January 13, 2017
Parties appear in OAH before Judge M. Colleen Currie. Tenant argues that the Housing Provider’s rent filings to the Rental Accommodations Division are incorrect. Judge Currie requests that the Housing Provider and Tenant provide written opinions on whether Laches should apply to the case.
On the evening of the day of the OAH hearing, Tenant receives the first set of FOIA material that had been requested of the Rental Accommodations Division on November 17. The documents are long overdue and thus were unavailable for presentation at the morning hearing. The documents show that Equity Residential has been claiming since 2007 that the rents at 3003 Van Ness are implausibly high, suggesting that it has been using the “rent concession” scam for years. PDF files of the FOIA’ed materials are organized by year, 2006-2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 — more than 1,000 pages.
January 26, 2017
Housing Provider submits its Brief Regarding Laches, arguing that it should not apply.
February 11, 2017
Tenant submits Tenant’s Reply to Housing Provider’s Brief Concerning Laches.
March 3, 2017
Gural submits a Tenant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, including more than 120 pages of exhibits as well as almost 1,000 pages of rent filings obtained via FOIA (pages 1-350, pages 351-700, and pages 701-996). The filings show that the Housing Provider has a systematic and long-standing practice of filing “rents” that far exceed likely amounts paid for given apartments. Tenant asks the court to consider this pattern of behavior as it applies to his case. Tenant proposes to provide additional information about his claim of retaliation at a later date.
March 17, 2017
Housing Provider submits its Opposition to Tenant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment.
April 12, 2017
OAH Judge M. Colleen Currie releases a decision that largely grants the Housing Provider’s claims for summary judgment and denies the Tenant’s claims for Summary Judgment. However, she does not render a decision on the tenant’s claim of retaliation. Judge Currie calls for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of retaliation on May 22.
May 19, 2017
Equity Residential files a Motion to Quash the Tenant’s attempt to call property manager Avis DuVall as a witness. The motion is filed with the OAH at approximately 9:30 a.m. Gural files a Tenant Opposition to Housing Provider’s Motion to Quash.
May 19, 2017
OAH Administrative Law Judge Colleen Currie releases an Order Granting Motion to Quash the subpoena of Avis DuVall, denying the Tenant the ability to question her as a witness.
May 22-24, 2017
Three days of hearings in the Office of Administrative Hearings on the Tenant’s claim that the Housing Provider retaliated against him for his work as tenant association president and for helping other residents with “concession” leases.
July 28, 2017
Equity Residential files its closing arguments for the May 22-24 hearing on retaliation, Housing Provider’s Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
July 29, 2017
Harry Gural files his closing arguments for the May 22-24 hearing on retaliation, Post Hearing Brief and Closing Arguments.
Sept. 12, 2017
Administrative Law Judge M. Colleen Currie issues a Final Order, denying all Gural’s claims of retaliation.
Sept. 28, 2017
Harry Gural files a Notice of Appeal with the DC Rental Housing Commission. The notice lists numerous serious mistakes in the ruling by the administrative law judge and flags possible violations of the OAH code of conduct.
Dec. 13, 2017
Attorney General Racine files suit against Equity Residential for circumventing DC’s rent control laws. Racine states that “Landlords should clearly inform consumers up-front about the base rent from which subsequent increases will be calculated – but, we allege in this case, the defendants misled them.” Read the AG’s complaint.
March 4, 2019
Harry Gural files his Appellant Brief to the Rental Housing Commission.
March 19, 2019
Harry Gural appears before the Rental Housing Commission. Equity Residential is represented by Greenstein, DeLorme and Luchs. Equity Residential files a Housing Provider’s Brief on Appeal.
February 18, 2020
The Rental Housing Commission largely rules in favor of Harry Gural in his case against Equity Residential in an exceptionally strong and well-argued decision.
April 23, 2021
DC Superior Court Judge Yvonne Williams issues a final ruling in the case of District of Columbia vs. Equity Residential, finding that Equity Residential engaged in false advertising to lure prospective tenants in an effort to overcharge them.
Oct. 8, 2021
DC Superior Court Judge Yvonne Williams issues an order on remedies in the case of District of Columbia vs. Equity Residential, ordering Equity to pay approximately $1 million to residents of 3003 Van Ness for false advertising and other activities related to the “rent concession” scam, as well as an additional $1 million to the District of Columbia in attorneys fees.
July 14, 2021
Harry Gural continues to pay into escrow $297 per month under a protective order to the Landlord and Tenant Branch of DC Superior Court, despite the fact that the Rental Housing Commission has found that the practice of using “rent concessions” to circumvent the rent stabilization provisions of the DC Rental Housing Act is illegal. As of this date, Gural has paid over $18,000 into escrow for Equity Residential’s wrongful claim against him. In total, Equity Residential claims Gural owes more than $30,000.
Dec. 30, 2021
Equity Residential threatens tenant association president Harry Gural with eviction for failing to pay $30,979 above the legal rent on his apartment.
Jan. 18, 2022
The Rental Housing Commission issues a stunning ruling against Smith Property Holdings (a subsidiary of Equity Residential), in a ground-breaking decision that marks the beginning of the end of the “rent concession” scam.
Jan. 24, 2022
Harry Gural sends a letter to Equity Residential, demanding that it rescind its threat to evict him. The letter provides ample evidence that the company has retaliated against him for his actions as a tenant association president.
Josh Luper sends an email to Harry Gural, saying that the letter threatening to evict Gural was sent in error. Attorney Alison Graham of Shulman Rogers sends a formal letter also claiming that the threat was a mistake and that it had nothing to do with Gural’s activities as president of the tenants association. However, the letter does not mention releasing the $21,000 that Gural has been forced to pay under a protective order and it does not erase the $34,236 of overcharges on his statement.
Jan. 25, 2022
Harry Gural sends a letter to Equity Residential, thanking it for its letter rescinding the threat to evict him. Gural’s new letter requests that Equity Residential refund the more than $21,000 in overcharges he has been forced to pay, or concede that it will continue to retaliate him and continue to violate the law using the “rent concession” scam.
Sept. 25, 2022
Over the past year, Gural has sent several emails to Equity Residential’s attorney, asking it to join him in requesting that a Landlord and Tenant court judge rescind the protective order against him, under which he still is required by pay $297 per month into escrow — more than $23,000 to date.
January 23, 2023
Equity Residential submits a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment against Harry Gural in the Office of Administrative Hearings, claiming that it could not possibly have known that the word “rent” in DC law means the amount a tenant pays to occupy an apartment. Equity hopes to claim the more than $23,000 that Gural has been forced to pay into escrow to defend Equity’s case against him in Landlord and Tenant Court. Gural already won an appeal against Equity in the Rental Housing Commission, and former Attorney General Karl Racine won a related case against Equity Residential.
February 3, 2023
Harry Gural submits his opposition to Equity Residential’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment to the Office of Administrative Hearings. He argues that the OAH would be wrong to rule in favor of Equity Residential without holding a hearing or allowing Gural to call Equity employees as witnesses or prevent the admission of other evidence relative to the case. He also argues that the OAH should not contradict the well-argued ruling of the Rental Housing Commission, where Gural provisionally won his case against Equity on appeal. (The case was remanded to OAH for final adjudication.)
May 2, 2023
Chief Administrative Law Judge M. Colleen Currie of the DC Office of Administrative Hearings issues a strong opinion denying Equity Residential’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. The decision states that the OAH is bound to follow the decision of the Rental Housing Commission, which had ruled in favor of Harry Gural in his case against Equity Residential. The OAH decision follows the arguments laid out by Gural in his opposition to Equity Residential’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment.
June 14, 2023
Judge Colleen Currie issues an Order Scheduling In-Person Evidentiary Hearing on Remand in the case of Harry Gural vs. Equity Residential. The hearing is set for Jan. 24, 2024 — almost six and a half years after the filing of the tenant petition.
June 26, 2023
Harry Gural continues to pay $297 per month in overcharges by Equity Residential under a protective order in the Landlord and Tenant Branch of DC Superior Court. Gural has asked Equity Residential numerous times to agree to lift the protective order, but the company repeatedly refuses to do so. The total amount Gural has paid since 2016 that is held in escrow by the court is $24,474.00. To date, Equity Residential has overcharged Gural by $44,998.12.
July 31, 2023
Harry Gural submits a Tenant’s Motion for Discovery — the right to depose (interview) Equity Residential employees, including senior management, in preparation for the hearing scheduled for January, 2024. He also requests the right to request from Equity Residential all documents containing the words “Harry Gural” or “Gural.”
August 23, 2023
Equity Residential submits an Opposition to Tenant’s Motion to Conduct Discovery, claiming that Gural seeks to “issue interrogatories to non-parties to the case” — individuals who worked for Equity Residential during the time in question, but who have left the company or are not specifically named in Gural’s tenant petition.
October 17, 2023
Chief Administrative Law Judge M. Colleen Currie of the DC Office of Administrative Hearings an Order Denying in Part and in Part Tenant/Petitioner’s Motion for Discovery. The ruling denies Gural the opportunity to conduct depositions (interviews) with Equity Residential employees prior to the January 2024 hearing, however, it grants Gural the opportunity to request from Equity Residential all documents containing the words “Harry Gural” or “Gural” and dated prior to August 30, 2016.
October 24, 2023
Equity Residential continues to overcharge Harry Gural every month, adding thousands of dollars to his online statement. To date, Equity Residential has overcharged Gural by $47,459.32.
December 4, 2023
Gural files a motion for Equity Residential to produce documents related to his tenancy at 3003 Van Ness. He specifically requests: “Any document, email, or information in any other digital or printed form, held by Housing Provider, containing the words "Harry Gural" or "Gural" and dated prior to August 30, 2016.”
December 5, 2023
Equity Residential submits a list of witnesses and exhibits for the evidentiary hearing scheduled for Jan. 24, 2024.
December 11, 2023
Gural files a motion requesting the right to submit additional exhibits after the upcoming Dec. 15 deadline, noting that the Housing Provider has not yet provided the documents requested in the tenant’s document request.
December 12, 2023
Equity attorney Greenstein, DeLorme and Luchs files a motion attempting to block Gural’s motion to append additional documents to his list of exhibits.
December 15, 2023
Tenant submits his list of witnesses and exhibits for the upcoming evidentiary hearing on Jan. 24th. The list includes 68 documents totaling more than 500 pages. The witness list includes Equity Residential Senior Vice President Frances Nolan.
December 19, 2023
Gural submits a motion requesting subpoenas for four Equity Residential employees, including Senior Vice President Frances Nolan.
December 22, 2023
The court issues an order denying Gural’s request to append additional documents to his list of exhibits. However, the order would allow him to submit another request to add documents at a later date.
The court grants subpoenas for four Equity Residential employees, including Senior Vice President Frances Nolan.
January 3, 2024
Equity attorney Greenstein, DeLorme and Luchs sends Gural the results of the court-approved search for documents in possession of Equity Residential containing his name. The resulting file contains 6,138 pages.
January 12, 2024
Tenant submits a motion to add 64 additional documents recovered from Equity Residential to the exhibit list for the upcoming hearing on January 24th. These include internal Equity documents as well as emails regarding Gural’s attempt to help other residents.
January 19, 2024
Equity Residential submits a motion to quash (i.e., block) the subpoena to former Equity Residential property manager Avis Duvall. Although evidence shows that Duvall was served properly by a professional process server, Equity argues that she was served outside of a 25-mile radius from the Office of Administrative Hearings in Washington DC, claiming that is a violation of OAH rules. Ironically, the Rental Housing Commission had specifically instructed OAH to allow Gural a chance to call Avis Duvall as a witness.
January 21, 2024
Gural files a motion opposing Equity Residential’s motion to quash the subpoena of former Equity employee Avis Duvall, arguing that her testimony is needed to determine the degree to which Equity’s overcharges of Gural — now approaching $50,000 — are deliberate.
January 22, 2024
Equity Residential’s attorney, Greenstein, DeLorme and Luchs, files a motion to quash the subpoena of Senior Vice President Frances Nolan, arguing that she cannot be called as a witness because she now lives and works in Chicago.
January 23, 2024
Equity Residential files a motion to exclude almost 30 of the tenant’s proposed exhibits for the upcoming evidentiary hearing. This includes official rent documents submitted to the District of Columbia showing that Equity Residential routinely demanded rent increases of $1,000 per month or more.
January 24, 2024
Almost seven and a half years since Gural filed his complaint against Equity Residential for charging him a rent increase that exceeded the legal amount by $297 per month, the first evidentiary hearing is held in the Office of Administrative Hearings. Two key witnesses — former building manager Avis Duvall and Senior Vice President Frances Nolan — do not appear. The two Equity employees who testify claim that they know absolutely nothing about the case.
Gural requests subpoenas for Frances Nolan and for Senior Regional Manager Jesse Jennell. Judge Currie agrees to issue the subpoenas with the understanding that Jennell now resides in Los Angeles and Nolan now resides in Chicago.
A second evidentiary hearing, to be conducted via WebEx, is scheduled for Feb. 28, 2024.
January 25, 2024
The Office of Administrative hearings issues six orders following the recent evidentiary hearing, setting the scene for the second evidentiary hearing:
Granting Equity Residential’s motion to exclude some of the tenant’s proposed exhibits
Creating a master list of exhibits for the Feb. 28th hearing
January 25, 2024
Following the discussion during the recent hearing of issuing new subpoenas to Equity Residential employees Frances Nolan and Jesse Jennell, Gural submits a motion requesting that the court issues those subpoenas.
February 5, 2024
OAH issues an order granting subpoenas for Equity Residential Senior Vice President Frances Nolan and Senior Regional Manager Jesse Jennell.
February 22, 2024
Equity Residential’s attorney, Greenstein, DeLorme and Luchs, files a motion to quash (kill) the subpoena of Senior Regional Manager Jesse Jennell, attempting to prevent the Tenant from calling Jennell as a witness in the upcoming evidentiary hearing on February 28th.
Gural submits his opposition to Equity’s motion to prevent Jennell from having to appear at the upcoming hearing, including an affidavit by the professional process server who served Jennell with the subpoena in Los Angeles.
February 23, 2024
Gural files a motion requesting to submit an affidavit by the process server who served the subpoena via Equity Residential’s designated legal agent in Washington, DC.
February 26, 2024
1) Equity Residential’s attorney files a motion to quash the subpoena of Equity Residential Senior Vice President Frances Nolan, arguing that the subpoena was served improperly.
2) Harry Gural submits an opposition to Equity’s motion to quash the subpoena to Frances Nolan. He provides as evidence a sworn, signed and notarized affidavit that a subpoena has been delivered to Equity Residential’s designated legal agent in Washington, DC. In addition, he provides evidence that a professional process server has attempted to serve Nolan four times in Chicago.
3) Gural files a Tenant’s Pre-hearing Brief on the Time Frame for Calculating Damages. The motion argues that damages should be calculated on the basis of rent overcharges up until the date of the evidentiary hearing, which is scheduled for Feb. 28, 2024. The Tenant points to previous decisions by the Rental Housing Commission, which state that damages should be applied up to the date of the final hearing. Records show that Gural has been overcharged by $50,376.12.
February 27, 2024
Equity Residential’s attorney, Greenstein, DeLorme and Luchs, files a motion to strike Gural’s pre-hearing brief regarding the time frame for calculating damages.
February 28, 2024
The Office of Administrative Hearings holds the second evidentiary hearing on rent increases in the matter of Harry Gural vs. Equity Residential. The hearing is held remotely via WebEx.
Judge Colleen Currie quashes the subpoenas of Equity Residential Senior Vice President Frances Nolan and Senior Regional Manager Jesse Jennell, accepting the logic that they reside more than 25 miles from Washington DC so cannot be served subpoenas and called as witnesses. The three Equity employees with direct knowledge of the events in question in the case — Avis Duvall, Jesse Jennell and Francis Nolan — now have been excluded as possible witnesses.
At the hearing, Gural presents a narrative of Equity Residential’s efforts to overcharge him by $362 per month ($4,344 annually) — an increase of approximately 20% — in violation of the rent stabilization provisions of the Rental Housing Act.
Gural also shows extensive evidence that Equity Residential had ample warning that its practices violated DC law, and therefore that its overcharges of him were made in bad faith. According to DC law, overcharges that are made in bad faither are subject to treble (triple) damages. Equity Residential’s account statement for Harry Gural claims that he owes the company more than $50,000 (in addition to the monthly rent he already has paid). If it can be shown that Equity Residential’s overcharges were made in bad faith, Equity may be liable for damages exceeding $150,000.
Gural has also been forced to pay more than $27,000 out of pocket into escrow under a protective order for a lawsuit Equity Residential filed against him in the Landlord and Tenant Branch of DC Superior Court (case number 2016-LTB-010863)
Equity Residential general manager for 3003 Van Ness, Josh Luper, testifies that he knows almost nothing about Equity’s policies regarding rent increases. In addition, he states repeatedly that he does not know the meaning of the word “rent.”
March 11, 2024
In response to objections from Equity Residential’s attorney, Gural files a motion to resubmit two exhibits which each had a missing page when submitted previously. One of the exhibits contains a list of apartments at 3003 Van Ness with false, extremely high amounts listed as the “rent.”
March 12, 2024
Gural submits a motion requesting that the Court reconsider its decision to sustain the Housing Provider’s objection to entering six documents into evidence.
March 13, 2024
Equity Residential’s attorney files an opposition to Gural’s motion for reconsideration of exhibits.
March 15, 2024
Gural files a response to Equity Residential’s opposition to his motion for reconsideration of exhibits. He includes as attachments the updated court docket for Equity Residential’s case against him in DC Superior Court, which shows that he has paid $27,474 into escrow under a protective order. He also includes his most recent billing statement from Equity, which claims that he owes $51,306.42 in rent and late fees (in addition to the rent he already has paid in full).
March 15, 2024
Equity Residential files a motion to strike Gural’s response to Equity Residential’s opposition to his motion for reconsideration of exhibits.
March 18, 2024
Gural sends a letter to Frances Nolan, Equity Residential Senior Vice President, asking her to instruct Equity’s attorney to file a motion in DC Superior Court to rescind the protective order against him. As of this date, Gural has been forced to pay $297 per month into escrow in addition to his rent paid in full — a total of $27,474 plus transaction fees — for almost eight years. Attached to the letter is evidence of Equity’s past refusal to lift the protective order.
April 2, 2024
Gural files his 41-page closing arguments plus 81 pages of exhibits at 4:30 am, requesting that the Court assess remedies against Equity Residential for overcharging him by more than $50,000 or eight years.
April 19, 2024
Equity Residential files its closing arguments, arguing again that it did not know the meaning of the word “rent” or the phrase “rent charged.”
April 26, 2024
Gural files his five-page rebuttal of Equity Residential’s closing arguments.
April 29, 2024
Equity Residential files its final rebuttal to Gural’s closing Arguments and his rebuttal of Equity’s closing arguments.