District Of Columbia 2023-2024 Regular Session

District Of Columbia Council Bill PR25-0548 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	~~ENROLLED ORIGINAL~~
	1	+	1
2	2
3	3
	4	+	_______________________________ 1
	5	+	Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. 2
	6	+	3
	7	+	4
	8	+	5
	9	+	A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 6
	10	+	__________ 7
	11	+	8
	12	+	IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 9
	13	+	____________________ 10
	14	+	11
	15	+	12
	16	+	To declare the existence of an emergency, due to congressional review, with respect to the need 13
	17	+	to amend the Rental Housing Act of 1985 to maintain a moratorium on voluntary 14
	18	+	agreements. 15
	19	+	16
	20	+	RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution 17
	21	+	may be cited as the “Voluntary Agreement Moratorium Congressional Review Emergency 18
	22	+	Declaration Resolution of 2023”. 19
	23	+	Sec. 2. (a) Section 215 of the Rental Housing Act of 1985 (D.C. Code § 42 -20
	24	+	3502.21) allows housing providers to enter into an agreement with 70% or more of the 21
	25	+	tenants in a housing accommodation to establish the rent charged, to make changes to 22
	26	+	services and facilities, and to provide for capital improvements. These agreements are 23
	27	+	called voluntary agreements and must be filed with the Rent Administrator. 24
	28	+	(b) In September 2020, the former Committee on Housing and Neighborhood 25
	29	+	Revitalization held a hearing to contemplate Bill 23 -878, the “Voluntary Agreement 26
	30	+	Moratorium Amendment Act of 2020,” which would impose a 2- year moratorium on 27
	31	+	voluntary agreements. According to the Committee Report, a majority of public 28
	32	+	witnesses, then -Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development 29
	33	+	Polly Donaldson, and Chief Tenant Advocate Johanna Shreve testified in support of the 30 2
4	34
5	35
6		-	1
7		-
8		-	A RESOLUTION
9		-
10		-	25-366
11		-
12		-	IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
13		-
14		-	December 5, 2023
	36	+	moratorium; many expressed that the legislation should go further and eliminate 31
	37	+	voluntary agreements altogether. A few testimonies stated the importance of voluntary 32
	38	+	agreements to small landlords, though most focused on the negative impact voluntary 33
	39	+	agreements have had on tenants’ rights and the affordable housing stock. 34
	40	+	(c) In December 2020, the Council unanimously passed the 2 -year moratorium. 35
	41	+	Because the measure was subject to appropriations, the moratorium ultimately took effect 36
	42	+	at the beginning of Fiscal Year 2022 on October 1, 2021. 37
	43	+	(d) In July 2023, Councilmember Bonds introduced legislation that would 38
	44	+	eliminate voluntary agreements on a permanent basis. The Council has not yet held a 39
	45	+	hearing on this new legislation. 40
	46	+	(e) The existing 2- year moratorium expired on October 1, 2023. 41
	47	+	(f) On September 19, 2023, the Council adopted the “Voluntary Agreement 42
	48	+	Moratorium Emergency Amendment Act of 2023” to extend the moratorium for one 43
	49	+	year, which will give the Council time to deliberate a permanent legislative solution. The 44
	50	+	Act became law on October 11, 2023 and expires on January 9, 2024. 45
	51	+	(g) On October 3, 2023, the Council adopted the “Voluntary Agreement Moratorium 46
	52	+	Temporary Amendment Act of 2023”. The temporary measure was enacted without the Mayor’s 47
	53	+	signature on October 26, 2023 and was transmitted to Congress on November 6, 2023. 48
	54	+	(h) This measure is not projected to become law until January 17, 2024. This identical 49
	55	+	emergency legislation is therefore necessary to prevent a gap in the law between the expiration of 50
	56	+	the emergency act and the effective date of the temporary act. 51
	57	+	Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 52 3
15	58
16	59
17		-	To declare the existence of an emergency, due to congressional review, with respect to the
18		-	need to amend the Rental Housing Act of 1985 to maintain a moratorium on voluntary
19		-	agreements.
20		-
21		-	RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution
22		-	may be cited as the “Voluntary Agreement Moratorium Congressional Review Emergency
23		-	Declaration Resolution of 2023”.
24		-
25		-	Sec. 2. (a) Section 215 of the Rental Housing Act of 1985, effective July 17,
26		-	1985 (D.C. Law 6-10; D.C. Code § 42-3502.21), allows housing providers to enter into
27		-	an agreement with 70% or more of the tenants in a housing accommodation to establish
28		-	the rent charged, to make changes to services and facilities, and provide for capital
29		-	improvements. These agreements are called voluntary agreements and must be filed
30		-	with the Rent Administrator.
31		-	(b) In September 2020, the former Committee on Housing and Neighborhood
32		-	Revitalization held a hearing to contemplate Bill 23-878, the Voluntary Agreement
33		-	Moratorium Amendment Act of 2020, which would impose a 2-year moratorium on
34		-	voluntary agreements. According to the Committee Report, a majority of public
35		-	witnesses, the then-Director of the Department of Housing and Community
36		-	Development Polly Donaldson, and Chief Tenant Advocate Johanna Shreve testified in
37		-	support of the moratorium; many expressed that the legislation should go further and
38		-	eliminate voluntary agreements altogether. A few testimonies stated the importance of
39		-	voluntary agreements to small landlords, though most focused on the negative impact
40		-	voluntary agreements have had on tenants’ rights and the affordable housing stock.
41		-	(c) In December 2020, the Council unanimously passed the 2-year moratorium.
42		-	Because the measure was subject to appropriations, the moratorium ultimately took
43		-	effect at the beginning of Fiscal Year 2022 on October 1, 2021.
44		-	(d) In July 2023, Councilmember Bonds introduced legislation that would
45		-	eliminate voluntary agreements on a permanent basis. The Council has not yet held a
46		-	hearing on this introduced legislation.
47		-	(e) The existing 2-year moratorium expired on October 1, 2023.
48		-	(f) On September 19, 2023, the Council enacted the Voluntary Agreement ENROLLED ORIGINAL
49		-
50		-
51		-
52		-
53		-	2
54		-
55		-	Moratorium Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 (“emergency act”) to extend the
56		-	moratorium for one year, which will give the Council time to deliberate a permanent
57		-	legislative solution. The emergency act became law on October 11, 2023, and expires
58		-	on January 9, 2024.
59		-	(g) On October 3, 2023, the Council adopted the Voluntary Agreement Moratorium
60		-	Temporary Amendment Act of 2023 (“temporary measure”). The temporary measure was
61		-	enacted without the Mayor’s signature on October 26, 2023, and was transmitted to Congress on
62		-	November 6, 2023.
63		-	(h) The temporary measure is not projected to become law until January 17, 2024. This
64		-	identical emergency legislation is necessary to prevent a gap in the law between the expiration of
65		-	the emergency act and the effective date of the temporary measure.
66		-
67		-	Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2
68		-	constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Voluntary Agreement
69		-	Moratorium Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 be adopted after a
70		-	single reading.
71		-
72		-	Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
	60	+	enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the 53
	61	+	Voluntary Agreement Moratorium Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 be adopted after a 54
	62	+	single reading. 55
	63	+	Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 56