Title 42 — Real Property.

The Council of the District of Columbia finds that: (1) There is a severe shortage of rental housing available to citizens of the District of Columbia (“District”). (2) The shortage of housing is growing due to the withdrawal of housing units from the housing market, deterioratio…

In enacting this chapter, the Council of the District of Columbia supports the following statutory purposes: (1) To protect low- and moderate-income tenants from the erosion of their income from increased housing costs; (2) To provide incentives for the construction of new rental…

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (a)(1) “Annual fair market rental amount” means the annualized sum of the rents collected for all rental units in the housing accommodation during the base calculation year, plus an amount equal to the percentage increase in the Consume…

(a)(1) The Rental Housing Commission established by § 42-4012 [expired] is continued and shall be composed of 3 members appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council. The terms of members of the Rental Housing Commission appointed under the Rental Housing Act …

(a) The Rental Housing Commission shall: (1) Issue, amend, and rescind rules and procedures for the administration of this chapter except rules and procedures subject to § 2-1831.05(a)(7); (2) Decide appeals brought to it from decisions of the Rent Administrator, including appeal…

Members and staff of the Rental Housing Commission shall not be subject to liability for their official acts. Persons assisting the Rental Housing Commission, whether paid or pro bono, shall not be subject to liability for actions taken to perform services on behalf of the Commis…

There is established within the Department of Housing and Community Development the Rental Accommodations Division, which shall have as its head a Rent Administrator.

(a) The Rent Administrator shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council. (b) The Mayor shall transmit a nomination of the Rent Administrator to the Council, for a 90-day period of review, excluding days of Council recess, including any Rent Administr…

The Rent Administrator shall: (1) Be admitted to practice before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals by the time the Rent Administrator’s term of office commences; (2) Be a resident of the District within 6 months of the commencement of the Rent Administrator’s term of offi…

(a) The Rental Accommodations Division (“RAD”) of the Department of Housing and Community Development (“DHCD”), in close consultation with the Office of the Tenant Advocate and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, is authorized to establish a user-friendly, internet-access…

(a) The Rent Administrator shall draft rules and procedures for the administration of this chapter to be transmitted to the Rental Housing Commission for its action under § 42-3502.02(a)(1). (b) The Rent Administrator shall carry out, according to rules and procedures established…

(a) There is established within the Department of Housing and Community Development the Rental Conversion and Sale Division, which shall have as its head a Rental Conversion and Sale Administrator. (b) The Rental Conversion and Sale Administrator shall receive annual compensation…

All positions, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, assessments, and other funds available or to be made available to the Rental Accommodations and Conversion Division of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs relating to the dutie…

(a) There is established within the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Housing Regulation Administration, which shall have as its head a Housing Regulation Administrator. The Housing Regulation Administrator shall be appointed by, and report directly to, the Dir…

(a) Sections 42-3502.05(f) through 42-3502.19, except § 42-3502.17, shall apply to each rental unit in the District except: (1) Any rental unit in any federally or District-owned housing accommodation or in any housing accommodation with respect to which the mortgage or rent is f…

(a) Rent ceilings are abolished, except that the housing provider may implement, in accordance with § 42-3502.08(g), rent ceiling adjustments pursuant to petitions and voluntary agreements approved by the Rent Administrator prior to August 5, 2006. Petitions and voluntary agreeme…

Repealed.

(a)(1) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, the rent for any rental unit shall not be increased above the base rent unless: (A) The rental unit and the common elements are in substantial compliance with the housing regulations, if noncompliance is not the result of tena…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the rent charged for any rental unit in a housing accommodation exempted by § 42-3502.05, except subsection (a)(2) or (a)(7) of that section, upon the expiration or termination of the exemption, shall be the average rent c…

(a) On petition by the housing provider, the Rent Administrator may approve a rent adjustment to cover the cost of capital improvements to a rental unit or housing accommodation if: (1) The improvement would protect or enhance the health, safety, and security of the tenants or th…

If the Rent Administrator determines that the related services or related facilities supplied by a housing provider for a housing accommodation or for any rental unit in the housing accommodation are substantially increased or decreased, the Rent Administrator may increase or dec…

(a) Where an election has been made under § 42-3502.06(c) to seek a rent adjustment through a hardship petition, the Rent Administrator shall, after review of the figures and computations set forth in the housing provider’s petition, allow additional increases in rent which would…

(a) When a tenant vacates a rental unit on the tenant’s own initiative or as a result of a notice to vacate for nonpayment of rent, violation of an obligation of the tenant’s tenancy, or use of the rental unit for illegal purpose or purposes as determined by a court of competent …

(a) If the Rent Administrator determines that (1) a rental unit is to be substantially rehabilitated, and (2) the rehabilitation is in the interest of the tenants of the unit and the housing accommodation in which the unit is located, the Rent Administrator may approve, contingen…

(a) Seventy percent or more of the tenants of a housing accommodation may enter into a voluntary agreement with the housing provider: (1) To establish the rent charged; (2) To alter levels of related services and facilities; and (3) To provide for capital improvements and the eli…

(a) The Rent Administrator shall consider adjustments allowed by §§ 42-3502.10, 42-3502.11, 42-3502.12, 42-3502.13, and 42-3502.14 or a challenge to a § 42-3502.06 adjustment, upon a petition filed by the housing provider or tenant. The petition shall be filed with the Rent Admin…

(a) A tenant organization shall have standing to assert a claim in its name on behalf of one or more of its members in any petition filed pursuant to this chapter, or under Chapters 39 or 40 of Title 14 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations, whether initiated by or ag…

(a) No person shall demand or receive a security deposit from any tenant for a rental unit occupied by the tenant upon July 17, 1985, where no security deposit had been demanded or received of the tenant for the rental unit before July 17, 1985, but this provision shall not preve…

The Rental Housing Commission, Rent Administrator, or any affected housing provider or tenant may commence a civil action in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to enforce any rule or decision issued under this chapter.

Any person or class of persons aggrieved by a decision of the Rental Housing Commission, or by any failure on the part of the Rental Housing Commission or Rent Administrator to act within any time certain mandated by this chapter, may seek judicial review of the decision or an or…

(a) No later than October 1, 1988, the Mayor shall report to the Council on the continued need for the rent stabilization program. (b) The report shall be prepared by a person not affiliated with the District government and shall contain: (1) The number of new and renovated units…

(a) Upon the issuance of any building permit for a housing accommodation to which § 42-3502.05(a)(2) or (4) applies after July 17, 1985, the Mayor shall at the request of the recipient of the building permit issue to the recipient thereof concurrently with the building permit a c…

(a) At the written request of a tenant not more than one time each calendar year, a housing provider shall, within 10 business days on a form provided by the Rent Administrator (or in another suitable format until a form is published), provide the amount of each increase in the a…

The Mayor shall include in the reports to the Council pursuant to § 6-1054, analyses of the need, means, and methods of further assisting income qualified elderly tenants, disabled tenants, teachers of the District of Columbia Public Schools or a District of Columbia Public Chart…

For the purpose of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Annual adjusted income” means income that remains after excluding: (A) Four hundred eighty dollars ($480) for each member of the family residing in the household, other than the head of the household or spouse, who is under 18 ye…

(a) For the purpose of aiding lower-income families in obtaining a decent place to live, the Mayor shall formulate and administer a Tenant Assistance Program as provided in this subchapter. (b) There is authorized to be appropriated at least $15 million for fiscal year 1987 with …

(a) The Mayor may enter into contracts to make rental assistance payments to housing providers of rental dwelling units on behalf of eligible families in accordance with this section. Unit A of Chapter 3 of Title 2 shall not apply to the contracts authorized by this subchapter. (…

(1) The amount of the tenant assistance payment shall be the amount by which the actual rent or fair market rent applicable to the family, whichever is lower, exceeds 30% of the family’s monthly income. Where the head of household is an elderly tenant or tenant with a disability,…

(a) Rental units which the Department determines are decent, safe, and sanitary as required by the housing regulations, any other statute or regulation governing the condition of residential premises, and the requirements of this subchapter are eligible for tenant assistance. (b)…

Sixty days prior to the expiration of any tenant assistance authorized under this subchapter, the Department shall notify the tenant, in writing, that the tenant assistance is about to expire and that the tenant, if eligible and desiring to continue to receive tenant assistance, …

(a) If, at any time, a tenant receiving tenant assistance fails to satisfy the requirements of this subchapter relating to conditions of eligibility, the tenant shall immediately notify the Department, in writing, of the ineligibility. Tenant assistance shall terminate on the nex…

All monies received by any tenant through the Tenant Assistance Program under this subchapter are exempt from District income taxes payable under Chapter 18 of Title 47.

(a) Each housing provider required to register under this chapter, including those otherwise exempt from rental control and registration pursuant to § 42-3502.05(a)(3), shall pay a fee of $21.50 for each rental unit in a housing accommodation registered by the housing provider. T…

(a) Except as provided in this section, no tenant shall be evicted from a rental unit, notwithstanding the expiration of the tenant’s lease or rental agreement, so long as the tenant continues to pay the rent to which the housing provider is entitled for the rental unit. No tenan…

(a) No housing provider shall take any retaliatory action against any tenant who exercises any right conferred upon the tenant by this chapter, by any rule or order issued pursuant to this chapter, or by any other provision of law. Retaliatory action may include any action or pro…

(a) There is established a conciliation and arbitration service (“service”) within the Division. (b) The service shall provide a voluntary, nonadversarial forum for the resolution of disputes arising between housing providers and tenants in the District. (c) The staff of the serv…

(a) By mutual consent, the housing provider and tenant may submit for arbitration any dispute not satisfactorily resolved under § 42-3505.03. (b) A request for arbitration shall be in writing. (c) The Rent Administrator shall designate 3 members of the Division’s staff, other tha…

(a) It is unlawful for a housing provider to discriminate against families receiving or eligible to receive Tenant Assistance Program assistance, elderly tenants, or families with children when renting housing accommodations. (b) Any protections provided by subsection (a) of this…

(a) For purposes of this section, the term: (1) “CPI” means the average of the Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Statistical Area for all-urban consumers published by the Department of Labor, or any successor index, as of the close of the 12-month per…

(a) For purposes of this section, the term “qualified third party” means any of the following persons acting in their official capacity: (1) A law enforcement officer, as defined in § 4-1301.02(14); (2) A sworn officer of the D.C. Housing Authority Office of Public Safety; (3) A …