Opinion ID: 2185061
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Counter-Contentions

Text: In response, the government argues that the 12.32% rent increase in § 5 satisfies the pass-through requirement but that even if it were assumed that § 5 does not satisfy the requirement, the procedure in sections 6 and 7 for hardship petitions by landlords does satisfy the pass-through requirement. It also contends that the landlords lack standing to seek judicial review since they have failed to exhaust their administrative remedies in the Commission (by filing a § 45-1625(a) suit after expiration of the 60-day period in § 7a of the Regulation, supra ); that the landlords' cause of action is nonjusticiable and not ripe for judicial resolution because of the uncertainty whether the procedure for disposing of hardship petitions by landlords will indeed be unworkable; and that the granting of class action relief to appellants was improper. With respect to the District of Columbia's cross-appeal from the stay of the rollback provision, it is argued that the stay was effectively a hardship exemption for landlords which, pursuant to § 45-1623(d)(2) of the Act and sections 6 and 7 of the Regulation, cannot be awarded absent notice and a hearing for affected tenants. The government also argues that the stay was a rent increase in violation of § 5 l of the Regulation, which requires a thirty-day notice to the tenant before a rent increase can be effective.