A Looming Crisis Part III: Potential Solutions

Looming Crisis Part III: Potential Solutions

Part I of this series, which summarizes AOBA's Looming Crisis report, detailed the skyrocketing operating costs of multifamily housing in the District. Part II examined the scope of the growing rent delinquency crisis and what is driving it. 

Part III summarizes practical solutions to the rent delinquency crisis that would avert the deterioration and loss of the District's affordable housing stock and help reduce evictions. Immediate government action is needed before this crisis spirals out of control.

Getting Tenants the Help They Need

Allow for Voluntary Mediation in Place of an Initial Hearing: The legal process should be structured to avoid evictions rather than simply delaying them. By the time a tenant makes their first appearance, they have usually fallen behind on rent to such a degree that redemption is nearly impossible. The courts should allow for voluntary remediation in place of an initial hearing, with the intent of reaching consent settlement agreements (CSAs) to keep tenants in their homes and help them get back into good standing and making monthly rent payments.  

Expand Rental Assistance: Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funding levels pale in comparison to the demand. The District should make every effort to efficiently get these funds into the hands of needy tenants before delinquencies accumulate beyond reasonably redeemable levels. The Council should additionally provide a tax credit against the property’s real estate tax bill for rent delinquency voluntarily forgiven by the housing provider to reset a tenant’s balance to zero and divert a pending eviction. 

Procedural Fixes

Close the ERAP Application Loophole: The Tenant Safe Harbor Amendment Act should be amended to eliminate the automatic stay of court proceedings for a tenant who has filed an ERAP application. Instead, discretion should be restored to Landlord/Tenant court judges to stay a judgment or the execution of an eviction where a tenant can demonstrate eligibility and compliance with the housing provider’s income certification requirements. 

Ensure the Courts Are Adequately Resourced: Thirteen of 62 Superior Court judgeships are vacant. Additional capacity is desperately needed to efficiently schedule and conduct court hearings, which will help to avoid accumulated delinquencies and massive financial judgments against tenants. 

Eliminate Bell Hearings: Separate “Bell” hearings typically add about two months to the legal process. The ability for a tenant to assert out-of-pocket costs incurred should be retained and allowed to be exercised upon the entering of a protective order by the housing provider at the initial hearing date.

Limit Scope of Continuances and Case Review: In line with previous Court of Appeals precedent, cases should be delayed or remanded to a further initial hearing only for reasons that may have prejudiced the case against the tenant.