In regards to the much talked about possible elimination of the current rent ceiling system here in the District, there will be a public roundtable on the issue today at 5:00pm at the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Two weeks ago, the City Council’s Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs voted 4 to 1 to overhaul the system. Right now, the cap is based on a particular unit’s “rent ceiling”, while the new system would be one more in tandem with comparable market values. If made into law, this would mean a change to the system for the first time in decades. The Washington Post reports that
rental increases for vacant units would be kept below market rate by a formula based on the highest comparable unit in the building. However, the maximum increase that a landlord could charge an existing tenant would be 10 percent.
The District’s rent control law, enacted in 1975 and later amended, covers about 100,000 of the city’s rental units. Federally funded public housing, buildings constructed after 1975 and apartments owned by landlords who have fewer than five units are exempt.
