Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George introduced a bill Wednesday that seeks to prevent property owners with histories of housing code violations from renting out new buildings to tenants, in an effort to combat the conditions issues ubiquitous across D.C.’s older apartment buildings. 

Under Lewis George’s bill, the D.C. government would bar people or businesses that have received more than five citations for Class 1 or 2 housing code violations in a 12-month period from receiving new business licenses – effectively preventing them from renting out additional units before fixing existing code violations. Class 1 and 2 infractions are egregious housing code violations that D.C.’s municipal regulations consider “an imminent danger to the health or safety of any tenant,” like structurally unsound foundations, inoperable fire alarms and smoke detectors, and inadequate heating systems. 

“For too long, a small group of landlords has been able to profit by buying up rental properties in D.C. and then charging high rents while neglecting building maintenance and security,” Lewis George said in a statement. “We need to protect tenants in D.C. by preventing neglectful landlords from expanding their foothold in our communities.”

Former At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman introduced a similar bill in 2017 – dubbed the Slumlord Deterrence Amendment Act – but after receiving a hearing in the summer of 2018 it died in the council, expiring before then-housing committee chair and At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds moved it out of the committee for a full council vote. 

Bonds, along with councilmembers Matt Frumin (Ward 3), Charles Allen (Ward 6), Vince Gray (Ward 7), and Trayon White (Ward 8), is now co-introducing Lewis George’s bill. 

In March, DCist/WAMU investigated landlords who have acquired massive portfolios of old apartment buildings in D.C., but who tenants allege have not made repairs necessary to maintain a basic level of safe living conditions. DCist/WAMU identified some apartment complexes in D.C. whose owners have racked up dozens of citations for housing code infractions that carry tens of thousands of dollars in fines, including one whose tenants have been hospitalized for injuries they sustained from their living conditions. Those same people have then gone on to acquire more rental properties in D.C.

D.C. already possesses a law that should prevent practices like this from occurring: its “Clean Hands” law stipulates that local agencies deny business licenses to people or businesses owing more than $100 in debts to the city.  

But property owners can easily skirt this requirement, DCist/WAMU found, by creating new,  single-purpose LLCs with each building acquisition. While Silverman shepherded a law that requires LLCs to disclose the names and contact information of people with managing interests in the entity – therefore allowing the city’s business licensing agency to keep track of who actually owns and manages apartment buildings in the city – the D.C. government does not routinely enforce it.

Lewis George’s bill does not create a new mechanism for enforcing LLC registration requirements, beyond subjecting business entities like LLCs to the requirements of the proposed law. Lewis George was not immediately available for an interview.