Tyrone Turner / WAMU
Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George introduced a bill Wednesday that seeks to prevent property owners with histories of housing code violations from renting out new buildings to tenants, in an effort to combat the conditions issues ubiquitous across D.C.’s older apartment buildings.
Under Lewis George’s bill, the D.C. government would bar people or businesses that have received more than five citations for Class 1 or 2 housing code violations in a 12-month period from receiving new business licenses – effectively preventing them from renting out additional units before fixing existing code violations. Class 1 and 2 infractions are egregious housing code violations that D.C.’s municipal regulations consider “an imminent danger to the health or safety of any tenant,” like structurally unsound foundations, inoperable fire alarms and smoke detectors, and inadequate heating systems.
“For too long, a small group of landlords has been able to profit by buying up rental properties in D.C. and then charging high rents while neglecting building maintenance and security,” Lewis George said in a statement. “We need to protect tenants in D.C. by preventing neglectful landlords from expanding their foothold in our communities.”
Alex Taliadoros, a spokesperson for Lewis George, said in an email that the bill specifies five citations to “ensure we are targeting landlords when there is a clear pattern of neglect and being responsive to what tenants are...
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