Housing with Integrity Amendment Act of 2025

Statement of Introduction Housing with Integrity Amendment Act of 2025 June 16th, 2025 Today, alongside Councilmembers Allen and Frumin, I am introducing the Housing with Integrity Amendment Act of 2025—legislation that promotes stronger accountability in our rental housing system and protects tenants from unsafe living conditions. Too many District residents are forced to live in housing with serious health and safety violations while landlords face minimal consequences for failing to maintain their properties. Current enforcement mechanisms place the burden on tenants to report violations and navigate complex systems to seek relief, often while continuing to live in dangerous conditions. This reactive approach fails our residents and allows bad actors to profit from substandard housing. The Housing with Integrity Amendment Act creates meaningful consequences for landlords who consistently fail to meet basic housing standards. The bill prevents housing operators from receiving new Basic Business Licenses if they own rental properties with 10 or more units where Class 1 or Class 2 housing code violations affect 30% or more of those units and remain unaddressed for at least 90 days. Class 1 violations represent the most serious threats to health and safety, including issues like lack of heat or hot water, electrical hazards, structural defects, and pest infestations. Class 2 violations are less immediately dangerous but still impact habitability, such as defective plumbing fixtures, inadequate ventilation, or minor structural problems. When these violations affect nearly one-third of a property's units and remain unresolved for months, it demonstrates a clear pattern of neglect that puts residents at risk. The legislation also enhances oversight by expanding the Proactive Inspection Program to create a new highest-risk tier. Properties that meet these violation thresholds will be placed in Tier 1 and undergo inspections twice a year, ensuring consistent monitoring of landlords with the worst compliance records. By denying new business licenses to landlords who repeatedly fail to meet basic housing standards, we shift the burden of enforcement away from tenants and back onto those responsible for maintaining safe housing. This approach recognizes that housing is a human right and that landlords who profit from rental housing must be held accountable for providing safe, habitable conditions. This legislation is one step toward building a housing system grounded in integrity, safety, and equity. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure all District residents have access to safe, dignified housing.

1
_______________________________ _______________________________ 1 Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Janeese Lewis George 2 3 4 _______________________________ 5 Councilmember Matthew Frumin 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 12 _______ 13 14 15 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 16 17 __________________ 18 19 20 To amend section 47-2851.11 of the District of Columbia Official Code to authorize the 21 Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection to deny the issuance of a basic 22 business license to a person, business entity, or beneficial owner who has an ownership 23 interest in a rental property with outstanding Class 1 and or Class 2 housing code 24 violations; and to amend section 3 of the Proactive Inspection Program Act of 2024 to 25 establish an enhanced inspection tier for noncompliant properties. 26 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 27 act may be cited as the “Housing with Integrity Amendment Act of 2025”. 28 Sec. 2. Section 47-2851.11 of the District of Columbia Official Code is amended by 29 adding new subsections (a-1) and (a-2) to read as follows: 30 “(a-1) The Center shall not issue a basic business license to a person or business entity, if 31 the person, business entity, or a member of that business entity has an ownership or member 32 interest in a rental property with 10 or more rental housing units and the total number of uncured 33 Class 1 and Class 2 infractions, as defined in 16 DCMR § 3305.1 and 16 DCMR § 3305.2, 34 equals or exceeds 30% of the unit count, with each infraction uncured for 90 days or more 35 following issuance of a notice of infraction. 36

2
“(a-2) The Department shall work with the Department of Buildings to verify that a 37 person or business entity is not disqualified under subsection (a-1) of this section from being 38 issued a basic business license.”. 39 Sec. 3. Section 3 of the Proactive Inspection Program Act of 2024, effective March 23, 40 2024 (D.C. Law 25-141; D.C. Official Code § 10-571.02), is amended as follows: 41 (a) Subsection (b) is amended as follows: 42 (1) Paragraph (1) is amended by striking the phrase “2 tiers: Tier 1 and Tier 2.” 43 and inserting the phrase “3 tiers: Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3.” in its place. 44 (2) Paragraph (2) is amended to read as follows: 45 “(2) Properties classified into the tiers shall be proactively inspected as follows: 46 “(A) Properties in Tier 1 shall be proactively inspected at least twice every 47 year; 48 “(B) Properties in Tier 2 shall be proactively inspected at least once every 49 2 years; and 50 “(C) Properties in Tier 3 shall be proactively inspected at least once every 51 6 years.”. 52 (c) Subsection (c) is amended by adding a new paragraph (3) to read as follows: 53 “(3) The Director shall assign a rental housing property to Tier 1 if the property 54 meets the criteria established in D.C. Official Code § 47-2851.11(a-1).”. 55 Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement. 56 The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 57 impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 58 approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 59

3
Sec. 5. Effective date. 60 This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or, in the event of veto by the 61 Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto) and a 30-day period of congressional review 62 as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 63 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)). 64