Opinion ID: 662404
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Federal Preemption of the Court's Remedy

Text: 25 Defendants argue that a rent rebate under D.C. law is inconsistent with federal standards of rent-setting and is therefore preempted. Rents at Tyler House were set by HUD, and defendants were required to charge precisely those rents under section 8 and section 236 of the National Housing Act. 12 U.S.C. Sec. 1715z-1 et seq. The statute seeks to encourage private owners to provide public housing, and so it ensures that the rent will be sufficient to cover operating expenses. HUD regulations interpreting the Act specifically preempt state and local government regulation of rents at federally subsidized projects. 24 C.F.R. Sec. 246.1. 26 But these regulations do not preempt a judicially-imposed retroactive rent abatement. The abatement remedy is not a local government's attempt to control rents; it is a court order of restitution for services not rendered. It does not mandate what the rent should be for any particular unit; instead, it refunds some of the rent already paid for failure to honor a contractual duty to maintain the premises. As such, it is distinct from prospective rent-setting by municipal agencies, and it does not encroach upon the domain of the federal housing laws. The precedent, particularly in the Superior Court, accords with this view. See Tyler House Tenant Council v. Tyler House Apts., Ltd., 118 Daily Wash.L.Rptr. 2033 (D.C.Super.Ct.1990); Conille v. Pierce, 649 F.Supp. 1133 (D.Mass.1986), vacated on other grounds, 840 F.2d 105 (1st Cir.1988), Tower West Associates v. Derevnuk, 114 Misc.2d 158, 450 N.Y.S.2d 947 (N.Y.Civ.Ct.1982). Cf. Bronstein v. Philadelphia Fair Housing Comm'n, 488 F.Supp. 1357 (E.D.Pa.1980) (Fair Housing Commission preempted from suspending HUD-approved rent increase due to housing code violations). We find that the relief granted in this case was not preempted by federal law.