Reminder- Housing Committee Hearings Begin Today -9AM

COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

Councilmember Anita Bonds, Chairperson

Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization

Announces 4 Virtual Public Hearings/Roundtables

on

1. Certificates of Assurance in Rent Control

2. Tenant Protection and Eviction Prevention

3. Bill 23-0623, the “Condominium Warranty Claims  Clarification Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0601, the “Condominium Warranty Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0568, the “Home Purchase Assistance Amendment Act of 2019”

Bill 23-0696, the “Limited Equity Cooperative Advisory Council Act of 2020”

4. Bill 23-0237, the “Rent Concession Amendment Act of 2019”

Bill 23-0530, the “Rent Stabilization Affordability Qualification Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0877, the “Substantial Rehabilitation Petition Reform Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0879, the “Capital Improvement Petition Reform Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0878, the “Voluntary Agreement Moratorium Agreement Act of 2020”

1. Monday, September 14, 2020, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Roundtable on

CERTIFICATES OF ASSURANCE IN RENT CONTROL 

The District currently faces a housing affordability crisis, and the Rental Housing Act of 1985 exempts more than 40% of the housing stock from rent stabilization. Within the law is a provision for Certificates of Assurance. The provision guarantees that if any law expanding rent stabilization is passed by a Council at any time in the future, the District government must grant the affected housing providers a property tax credit equal to the difference in the stabilized rent that the housing provider actually receives and the rent the housing provider could have received with a market rate rent. If rent stabilization is expanded to more buildings, this provision would cost the District government tens of millions of dollars in property tax credits each year and therefore would effectively destroy the opportunity for any future Council to ever expand rent stabilization, no matter how severe a housing crisis.

2. Monday, September 14, 2020, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Roundtable on

TENANT PROTECTION AND EVICTION PREVENTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on our local economy, with more than 35 percent of District households reporting some loss of employment income in June 2020. The Council has temporarily halted evictions during the public health emergency and for 60 days after the emergency, but we know these actions are not enough to address existing and imminent housing insecurity for low- and middle-income renters.

3. Thursday, September 17, 2020, 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Hearing on

Bill 23-0623, the “Condominium Warranty Claims Clarification Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0601, the “Condominium Warranty Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0568, the “Home Purchase Assistance Amendment Act of 2019”

Bill 23-0696, the “Limited Equity Cooperative Advisory Council Act of 2020”

The purpose of Bill 23-0623 is to establish a time frame and process to resolve warranty claims that arise under the act.  The bill clarifies that the Mayor may refer disputed claims to the Office of Administrative Hearings, among other things.

The purpose of Bill 23-0601 is to clarify the implementation of the condominium warranty against structural defects and transfers the administration of the warranty to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. The bill also requires DCRA to maintain an online record of the warranty security amounts and make the information searchable on the web by the public.

The purpose of Bill 23-0568 is to increase the maximum and minimum amounts of down payment assistance for Home Purchase Assistance to $100,000 and $30,000 respectively. The bill also provides a home repair grant of a maximum of $15,000 and removes certain funding limitations for 203K renovation loans among other things.

The purpose of Bill 23-0696 is to establish a Limited Equity Cooperative Advisory Council to provide policy recommendations to assist District residents and the District government with improving and establishing limited equity cooperatives.

4. Thursday, September 24, 2020, 12 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Hearing on

Bill 23-0237, the “Rent Concession Amendment Act of 2019”

Bill 23-0530, the “Rent Stabilization Affordability Qualification Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0877, the “Substantial Rehabilitation Petition Reform Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0879, the “Capital Improvement Petition Reform Amendment Act of 2020”

Bill 23-0878, the “Voluntary Agreement Moratorium Agreement Act of 2020”

 The purpose of Bill 23-0237, the “Rent Concession Amendment Act of 2019” is to clarify the applicability of abolishment of rent ceilings. The bill also clarifies when a rent increase may be implemented by a housing provider and defines and regulates discounted rents. Finally, the bill requires rental advertisements to include the proposed rent charged as well as surcharges.

The purpose of Bill 23-0530, the “Rent Stabilization Affordability Qualification Amendment Act of 2020” is to set income eligibility standards for renting a rent stabilized apartment. Under this bill, a unit covered under the Rent Stabilization Program may only be rented to a tenant with a monthly adjusted gross income that is less than 5 times the monthly rent charged for the unit.

The purpose of Bill 23-0877, the "Substantial Rehabilitation Petition Reform Amendment Act of 2020” is to base the period of amortization (and therefore the amount of increase of a tenant’s rent) of a capital improvement on the IRS rules for residential rental property. This change will more fairly spread out the cost of the capital improvement over more years, costing tenants less. It will also more fairly “charge” the cost to all tenants who will benefit from the capital improvement over the years.

The purpose of Bill 23-0879, the “Capital Improvement Petition Reform Amendment Act of 2020” is to change the period of amortization (and therefore the amount of increase of a tenant’s rent) of a capital improvement to that of the IRS rules for residential rental property. This replaces the current rule of 96 or 64-month amortization period.

The purpose of Bill 23-0878, the “Voluntary Agreement Moratorium Agreement Act of 2020” is to enact a 2-year moratorium on voluntary agreements. The problem with VAs is that current tenants will often cut a deal with the housing provider to not increase their rent, but instead, increase the rent of future tenants. Any increasing of future rents erodes affordability across the District, causing rents to have been increased by over 100% for many units in areas all over the city.

These Public Roundtables and Hearings will take place via a web conferencing platform. Members of the public will be able to view the public oversight roundtable via DCC (Channel 13) or online at: https://dccouncil.us/council-videos/ or at: http://entertainment.dc.gov.  

The Committee invites the public to testify remotely or to submit written testimony. Anyone wishing to testify must sign up in advance by contacting the Committee by e-mail at housing@dccouncil.us, and provide their name, phone number or e-mail, organizational affiliation, and title (if any) by the close of business on Friday, September 11, 2020. Witnesses are encouraged, but not required, to submit their testimony in writing electronically in advance to housing@dccouncil.us. Witnesses will participate remotely and using audio only. The Committee will follow-up with witnesses with additional instructions on how to provide testimony through a web conferencing platform. All public witnesses will be allowed a maximum of three minutes to testify.

For accommodation requests, including spoken language or sign language interpretation, please inform the Committee at housing@dccouncil.us of the need as soon as possible but no later than five (5) business days before the proceeding. The Council will make every effort to fulfill timely requests, however requests received in less than five (5) business days may not be fulfilled, and alternatives may be offered.

The Committee encourages the public to submit written testimony to be included for the public record. Copies of written testimony should be submitted either by e-mail at housing@dccouncil.us.

                                                                                 ###