2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 42 - Real Property › Chapter 35 - Rental Housing Generally › Subchapter IV - Revenue › § 42–3504.01. Rental unit fee

§ 42–3504.01. Rental unit fee.
(a)(1) Each housing provider not exempt from rental control pursuant to § 42-3502.05(a) or (e), except those exempt pursuant to § 42-3502.05(a)(3), shall pay an annual rental unit fee of $30 for each rental unit in a housing accommodation registered by the housing provider. The rental unit fee shall be:
(A) Paid to the District government at the time the housing provider applies for a basic business license or a renewal of the basic business license, or in the case of a housing accommodation for which no basic business license is required, at the time and in the manner that the licensing agency may determine; and
(B) Deposited as set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2)(A) $21.50 of each rental unit fee shall be deposited in the fund established pursuant to § 42-3131.01(b).
(B) $3.50 of each rental unit fee shall be deposited in the Rental Unit Fee Fund established pursuant to § 42-3504.02.
(C) The remainder shall be deposited into the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Fund established pursuant to § 6-231.
(b) Repealed.
(c) A nonprofit rental housing provider shall be exempt from the rental unit fee if the provider:
(1) Establishes rent schedules for 440 or more subsidized housing units affordable to tenants from low-income, very-low income, or extremely low-income households, as these incomes are defined in § 42-2801; and
(2) Does not receive subsidies but whose income-restricted units would otherwise satisfy the eligibility requirements under:
(A) The Housing Choice Voucher Program under 42 U.S.C. § 1437(f); or
(B) The Low Income Housing Tax Credit under 26 U.S.C. § 42.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the term “nonprofit rental housing provider” means an organization operating rental units or housing accommodations on a nonprofit basis under which no part of the net earnings of the housing provider inure to the benefit of or are distributable to its directors, officers, or any other private individual except as reasonable compensation for services rendered to the nonprofit housing provider.
(July 17, 1985, D.C. Law 6-10, § 401, 32 DCR 3089; Sept. 30, 1993, D.C. Law 10-25, § 401, 40 DCR 5489; Oct. 19, 2000, D.C. Law 13-172, § 1202(a), 47 DCR 6308; Dec. 7, 2004, D.C. Law 15-205, § 2092, 51 DCR 8441; Mar. 2, 2007, D.C. Law 16-192, § 2172, 53 DCR 6899; Mar. 3, 2010, D.C. Law 18-111, § 2131, 57 DCR 181; Sept. 14, 2011, D.C. Law 19-21, §§ 2002, 9033, 58 DCR 6226; Sept. 20, 2012, D.C. Law 19-168, § 7032, 59 DCR 8025; Dec. 13, 2017, D.C. Law 22-33, § 2212(b), 64 DCR 7652; July 3, 2018, D.C. Law 22-113, § 2, 65 DCR 5026; Oct. 30, 2018, D.C. Law 22-168, §§ 2222(a), 2223, 2282(f), 65 DCR 9388.)
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 45-2541.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 13-172 added the proviso at the end of the third sentence.
D.C. Law 15-205 substituted “$16” for “$15” and substituted “; provided, that a portion of fees collected shall be deposited in a special account to fund a tenant ombudsman and a housing provider ombudsman and an Advisory Neighborhood Commission liaison.” for “; provided, that fees collected during fiscal year 2001 shall be deposited in the fund established by § 6-711.01 to be used for the purposes of the fund.”
D.C. Law 16-192 substituted “$17” for “$16”; deleted “tenant ombudsman and a” following “special account to fund a”; and substituted “liaison; provided further, that a portion of fees collected shall be deposited in a special account for use by the Office of the Chief Tenant Advocate.” for “liaison.”.
D.C. Law 18-111 rewrote the section, which had read as follows: “Each housing provider required to register under this chapter, including those otherwise exempt from rental control and registration pursuant to § 42-3502.05(a)(3), shall pay a fee of $17 for each rental unit in a housing accommodation registered by the housing provider. The fee shall be paid annually to the District government at the time the housing provider applies for a business license or a renewal of the license; or in the case of a housing accommodation for which no license is required, at the time and in the manner the Commission may determine. Fees shall be deposited in a timely manner in depositories designated by the District government for those purposes; provided, that a portion of fees collected shall be deposited in a special account to fund a housing provider ombudsman and an Advisory Neighborhood Commission liaison; provided further, that a portion of fees collected shall be deposited in a special account for use by the Office of the Chief Tenant Advocate.”
D.C. Law 19-21, in subsec. (a), substituted “basic business license” for “business license”, “the basic business license” for “the license”, “no license” for “no basic business license”, and “The fees shall be deposited in the fund established pursuant to § 42-3131.01(b).” for “Fees shall be deposited in a timely manner in depositories designated by the District government for those purposes; provided, that a portion of fees collected shall be deposited in the fund established by subsection (b) of this section to fund a housing provider ombudsman and an Advisory Neighborhood Commission liaison; provided further, that a portion of fees collected from the prior fiscal year shall be deposited in the fund established by subsection (b) of this section for use by the Office of the Chief Tenant Advocate.”; and repealed subsec. (b), which had read as follows: “(b) There is established as a nonlapsing fund the Office of the Chief Tenant Advocate Rental Accommodations Fee Fund (’Fund’). All funds deposited into the Fund, and any interest earned on those funds, shall not revert to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of a fiscal year, or at any other time, but shall be continually available for the uses and purposes set forth in this section without regard to fiscal year limitation, subject to authorization by Congress.”
The 2012 amendment by D.C. Law 19-168 added (c) and (d).
Cross References
Housing Finance Agency, assisted housing projects, eviction procedures, see § 42-2703.08.
Expiration of Law
Section 907 of D.C. Law 6-10, as amended by § 2(d) of D.C. Law 8-48 and § 818 of D.C. Law 11-52, provided that all subchapters of the act, except III and V, shall terminate on December 31, 2000.
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2282(f) of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-458, Oct. 3, 2018, 65 DCR 11212).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2222 of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-458, Oct. 3, 2018, 65 DCR 11212).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2282(f) of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-434, July 30, 2018, 65 DCR 8200).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2222 of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-434, July 30, 2018, 65 DCR 8200).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2212(b) of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-167, Oct. 24, 2017, 64 DCR 10802).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2212(b) of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-104, July 20, 2017, 64 DCR 7032).
For temporary (90-day) amendment of section, see § 1202(a) of the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2000 (D.C. Act 13-376, July 24, 2000, 47 DCR 6574).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 1202(a) of the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2000 (D.C. Act 13-438, October 20, 2000, 47 DCR 8740).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2092 of Fiscal Year 2005 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2004 (D.C. Act 15-486, August 2, 2004, 51 DCR 8236).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2092 of Fiscal Year 2005 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2004 (D.C. Act 15-594, October 26, 2004, 51 DCR 11725).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2172 of Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-477, August 8, 2006, 53 DCR 7068).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2172 of Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-499, October 23, 2006, 53 DCR 8845).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2172 of Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-1, January 16, 2007, 54 DCR 1165).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2131 of Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Support Second Emergency Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-207, October 15, 2009, 56 DCR 8234).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2131 of Fiscal Year Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-260, January 4, 2010, 57 DCR 345).
Temporary Legislation
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 401 of Omnibus Budget Support Temporary Act of 1993 (D.C. Law 10-11, August 6, 1993, law notification 40 DCR 6213).
Short Title
Short title of subtitle H of title II of Law 15-205: Section 2091 of D.C. Law 15-205 provided that subtitle H of title II of the act may be cited as the Tenant and Housing Provider Ombudsmen Amendment Act of 2004.
Short title: Section 2171 of D.C. Law 16-192 provided that subtitle N of title II of the act may be cited as the “Office of the Chief Tenant Advocate Funding Act of 2006”.
Short title: Section 2130 of D.C. Law 18-111 provided that subtitle N of title II of the act may be cited as the “Rental Unit Fee Amendment Act of 2009”.
Short title: Section 2001 of D.C. Law 19-21 provided that subtitle A of title II of the act may be cited as “Housing Business License Rental Unit Fee Clarification Amendment Act of 2011”.