Guidance on the new COVID-19 law for DC landlords The COVID-19 Response Supplemental Emergency law. provides mortgage deferment, rent freezes, stops notices to vacate and protects consumers from certain debt collection activities. Obviously, the law was hastily drafted and it is not completely clear how it will be applied. This post will be updated as additional Read more about New COVID-19 Law for DC Landlords[…]
When the courts interpret a commercial lease, they assume that both landlord and tenant are sophisticated businesspeople with equal negotiating leverage. Unlike residential tenancies, there are no legal presumptions to favor tenants in eviction cases. That makes the specific language of a commercial lease extremely important. Below, I list, and explain, what I see as the Read more about Commercial Lease Agreements in DC: ‘Must Haves’ for Landlords[…]
I ask most new clients if they are registered for rent control or if they have “perfected an exemption.” Often, the response is, ‘I’m exempt, I only have 1 unit.” If you read carefully, you’ll realize that is not the question that I asked. “Have you PERFECTED an exemption from rent control?” In DC you Read more about DC Rent Control Exemptions[…]
Eviction of a tenant in DC is more difficult, time-consuming, and expensive than anywhere else in the country. The laws and regulations are heavily slanted against landlords and free lawyers are readily available to tenants. Presently, there are only ten (10) legal reasons that a landlord can evict a tenant, all of which are interpreted very Read more about DC Eviction Guide for Landlords[…]
If you are or want to be a landlord in DC you may have a lot of worries about your legal responsibilities. Collecting a security deposit, like everything else in the DC rental business has very specific and technical rules. This post covers the basics of what you need to know. You can only collect Read more about DC security deposit rules[…]
Recently, New York City’s tough AirBnB law was struck down by the Federal court. This is a major win for host listing services and may foreshadow things to come in D.C. When D.C. adopted one of the most stringent laws in the country to regulate transient, so-called ‘AirBnB’ rentals, the practical reality of actually implementing Read more about How is DC going to enforce its AirBnB law?[…]
Emergency Post-Shutdown Eviction Relief for Federal Workers On January 22, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation to give formerly furloughed federal workers and contractors relief from eviction, late fees and foreclosure sales. The new law allows Judges to stay eviction and foreclosure proceedings against federal workers until thirty (30) days after the government reopens or Read more about D.C. Council Stops Evictions for Federal Workers[…]
A form lease makes a bad situation worse for DC landlords If you are a landlord in DC, you are playing a rigged game. DC is one of, if not the most protective jurisdictions for tenants in the country. The regulatory scheme governing rental housing is a rats nest of esoteric rules, laws and practices, Read more about Using an internet form lease is stupid in DC[…]
Council’s Final Word on Rent Concessions In the time crunch before the end of the Council Period, it seems that the years-in-the-making legislation to quell the practice of rent concessions will finally come to fruition. Brief history lesson: prior to 2006 Rent Control was based on a system of rent ceilings. The “ceiling” was the Read more about D.C. Rent Concessions Law[…]
A unanimous Council vote finalizes restrictive short-term rental law In October the Council took a preliminary vote to adopt among the most restrictive short-term housing regulations (AirBnB Law) in the Country. This week the Council passed the final version of the law, with only small changes. The new law will be a potentially huge impediment Read more about DC Council approves final version of AirBnB Law[…]