Frequently Asked Questions about DC Landlord Tenant Law

I am asked the same questions over and over. Here are some of the questions I get asked most often. I hope the answers help you but your case probably has unique questions, so if you need more help, call or email my office to make an appointment for a consultation.

Question: My tenant's lease expires next month. Can I evict them if they don't move at the end of the lease?

Answer: No, a tenant has no legal obligation to move when their lease ends. Residential leases automatically become month-to-month in DC, regardless of what the lease says, and a tenant can stay as long as they don't stop paying the rent or violate the lease. The landlord can usually increase the rent after the initial lease term ends, by how much depends on whether the landlord is subject to or registered as exempt from rent control. There are a few other reasons a tenant can be forced to move but in general, tenants can stay in the property indefinitely.

Question: Do I really need to be licensed to be a landlord in DC?

Answer: Yes. Without a Basic Business Licence, a Certificate of Occupancy for multi-unit properties, and a Rent Control Registration or Exemption Number, it is extremely difficult to enforce your lease because for most notices to tenants you need to provide a copy to the Office of the Rent Administrator. If you fail to do so, your notice won't be enforceable. You can't get a stamped notice unless you have a registration or exemption number. You could also be subject to fines by the DC Government if you get caught with an unregistered unit.

Question: When I take my tenant to court, will they have to pay all their rent into escrow?

Answer: If the tenant wants a trial, you will be entitled to a protective order, and the tenant will have to pay at least a portion of the rent going forward into the court registry. Protective orders are only going forward from the initial hearing date or when you ask for them, and a tenant can ask that the amount be less than the actual rent amount due to alleged Housing Code violations. Usually at that point the court will hold a hearing called a Bell hearing to set the amount of the protective order but sometimes the judge will try to find an amount the parties can agree upon. Protective orders only apply to nonpayment of rent cases, so if your tenant stops paying rent during a case for another lease violation or other notice, you won't have a lot of options.

Question: Why did the judge reduce my late fees? The lease allows me to charge $75 per month and the judge reduced the late fees to $10 per month.

Answer: There isn't any rule the judges are following when they lower the amount of the late fees but most do. Many states have a statutory amount of late fees permitted, often 5%, DC has no law on what late fees are allowed so judges are "using their discretion" when they reduce the late fees you agreed on with the tenant. Ten dollars is customary in DC but there isn't a legal reason for it.

Question: What do I need to bring to court?

Answer: Bring a copy of your tenant's lease, rent ledger or an accounting of what the tenant owes, a copy of the summons and complaint you filed so if the judge asks you about it you can follow along, a copy of any notice you served, and a copy of the affidavit of service for both the summons and complaint and the notice. Other records, like repair records, may be needed for trial but these are the minimum documents you will want for any court appearance. Court goes quickly so the more organized and prepared you are, the more likely you are to be successful. Judges don't want to hear that you don't know exactly how much the tenant owes or that you aren't sure what you sued for.

Question: Why is this taking so long?

Answer: Unfortunately, the DC landlord & tenant process can take a long time. If you don't have a waiver of notice to quit, or you're suing the tenant for something other than nonpayment, you have to start with serving a thirty day notice, which takes about fourty days, because the process server needs time to serve the notice. Then you have to file the case and the court date will usually be another month from the day you file. If the tenant appears in court on the court date and requests a continuance, they will get a two week continuance. Often the case gets continued again if the tenant requests. If the case is then set for trial that will be another month to six weeks away. If the tenant requests a jury trial, the case will be sent to the civil division and the process takes close to a year. Once you get a judgment, whether from a default or after a jury trial, you will need to file a writ and wait, at least a couple of weeks, often a couple of months, for the Marshals to get to your writ. If the tenant pays everything that's due at any point, the case is over, but they can stop paying again the next month and you'll have to start over.

Question: What's a waiver of notice to quit?

Answer: A waiver of notice to quit refers to a waiver contained in a lease that waives the tenant's right to receive a thirty day notice when they fail to pay rent. If your lease has a waiver, you can file a nonpayment case without serving the tenant with a notice first. If you aren't sure have an attorney review the lease for you.

Question: Do the Marshals evict the tenant?

Answer: No, the Marshals provide security and make sure the eviction is conducted legally. The landlord is responsible for hiring an eviction crew to actually carry out the tenant's belongings and for being present at the eviction to supervise the crew, provide information to the Marshals, and accept payments from the tenant if the tenant shows up and wants to pay to stop the eviction. The Marshals will call the landlord the day before the eviction and ask the landlord if they are ready. Be ready.

Question: Do you like being a DC landlord tenant lawyer?

Answer: Yes! I love my job.

DHCD Holding Program on TOPA

The DC Depeartment of Housing and Community Development  is holding an educational program on the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) on Thursday January 24, 2013 from noon until 2 PM at their offices at 1800 Martin Luther King Ave, SE.  Complete information is on their website. Contact Dawne Dorsey at dhcd.events@dc.gov for more information or to RSVP.  

If you are considering buying or selling a DC property occupied by a tenant, these programs are usually quite helpful.  They are free and you have a chance to hear from and ask questions of the people who are making decisions about which notices are sufficient and which aren't.  

TOPA can be difficult to comply with and if you make a mistake or if your real estate agent makes a mistake, the costs in both time and money can be enormous.  DC title companies are very careful about TOPA compliance, so don't get to the end of your sale process and discover you missed a deadline or forgot a notice.  If you plan to buy a house in DC and the house is occupied, you want to make sure TOPA has been complied with, in addition to understanding what is required to remove the tenant if you want to live in the property. 

How Long Will it Take to Evict My Tenant?

This is one of the top questions I'm asked. There isn't a simple answer. There are some guidelines.

1) Everything will take longer than you think. Even a thirty day notice to cure or quit takes longer than thirty days. The process server needs time to serve the notice and depending on what the notice is for, you may need the notice to expire after a certain date.

2) Consider what you already know about the tenant. If the tenant has been your worst nightmare for their entire tenancy, don't expect them to leave quietly because you had them served with a notice. If the tenant disagrees with you that the apartment is a mess or thinks they should be able to keep their fifty pet snakes loose in the apartment, don't expect them to leave quietly because you had them served with a notice. If the tenant is out of work, several months behind in rent, and has nowhere to go, they aren't likely to leave until you take them to court. While they may feel bad about not paying the rent, they aren't going to make themselves homeless because they feel bad.

3) If you're willing to resolve the landlord/tenant case at the initial hearing and you're willing to listen to what the tenant tells you she needs and give on some of it, your case will likely end sooner and probably more favorably. However, make certain your settlement agreement is legally enforceable and gives you a judgement for possession if the tenant breaches the agreement or you could be giving something for nothing.

4) If the tenant gets a lawyer and files a jury demand, you are in for several months of litigation. If you don't have an attorney, from this point forward you will likely have a difficulty without one.

5) Once you have your judgment, if your tenant doesn't leave, you will have to file your Servicemember's Affidavit, file your writ, and wait for your writ to come to the top of the Marshals' list on a day that isn't raining or snowing and where the weather is above freezing. In a cold winter or rainy spring, you might have to wait weeks or months.

6) Being a landlord is a business. You may hate your tenant. Your tenant may be a liar. Your tenant may be a deadbeat. You may be an excellent landlord. But you are a business owner so deciding how to proceed against your tenant should always be a business decision and a legal decision. There are no principles to uphold here, there are no lessons to teach. Why do I say this is a guideline for how long your case will last? If you want to punish your tenant or do something on principle instead of because it makes business sense, you will spend more time and money doing so. That doesn't mean you shouldn't aggressively pursue your business interests, including evicting your tenant and refusing any settlement that doesn't make sense. But if you make strategic business decisions, you'll get to those results sooner.

7) Do you have a DC landlord/tenant attorney? Can an attorney make your case go faster because they have access to super special court dates? Nope. But they can make sure things are filed correctly the first time, advise you on settlement options, go to court for you, and protect your interests in a long case. A landlord/tenant attorney can also take the case off your list of things to do. If you have a tenant who isn't paying rent and you aren't sure how to file so you wait, you are losing money and probably stressing yourself worrying about that lost rent. When you're ready, talk to some attorneys and hire someone you feel comfortable with and confident of.

Being a landlord in DC is hard. Litigation is hard. If I can help make it easier, please contact me and let's talk about how to move your interests forward in the fastest way possible.

Should you become a DC landlord?

Being a residential landlord in DC is hard. It's harder than it is in Maryland or Virginia and arguably harder or as hard than in almost any other place in the United States. However, DC remains a strong real estate market and a tight rental market, so there is money to be made. Many DC landlords have wonderful experiences and never need to deal with landlord/tenant court. Those who do may regret ever renting in the first place. What makes DC harder?

1) Its a huge commitment.
There are huge pitfalls to being a DC landlord, perhaps the top of the list is that residential leases in DC never expire. As long as the tenant follows the lease and pays the rent, while the rent can usually be increased, the tenant can't be evicted. Even if the lease says it ends at a specific time. If you want to be a landlord in DC because you can't make your mortgage payments right now, be aware that you could have a tenant forever and it could be extremely difficult to sell your home with a tenant. Children grow up and move away, people get divorced, quit jobs, and yet you could still have your tenant.

2) The court process can be long and complicated.
Tenants can bring cases against their landlords in at least three places, as well as just complaining about them to DCRA. Tenants can bring Housing Conditions Court cases to force landlords to address housing code issues. Tenants can bring Tenant Petitions at the Office of Administrative Hearings. Lastly, tenants can bring civil suits in DC Superior Court. Landlords can sue tenants for lease violations and non-payment of rent in DC landlord/tenant court. However, those cases can last for many months and require that the landlord follow a maze of laws and rules or have the case dismissed. In non-payment of rent cases, tenants can counterclaim for more than they owe so the landlord could end up owing the tenant money.

3) There are a lot of licensing, zoning, and registration requirements.
This isn't that different from most large cities, but that's little comfort to potential DC landlords who are trying to follow the rules and get properly licensed. Condo owners usually have an easier time than owners of single family homes hoping to rent a basement apartment because many basement apartments will have housing code or zoning problems. On the other hand, condo owners have to deal with their condo boards, also not always easy.

How do you minimize the chances you will have problems?
1) Have a good, DC specific lease, reviewed or prepared by an attorney.
2) Screen your tenants carefully. Talk to the prior landlord and the employer. Get pay stubs. Look at a credit report. Look for prior landlord/tenant cases.
3) Make sure everyone who lives in your property is on your lease. No sublets, live-ins, roommates, etc. Any new roommates you are ok with should become part of the lease.
4) Get all the licensing done before a tenant moves in.
5) Prepare for emergencies. That means being prepared for the call at 2am that a pipe burst and being prepared if you get sued by keeping good records and becoming educated about the law. That means having money set aside to hire a plumber, a roofer, pay for a tenant's hotel bill if they are displaced in the middle of the night, pay for a lawyer to defend you if the tenant sues you and to sue the tenant if they start violating the lease or stop paying rent. It also means having a list of plumbers, contractors, roofers, hotels, attorneys, and whoever else you might need.
6) Cultivate a positive relationship with your tenants. You are a service provider, after all. We all have companies we deal with that we cut a little slack when things aren't perfect because they are nice to us.
7) Being a landlord is owning a business. Keep records that way, make decisions that way, and act like a professional. Protect your investment in your property and your tenants.

Being a DC landlord can be financially and personally rewarding. It can also be a disaster. In other words, it's a high risk activity. My job is to lower that risk whenever possible and help you cope with the consequences when the risk rears its ugly head. My secondary job is to provide you with education about DC landlord/tenant law so you can make the best decisions for you and so that you will need me less in the future.

A Checklist for Writing a Successful DC Notice to Cure or Quit

I read many defective notices to cure or quit. Many are written by landlords who tried to interpret the laws and rules themselves. Some got inadequate or just plain bad help. A defective notice will get your case dismissed and sometimes it will be too late to give a new one. Even if you can give a new notice, you will have lost time and maybe money and have to start all over. No blog can give you legal advice, and giving a notice to cure or quit that will pass all the rules of DC landlord/tenant law is often complicated. But here are a few things to make sure you or your lawyer does:
1) Document the violations. You will need records if you have to go to court later.
2) Notices must be given in English and Spanish. Even if you know the tenant doesn't speak Spanish.
3) Notices must tell the tenant what they did to violate their lease. Be specific. Cite the clause of the lease or DC landlord/tenant law that was violated. Explain how.
4) Notices must tell a tenant how to cure the violation. This is often left out. Landlords assume that if they stated the violation clearly and specifically they don't need to restate what the tenant needs to do to fix it or that tenants won't do it, so why bother. But in a notice to cure or quit you need to explain the cure. What would resolve the issue? Tell them.
5) Most of the time, notices must include your rent control registration or exemption number and a copy should be filed with the Office of the Rent Administrator at the same time you serve the notice on the tenant. There are a few limited exceptions to this. If you aren't registered, here is a list of the requirements from the DC government: http://dcra.dc.gov/DC/DCRA/For+Business/Apply+for+a+Business+License/Residential+Housing+Rental+License+Information/Get+a+One+Family+Rental+License
6) Have the notice served by a professional process server. While you can have a friend serve the notice, you need an affidavit of service to file with the notice and you want to be able to get that person to come to court and testify about how the person was served if the notice is ever challenged. A professional process server will usually be a better witness and less likely to make a mistake that will invalidate your carefully written notice.
Before you decide to give a notice, carefully consider all your options. A notice to cure or quit that isn't cured can lead to a non-redeemable judgment, but you must follow all the landlord/tenant laws at every point to reach that outcome. You can sometimes inadvertently destroy better grounds for eviction by giving a notice. This blog can't help you evaluate the best way to proceed and the risks of doing so. Contact my office to make an appointment if you need legal advice.