June 8

DC Council lowers caps on rent increases for rent controlled units

On Tuesday June 6th, 2023, the D.C. Council approved emergency legislation that will lower the caps on annual rent increases for Rent Control Year 2023 (5/1/23 to 4/30/24). The “Rent Stabilized Housing Inflation Protection Emergency Amendment Act of 2023” imposes a cumulative cap on annual rent increases for the 24-month period between 5/1/23 and 4/30/25 of 8% for elderly and disability tenants, and 12% for all other tenants. This means that if a landlord followed the Rental Housing Commission’s January 2023 determination and increased the rent by 8.9% (our original post on that determination can be found here), then next year’s increase can be no greater than 3.1% (i.e., 8.9 + 3.1 = 12.0).

There are other provisions in this new law regarding issuance of revised rent increase notices, as well as refunds of overpayments of rent increases.

Please give us a call to discuss these nuanced issues in detail.