A D.C. housing provider can only raise the rent on a tenant in a rent-controlled unit if seven conditions are all met:

1. Your rental unit and the common areas are in substantial compliance with the D.C. Housing Code. (See the response to the next question for specific examples.) Any noncompliance must not be the result of tenant neglect or misconduct

2. Your rental unit is registered with the D.C. Rent Administrator.

3. Your landlord or owner provider is properly licensed to lease out housing.

4. Your property manager, when someone other than the housing provider, is properly registered under the housing regulations.

5. Notice of the increase must be properly served to you and the increase itself cannot become effective until at least 60 calendar days after the notice date, provided that the underlying lease requires no more than 30-days notice for termination. 

6. The housing provider has notified you in writing of the maximum standard rent increase for elderly tenants (aged 62 years old or older) or disabled tenants and of how a tenant can establish elderly or disability status. A housing provider cannot require tenants to provide more proof of age or disability than the minimum information necessary to establish that status. Note that to qualify for this lower rent increase cap, the tenant must have registered their status with the D.C. Rent Administrator.

7. Any housing provider that is not a D.C. resident of the District has appointed and maintained a registered agent.

D.C. law permits you to present as evidence notices of violations issued by the Department of Buildings.

In addition, the applicable regulations consider the following issues to be substantial violations:

• Frequent lack of sufficient water supply

• Frequent lack of hot water

• Frequent lack of sufficient heat between October 1 and May 1 

• Hazardous electrical systems, including wiring, outlets, and fixtures

• Exposed electrical wiring or outlets not properly covered

• Leaks in the roof or walls

• Defective sinks, showers, bathtubs, toilets, drains, or sewage systems

• Infestation of insects or rodents

• Actual or presumed lead-based paint on the interior or exterior of the structure or building that is peeling, flaking, or chipped

• Insufficient number of emergency escape openings or improper arrangement of exits from a property

• Obstructed means of egress

• Accumulation of garbage or rubbish in common areas

• Failure to provide approved garbage facilities or containers

• Cracked or loose plaster, decayed wood, or water damage to interior surfaces

• Hazardous porches, decks, balconies, stairs, ramps, landings, or railings, handrails, or guards to such facilities

• Floors, walls, or ceilings with any holes that are at least one half inch (1/2") in width

• Windows, skylights, doors, and frames insufficiently tight to maintain the required temperature or to prevent excessive heat loss

• Doors lacking required, operative locks

• Absence of required, operable fire protection systems, including fire extinguishers

• Violation of any provision of the Property Maintenance Code where such condition constitutes a fire hazard

• Inadequate ventilation of interior bathrooms or toilet rooms

• Elevators not in operation

• Indoor mold contamination requiring professional indoor mold

• Failure to provide a utility that is the responsibility of or under the control of the housing provider in the quantities needed for normal occupancy

• A generally large number of Housing Regulations violations, each of which may be either substantial or non-substantial.

In D.C., the rate of rent-controlled units can be raised, subject to a maximum percentage. This cap is set annually by the Rental Housing Commission and made available publicly, including by the D.C. Office of the Tenant Advocate. 

Any rent increase for a rent-controlled unit set to take effect between May 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026 is capped as follows:

• 2.5% for elderly or disabled tenants 

• 4.8% for all other tenants

Example: If your controlled rent was $1,000 monthly in 2024, and a notice informs you that the base rent is set to increase by 4.8% during the above period, your new rent will be: 

• $1,000 x 1.048 = $1,048

Under D.C. law, your base rent is the total amount of rent authorized to be legally charged for that unit by the applicable rent control laws. The applicable law defines the amount of rent charged as “the entire amount of money” that a tenant “must actually pay” to a housing provider under the lease, according to the rent control laws. 

By definition, your base rent cannot be the market rate that the landlord or property management would be permitted to charge if the unit were not rent-controlled, minus a supposed discount or concession, or some other higher rate.

The law expects you to receive an accurate notice. And to be accurate, any such notice must reflect the proper base rent and the new total, once the increase is added to that base rent.

If your lease requires you to provide 30 days notice before terminating your lease, then the housing provider must give you 60 days of advance notice before the base rent increase becomes effective.

If you must provide more than 30 days notice before terminating your lease, then the length of the required advance notice is the number of days of notice for termination plus an additional 30 days.

If the notice you received was inaccurate but the rent was raised on this basis, you may have a claim that the raise did not comply with the law, even if the inaccurate notice was sent timely.

Generally, a housing provider may not raise the rent for a rent-controlled unit more than once in a period of 12 months.

D.C. law anticipates rent increase notices that are accurate and provided to tenants in writing. Failure to meet this standard may be in tension with the law.