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Councilmember Anita Bonds Chairman Phil Mendelson 2
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A BILL 10
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IN COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 13
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To require the Department of Buildings to establish a tiered proactive inspection program for 18
multifamily rental housing properties, to establish minimum program requirements, and 19
to establish reporting requirements for the program. 20
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 21
act may be cited as the “Proactive Inspection Program Act of 2023”. 22
TITLE 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROACTIVE INSPECTION PROGRAM 23
Section 2. Definitions. 24
For the purposes of this act, the term: 25
(1) “Department” means the Department of Buildings. 26
(2) “Director” means the Director of the Department of Buildings. 27
(3) “Extremely low household income” means a household income equal to 30% or less 28
of the area median income. 29
(4) “Housing provider” means a landlord, an owner, lessor, sublessor, assignee, or their 30
agent, or any other person receiving or entitled to receive rents or benefits for the use or 31
occupancy of any rental unit within a housing accommodation within the District. 32
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(5) “Mayor” means the Office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia. 33
(6) “Multifamily rental housing property” means residential real property consisting of 3 34
or more dwelling units that are rented or offered for rent for residential occupancy, including an 35
apartment, efficiency apartment, room, suite of rooms, a single-family home, or duplex. 36
(7) “Occupant” means a person authorized by the tenant or housing provider to be on the 37
premises of the rental unit. 38
(8) “Tenant” means a lessee, sublessee, or other person entitled to the possession or 39
occupancy of a rental unit. 40
Section 3. Program; purpose. 41
(a) The Director shall establish a program to proactively inspect all multifamily rental 42
housing properties. It is the purpose of the proactive inspection program to: 43
(1) Proactively identify and address housing code violations in multifamily rental 44
housing properties across the District; 45
(2) Ensure significant compliance with the housing code in multifamily rental 46
housing properties; and 47
(3) Preserve and enhance the quality of life for District residents. 48
(b) For purposes of the program, multifamily rental housing properties shall be classified 49
into three tiers: Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. Program tiers shall be as follows: 50
(1) Properties in tier 1 shall be proactively inspected every 8 years; 51
(2) Properties in tier 2 shall be proactively inspected every 4 years; and 52
(3) Properties in tier 3 shall be proactively inspected every year. 53
(c)(1) A multifamily residential housing property shall be assigned to a tier based on the 54
total number of points assigned to the property, with fewer points resulting in a lower tier 55
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classification and more points resulting in a higher tier classification. Points shall be based on the 56
following factors: 57
(A) The number of housing code violations found at the property in the 58
past two years; 59
(B) The average length of time (in days) housing code violations remained 60
unabated at the property in the past two years; 61
(C) The number of stop-work orders issued for the property in the past two 62
years; 63
(F) The number of violations for failure to properly store solid waste at or 64
on the property in the past two years; 65
(G) The age of the property; 66
(D) The owner has failed to be current in paying property taxes in the last 67
two years; 68
(H) The property is located within an area where the percentage of 69
vulnerable populations, including people with disabilities, people who are foreign-born, people 70
who use English as a second language, and households with extremely low household income, is 71
greater than the District average; and 72
(I) The property is located in an area where the percentage of children 73
under the age of 6 that have lead blood levels equal to or greater than 5 micrograms per deciliter 74
(>5 μg/dL) is greater than the District average. 75
(2) 76
(d)(1) Multifamily rental housing properties shall be re-evaluated for classification as 77
follows: 78
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(A) Properties in tier 1 shall be re-evaluated for classification every 8 79
years; 80
(B) Properties in tier 2 shall be re-evaluated for classification every 4 81
years; and 82
(C) Properties in tier 3 shall be re-evaluated for classification every year. 83
(D) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) through (C) of this paragraph, the 84
Director may re-evaluate and reclassify a property at any time. 85
(2)(A) The Department shall notify multifamily residential housing providers of 86
their initial classification and any subsequent change in tier classification. 87
(B) The notification shall include basic information about the proactive 88
inspection program, the specific criteria that were used to classify the multifamily residential 89
housing property, the percent and number of units that will be inspected at the property, and 90
contact information for the Department for further questions. 91
Section 4. Inspections. 92
(a) For purposes of a proactive inspection, an inspector shall inspect the exterior, all 93
common interior areas, and individual units in a property. 94
(b) The number of individual units inspected in a multifamily housing property shall be 95
calculated as follows: 96
(1) At least 75% of units in a property with 25 units or less; 97
(2) At least 60% of units in a property with 26 to 49 units; 98
(3) At least 50% of units in a property with 50 to 199 units; and 99
(4) At least 33% of units in a property with 200 or more units. 100
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(c) Units shall be selected at random; except, that units with one or more housing code 101
violations in the last two years shall also be included for inspection. 102
(d)(1) The Department shall notify the property owner or property manager of a proactive 103
inspection and post notice of a proactive inspection at the property at least 14 days before the 104
scheduled inspection date. 105
(2)(A) The Department shall provide property owners with inspection consent 106
forms at least 14 days before the scheduled inspection date. 107
(B) A property owner or manager shall obtain written consent from 108
tenants of the units that have been selected by the Department for inspection at least 7 days 109
before the scheduled inspection date. Completed consent forms shall be transmitted to the 110
Department at least 5 days before the date of the scheduled inspection. 111
(B) Where a tenant does not give his or her consent to inspect the unit, the 112
Department shall provide the property owner or manager with another unit selected pursuant to 113
subsection (c) of this section. 114
(e) The Department shall publicly post a list of properties to be proactively inspected 115
each month at least 7 business days prior to the beginning of each month. The list shall not 116
include information on specific units within a property that are to be inspected. 117
(f) A property owner or manager must be on the premises during inspections. 118
Section 5. Proactive inspection fees and fines. 119
(a) A proactive inspection fee is established to fund the implementation of this act. 120
(b) As of January 1, 2023, proactive inspection fees shall be established as follows: 121
(1) The fee shall be $35 per unit with a maximum cumulative fee of $6,000 for 122
any inspection cycle. 123
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(2) The fee for re-inspections shall be $90. Any re-inspection fees shall not count 124
toward the cumulative fee under subparagraph (1) of this subsection. 125
(c) Fees assessed pursuant to this act shall be deposited into the Nuisance Abatement 126
Fund in § 42–3111.01. 127
(d) Fines assessed pursuant to this act or District of Columbia Municipal Regulations 128
(DCMR) as a result of proactive inspections shall be deposited into the General Fund of the 129
District of Columbia. 130
Section 6. Prohibited conduct. 131
(a)(1) Housing providers shall not take any retaliatory actions, as defined in D.C. Official 132
Code § 42-3505.02, against tenants or occupants due to any findings of proactive inspections, or 133
as a result of fees, fines, or other expenses incurred due to the proactive inspection program. 134
(B) A tenant may submit a complaint of retaliatory action to the 135
Department. The Department shall investigate complaints of retaliatory actions submitted by 136
tenants within five days of receipt of the complaint. 137
(A) The Department shall issue a written determination to the tenant or 138
occupant who submitted the complaint and the housing provider no later than 15 days after the 139
receipt of the complaint. The determination shall provide information on the scope of their 140
investigation, the evidence used to inform the investigation, and the findings of the investigation. 141
(B) Where the Department determines, through a preponderance of the 142
evidence, that a housing provider has taken retaliatory action against tenants or occupants as a 143
result of a proactive inspection action, the Department shall issue a fine to the housing provider 144
of not less than $3,000 per violation. 145
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(C) A housing provider may appeal a determination of the Department 146
within 15 days of receipt. 147
(b)(1) If a property owner or property manager knowingly impedes or interferes with the 148
proactive inspection process, DCRA shall issue a fine to the housing provider of not less than 149
$3,000. 150
(2) In addition to the fine under subparagraph (1), DCRA shall classify the 151
property in question as tier 3. 152
Section 7. Implementation plan. 153
(a) The Director shall prepare and submit to the Council a plan to facilitate the 154
implementation of this act. 155
(b) The plan shall include: 156
(1) A timeline for drafting and promulgating rules to implement this act; 157
(2) A list of memoranda of agreement or memoranda of understanding with other 158
District agencies that will be necessary to implement this act; 159
(3) A communications strategy that articulates the methods by which the 160
Department will share information about the program with landlords, tenants, and other 161
stakeholders; 162
(4) Methodology the Department will use to classify properties into tiers pursuant 163
to Section 3, including the number of points assigned to each factor under Section 3(c)(1) of this 164
act. 165
(c) The plan shall be submitted to the Council 90 days after the effective date of this act. 166
Section 8. Annual reporting. 167
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(a) On or before January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the Director shall submit to the 168
Council, a report detailing inspection and enforcement activities of the prior fiscal year under the 169
proactive inspection program. 170
(b) The report required under paragraph (a) shall include the following data for the prior 171
fiscal year: 172
(1) Inspection data: The number of properties and units inspected by tier; 173
(2) Violation data: The number and type of violations identified and cited by tier; 174
(3) Enforcement data: The dollar value of violations cited by the Department, the 175
dollar value of the fines assessed versus the fines collected, violations for which the fines were 176
issued, and identifying any reduction in the fine amount due to an action by the Department 177
and/or an administrative judge, and any fines not yet collected as of the date of the report by tier; 178
(4) Abatement efficacy data: The average length of time (in days) for violations to 179
be abated, and the number, average length, and justification for extensions granted by the 180
Department by tier; 181
(5) Enforcement escalation: The number of violations referred to the Attorney 182
General for the District of Columbia, the dollar amount assessed, and a description of matters 183
referred by tier; 184
(6) Collections data: The number of violations referred to the Central Collections 185
Unit by tier; 186
(7) Re-evaluation data: For applicable years, the number of properties reclassified 187
pursuant to Section 3(d). 188
Section 9. Rules. 189
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(a) The Mayor, pursuant to Title I of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure 190
Act, approved October 21, 1968 (82 Stat. 1204; D.C. Official Code § 2-501 et seq.), shall issue 191
rules necessary to implement the provisions of this act. 192
(b) Proposed rules promulgated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be 193
submitted to the Council for a 45-day period of review, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal 194
holidays, and days of Council recess. If the Council does not approve or disapprove the proposed 195
rules, in whole or in part, by resolution within this 45-day period, the proposed rules shall be 196
deemed approved. 197
(c) Upon the effective date of rules promulgated pursuant to this act, existing rules related 198
to the Proactive Inspection Program under Title 14 of D.C. Municipal Regulations shall be 199
deemed repealed. 200
Section 10. Fiscal impact statement. 201
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statements in the committee report as the fiscal 202
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 203
approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 204
Section 11. Effective date. 205
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 206
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as 207
provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 208
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of 209
Columbia Register. 210