Mayor Fenty Announces New Direction in Combatting District’s Slumlord Properties

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty today announced sweeping changes in how the District will track and monitor the condition of residential properties and pledged to work closely with the DC Council to modernize the city’s property code enforcement process to eliminate burdensome legal hurdles.

“Landlords have no excuse for letting their buildings fall apart,” said Mayor Fenty. “Now we will have no more excuses for delaying enforcement. We need our laws to be strong enough to compel action.”

Fenty, joined by Interim Attorney General Peter J. Nickles and Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) Director Linda K. Argo, said a small group of “recidivist” landlords have thrived too long in the District because of gaps in the enforcement process.

Nickles has already submitted a legislative package that would allow for a more rapid intervention by city officials and allow DCRA to seek both criminal and civil penalties for housing violations.

“These actions will send a clear message that this type of activity won’t be tolerated,” Nickles said. “We have very strict laws to protect tenants in the District of Columbia, and we intend to exhaust all legal options to enforce them.”

To date, DCRA has relied largely on a complaint-based system to bring potential housing violations to its attention, Argo said. The agency has learned from the recent crackdown on slumlords – the worst of which whom not the subject of recent complaints – is no longer sufficient. DCRA is finalizing a multi-family property proactive inspection system based on the number and seriousness of unabated violations, to determine the frequency of inspections whether or not a complaint is ever received.

“We can no longer wait for someone to lodge a complaint before we intervene,” Argo said. “Too many tenants are suffering in silence because of fear or financial difficulties. We want to get inside these properties on a regular basis to ensure properties are well maintained and remain in good condition.”

DCRA is looking at best practices in other jurisdictions – including Los Angeles and New York City – and expects to make a policy decision by August 1, 2008, with the goal of proposing any necessary legislative or regulatory changes by the end of calendar year 2008.

DCRA is also redefining when it should directly and immediately intervene to repair the most egregious violations that endanger the health or safety of the tenant or the public.

“The proposed changes will give the District the agility it needs to confront these landlords directly and pursue them under the fullest extent of the law,” Argo said.