2019 District of Columbia Code
Title 42 - Real Property.
Chapter 35 - Rental Housing Generally.
Subchapter VII - Relocation Assistance for Tenants Displaced by Substantial Rehabilitation, Demolition, or Housing Discontinuance.
§ 42–3507.03. Payments.

(a) Until the Mayor establishes the amount of relocation assistance pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the amount of relocation assistance payable to a displaced tenant shall be calculated as follows:

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, relocation assistance in the amount of $300 for each room in the rental unit shall be payable to the tenants or subtenants bearing the cost of removing the majority of the furnishings. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “room” in a rental unit means any space 60 square feet or larger which has a fixed ceiling and a floor and is subdivided with fixed partitions on all sides, but does not mean bathrooms, balconies, closets, pantries, kitchens, foyers, hallways, storage areas, utility rooms, or the like.

(2) Relocation assistance in the amount of $150 for each pantry, kitchen, storage area, and utility room that exceeds 60 square feet in area shall be payable to the tenants or subtenants bearing the cost of removing the majority of the furnishings.

(b) The Mayor shall establish the amount to be paid tenants for relocation assistance within 30 days of June 22, 2006. Thereafter, the Mayor shall, by rule, adjust the amount to be paid tenants for relocation assistance not more than once every 12 months and not less than once every 3 years. The amount of relocation assistance shall reflect the cost of moving, including transporting personal property, packing and unpacking, insurance of property while in transit, storage of personal property, the disconnection and re-connection of utilities, and any other reasonable factor, within the Washington-Baltimore Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area.

(c) Relocation assistance shall be paid to eligible tenants not later than 24 hours before the date the rental unit is to be vacated by the tenants or subtenants, if the housing provider has received at least 10 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, advance written notice of the date upon which the unit is to be vacated. Where the tenant does not provide the housing provider with at least a 10-day notice, the relocation assistance shall be paid within 30 days after the unit is vacated.

(d) Payment of relocation assistance shall not be required with respect to any rental unit which is the subject of an outstanding judgment for possession obtained by the housing provider or housing provider’s predecessor in interest against the tenants or subtenants for a cause of action whether the cause of action arises before or after the service of the notice of intention to rehabilitate, demolish, or discontinue housing use. If the judgment for possession is based upon nonpayment of rent and arises after the notice of intent to rehabilitate, demolish, or discontinue housing use has been given, then relocation assistance shall be required in an amount reduced by the amount determined to be due and owing to the housing provider by the court rendering the judgment for possession.

(July 17, 1985, D.C. Law 6-10, § 703, 32 DCR 3089; June 22, 2006, D.C. Law 16-140, § 2(c), 53 DCR 3686.)

1981 Ed., § 45-2573.

This section is referenced in § 42-3507.02.

D.C. Law 16-140, in the lead-in language in subsec. (a), substituted “Until the Mayor establishes the amount of relocation assistance pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the amount of relocation assistance” for “The amount of relocation assistance”; in par. (a)(1), substituted “the amount of $300” for “the amount of $ 150”; in par. (a)(2), substituted “the amount of $150” for “the amount of $ 75”; and rewrote subsec. (b), which had read as follows: “(b) The Mayor shall adjust the amount to be paid tenants for relocation assistance from time to time in order to reflect changes in the cost of moving within the Washington, D.C., Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). The adjustments shall be made under subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, not more than once in any calendar year.”

See Historical and Statutory Notes following § 42-3507.01.