District Of Columbia 2023 2023-2024 Regular Session

District Of Columbia Council Bill PR25-0671 Introduced / Bill

Filed 03/04/2024

                     
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Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. 2 
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A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 8 
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 11 
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To declare the existence of an emergency, due to congressional review, regarding the need to 14 
amend the Rental Housing Act of 1985 to give housing providers until January 1, 2024, 15 
to comply with a legislative change that requires a 60-	day notice of a rent increase to 16 
tenants. 17 
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution 19 
may be cited as the “Fairness in Renting Notice Clarification Congressional Review 20 
Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2024”. 21 
Sec. 2. (a) On September 19, 2023, the Council passed Bill 25-	0074, the Fairness in 22 
Renting Clarification Amendment Act of 2023, which took effect on November 28, 2023. 23 
(c) Among other reforms, the legislation increased the notice period that housing 24 
providers must provide to tenants of a prospective rent increase from 30 days to 60 days. 25 
(d) Because of the increased notice requirement, housing providers who planned to 26 
initiate rent increases between December 28, 2023, and January 27, 2024, including on January 27 
1, cannot comply with the 60-	day notice requirement. 28 
(e) Similarly, housing providers who planned to initiate rent increases beginning 29 
February 1, 2024, would have had to provide notice to tenants by December 1, 2023, just 3 30 
calendar days after the law took effect.  31   
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(f) Therefore, the Council passed the Fairness in Renting Notice Clarification 32 
Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 on December 19, 2023, to give housing providers 33 
sufficient time to comply with the new 60-day notice requirement, but that legislation will 34 
expire on April 9, 2024. 35 
(g) The accompanying Fairness in Renting Notice Clarification Temporary Amendment 36 
Act of 2023 is not projected to become law until April 12
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, 2024, making congressional review 37 
emergency legislation necessary to avoid a gap in the law. 38 
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 39 
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the 40 
Fairness in Renting Notice Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act 41 
of 2024 be adopted  after a single reading. 42 
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 43