D.C. Rent Ceilings Set to Come Down

The D.C. Council voted unanimously yesterday to approve the most extensive overhaul to rent control in two decades, supporting the abolishment of the confusing system of "rent ceilings" while tightly limiting yearly rent increases.

Under the plan, which faces a final vote next month, rent increases for seniors and the disabled would be limited to increases within the rate of inflation. For all other renters, yearly jumps would be capped at 2 percent plus inflation. Rent increases on newly vacant apartments would be capped at 30 percent.

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), the measure's chief sponsor, said the changes were needed because for many District tenants, "the very concept of rent control has become utterly meaningless."

He said the increases currently allowed are so large that many of the city's 100,000 rent-controlled apartments have been priced out of the reach of moderate-income residents. The city's rent control law applies to buildings that have five or more units and were built before 1975.

The measure was the product of more than a dozen negotiating sessions in the past six months and was supported by tenant groups, building owners and Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), who had proposed a package of changes.

The compromise does not include income requirements to obtain a rent-controlled apartment and does not set aside a certain number of units in each building for low-income tenants, ideas floated earlier in the debate.

Council members praised Graham and the other members of the Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Committee for working out the compromise and avoiding a potentially messy and politically painful fight.

A key change included in the legislative package would be the abolishment of the rent-ceiling system, which is based on a formula that sets the maximum rent a landlord could charge for a particular unit. The ceilings often far exceed the market rate for the majority of the city's rent-controlled units, rendering the ceilings meaningless. Graham gave the example of a constituent who pays $1,200 a month for a studio apartment that has a rent ceiling of $4,400.

Graham also said research showed that 90 percent of city tenants pay rents below the rent ceilings for their units.

"I think it's wonderful," said Miriam McKiver, 72, a tenant from Northeast Washington who attended the council vote. She said that she pays $518 a month for her one-bedroom apartment but that the rent ceiling is $838.

"For seniors on a fixed income, there's only so much we can do," she said.

Landlords also applauded the elimination of rent ceilings and other requirements and filings. The current system is so confusing and so bureaucratic that it takes nearly two dozen city staffers to process paperwork for rent-controlled units, according to council member David A. Catania (I-At Large).

Building owners also were pleased that a hardship waiver would still exist that could allow landlords to petition for rent increases higher than those allowed under the bill, said Shaun Pharr, a spokesman for the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington.

Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) said yesterday that he is considering introducing a bill that would extend rent control to new rental buildings.

That, Pharr said, "would be World War III."

In other business, council members Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) and Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5) introduced legislation that would require that more council proceedings be open to the media and the public.

And Williams submitted a stand-alone measure yesterday to build a new city library building at the site of the old convention center. Williams, whose plan was included in his most recent budget proposal, said he introduced a separate measure to answer a growing list of questions from the council and the public.