2017 District of Columbia Code
Title 42 - Real Property.
Chapter 35 - Rental Housing Generally.
Subchapter II - Rent Stabilization Program.
§ 42–3502.03c. Public Accessible Rent Control Housing Clearinghouse.

(a) The Office of the Tenant Advocate ("OTA"), with the assistance of and in close consultation with the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the Office of Tax and Revenue, the Rental Accommodations Division ("RAD") of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Housing Provider Ombudsman of the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, shall develop a demonstration project ("demonstration project") to establish the initial framework of a user-friendly, Internet-accessible, and searchable database for the submission, management, and review of all documents and relevant data housing providers are required to submit to the RAD pursuant to this subchapter.

(a-1) The Chief Tenant Advocate may contract to implement the database established by this section. Any contract under this section shall be in accordance with Chapter 3A of Title 2.

(b) The database shall:

(1) Include an online portal, not accessible to the general public, for the filing of all documents and data by housing providers as required by this subchapter, and all regulations promulgated pursuant to this subchapter; and

(2) Include an online portal accessible to the general public that provides information drawn from the documents submitted by housing providers pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, relevant to tenants seeking and living in rent control accommodations.

(c) The portal accessible to the general public shall include at a minimum, the following real-time, searchable parameters:

(1) The building address and ward number;

(2) The base rent for each rental unit in the accommodation;

(3) Any services or facilities provided as part of the base rent;

(4) The amount and date of each annual rent increase or decrease;

(5) The number of bedrooms in each unit;

(6) The vacancy status of each unit;

(7) The accessibility information of the building, as it relates to District of Columbia and federal law;

(8) The name, telephone number, and email address of the housing provider and property manager;

(9) Dates and numbers of the basic business license of the housing provider;

(10) Dates and numbers of the certificate of occupancy of the building;

(11) The name, contact information, and place of business of the registered agent of the building, if applicable;

(12) The licensing and registration of the property manager of the accommodation, when other than the housing provider;

(13) The RAD registration exemption number and date of the housing accommodation;

(14) Any pro-active inspection dates;

(15) Any outstanding violations of the housing regulations applicable to the accommodation;

(16) The notice date of any housing code violations;

(17) The rate of return for the housing accommodation and computation required by § 42-3502.05(f)(6);

(18) Any petitions filed by the housing provider including, related services and facilities petition, capital improvement petition, substantial rehabilitation petition, voluntary agreement petition, hardship petition, other valid tenant petitions;

(19) Any court or administrative actions; and

(20) Other information the OTA determines is relevant to tenants seeking and living in rent control accommodations.

(d) The portal accessible to the general public shall exclude any documentation submitted in support of a tenant’s application for elderly or disability status pursuant to § 42-3502.08(h)(2), and any other information the Rent Administrator may deem necessary to exclude to protect the privacy and personal information of a tenant.

(e) The demonstration project shall be completed within 2 years after December 13, 2017.

(f) Repealed.

(g) OTA shall report to the Council regarding the progress of the demonstration project on a quarterly basis. Following completion of the demonstration project, OTA shall prepare a final report that includes OTA's recommendations for the development of a permanent rent control housing database.

(July 17, 1985, D.C. Law 6-10, § 203a; as added Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, § 2212(a), 62 DCR 10905; Dec. 13, 2017, D.C. Law 22-33, § 2092, 64 DCR 7652.)

For temporary (90 days) addition of this section, see § 2122(a) of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).