The Rental Accommodations and Conversion Division (RACD or agency), which is part of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, is responsible for administering the Act. The head of the agency is the Rent Administrator. A separate, three-member Rental Housing Commission (RHC), writes regulations under the Act. The RHC is also the first level of appeal of the Rent Administrator decisions.

 

 

The Act applies to all rental housing accommodations in the District of Columbia, unless they are those specifically exempted by the Act.

The most common exemptions are rental units in these categories:

• Federally or District-subsidized rental units
• Rental units built after 1975
• Rental units owned by a person who owns no more than four units
• Rental units vacant when the Act took effect

Individual condominium or cooperative units are not exempt–unless they are exempt because they are owned by a person who owns no more than four units.

 

Find out more about what increases are permitted. 

 

 

A tenant who believes that a rent is incorrect may challenge it by filing a tenant petition. Then, the housing provider is given a notice, RACD conducts a hearing, the tenant presents arguments, the housing provider opposes the argument, and the Rent Administrator issues a decision and order. A tenant petition may address any violation of the Act.

 

 

Every housing accommodation must be either registered with RACD as a rent-controlled property or filed as exempt from rent control. Housing providers subject to the Act were required to register in 1985, when the current law first became effective, on a Registration/Claim of Exemption form. Changes in ownership, management or services and facilities must be filed with RACD within thirty days of the event. If a housing accommodation was initially exempt from the Act but later became subject to the Act, the housing provider must register the property at that time.

 

A tenant who believes he or she fits the definitions of elderly or disabled under the Act must file an application with the Rent Administrator and give a copy of the application to the housing provider. To qualify:

• As elderly—a tenant must be at least 62.
• As disabled—a tenant must have a medically-determinable physical impairment, including blindness, which prohibits and incapacitates 75 percent of the tenant’s ability to move about, to assist him- or herself, or to engage in an occupation.

Under the Act, a tenant is not qualified as elderly or disabled until the Rent Administrator determines his or her status.

 

 

Interested parties are encouraged to review the Act and its regulations, or to ask a lawyer or housing professional for more help.

 

Instuctions for viewing the Act online: 

When laws are enacted, they are called statutes. Later they become part of the DC Official Code; in that process section numbers are changed. The website shows the law in code form. The agency usually uses statute numbers.

 

The section numbers from the statute appear in the notes below the text of the law.

 

The regulations are part of Title 14 of the DC Municipal Regulations. The complete regulations run from Chapter 38-43, but Chapter 42 has most key provisions.

 

Instructions for viewing the regulations online:  

 

Where to Get Help
A tenant may call RACD at (202) 442-4477 or visit 941 North Capitol Street, NE, Suite 7100, Washington DC 20002. Find a list of organizations that provide help and support to housing providers and tenants.