Newly-Introduced Bill Would Reinstate Rent Control for Some Units in DC

• November 15, 2017

by Nena Perry-Brown

Earlier this year, the DC Council gave attention to various provisions in the city’s rent control laws that had yet to be properly implemented. Now, another piece of rent control legislation is being proposed.

Last week, Councilmembers Anita Bonds and Brianne Nadeau co-introduced a bill that would amend the Rental Housing Act of 1985 to create guidelines for pricing formerly-subsidized rental units. The Rental Housing Affordability Re-establishment Amendment Act changes the method by which rental rates are calculated for apartments re-entering the market after housing tenants with subsidies.

Currently, when an apartment is rented to a housing voucher recipient, the voucher is applied to the market rate of the unit, providing a loophole of sorts to landlords operating rent-controlled buildings by enabling them to set the new rent for the same unit based on the most recent rate paid. The bill would close that loophole by requiring the unit to revert to its previous rent control rate, plus the total amount of any annual increases that would have been made according to the standard of general applicability.

The bill is currently being reviewed by the Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/newly-introduced_bill_would_reinstate_rent_control_for_some_units_in_dc/13260