D.C. Council Limits Eviction Protections for Residents in Affordable Housing

WASHINGTON -- The District of Columbia Council approved emergency legislation last week that removes pandemic-era apartment eviction protections in an effort to save landlords from catastrophic losses.

Some of Washington’s affordable housing complexes are nearing bankruptcy after being prevented from evicting tenants who have not paid their full rent.

As the COVID-19 pandemic led to layoffs and personal finance crises, the D.C. Council approved the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which subsidized rent payments of affordable housing tenants and created procedural barriers for landlords in evicting them.

The legislation last week rolls back much of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

Tenants will no longer be able to self-certify their eligibility for the program.

In addition, judges no longer will be allowed to repeatedly delay eviction proceedings if a tenant has an Emergency Rental Assistance Program application pending. Instead, judges would be limited to granting one delay but only if tenants can show they are enduring an emergency.

Unpaid rent owed to affordable housing landlords has increased from $11 million in 2020 to $100 million this year, according to figures from the mayor’s office. About 14 percent of Washington’s residents live in rent-controlled apartments classified as affordable housing.

If the upward trend continues to $147 million next year, a city administration analysis shows some apartment buildings will face foreclosure, meaning low-income residents who live in the affordable housing units will be forced out with few alternatives.

Landlords complained to the city council they already are struggling to pay their own bills as well as maintain their properties according to local housing codes.

“While this is a first step in rebalancing the affordable housing ecosystem, we hope that people now recognize the consequences of non rent payment and the impact on the maintenance, safety, security and production of rental housing in the District,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement.

The D.C. Council is using money from the city’s Housing Production Trust Fund to help affordable housing landlords avoid foreclosure.

Bowser acknowledged that a permanent fix for low-income housing remains elusive.

“One of the biggest things that we have to do is we have to send a signal to the private sector that invests with us that D.C. is a great bet,” Bowser said. “And what the private sector is saying about us now is that people don’t pay rent here — we’re not a safe bet. So we have to balance our system.”

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