NPR, November 14, 2019: With Rent Control Likely To Stay In D.C., Tenant Advocates Urge Stronger Protections
With the District’s rent control law up for renewal next year, tenant advocates are calling for changes that would deepen protections for the city’s most vulnerable renters.
But it’s not yet clear whether most members of the D.C. Council are on board to revise the law, rather than simply renew it.
During a committee hearing Wednesday, advocates with the Reclaim Rent Control campaign testified that the existing rules limiting annual rent increases are full of loopholes. They argued in favor of not just renewing rent control through 2030, but expanding and strengthening the law by applying it to more buildings and eliminating exceptions that allow landlords to increase rents above the rate established in the law.
