Washington DC Tenant Rights: Rent, Repairs, and Eviction

Tenants in Washington, D.C. have some of the strongest legal protections in the country. Washington, D.C. tenant rights are anchored by the Rental Housing Act of 1985 and enforced by the Office of the Tenant Advocate (OTA).¹ The District caps security deposits, limits rent increases, requires landlords to prove specific grounds before evicting anyone, and even gives tenants the right to buy their building before the owner sells to an outsider. Landlords don’t always volunteer these rights, so knowing them matters.

Security Deposits

A landlord in D.C. cannot charge a security deposit that exceeds one month’s rent.² The deposit must go into an interest-bearing escrow account at a financial institution located within the District, held in trust exclusively for that purpose.

When you move out, your landlord has 45 days to either return your full deposit plus accrued interest, or send you written notice that they intend to withhold some or all of it for damages.³ If they withhold money, they have an additional 30 days after that notification to send you an itemized statement listing each repair and its cost, along with a refund of whatever balance remains. A landlord who acts in bad faith by making frivolous or unfounded deductions faces liability for treble the amount owed and a civil fine of up to $5,000 per violation.

Rent Increases and Rent Stabilization

D.C.’s Rent Stabilization Program covers rental units in most multi-family buildings with five or more units where the building permit was issued before January 1, 1976.⁴ If you live in one of these units, your landlord can only raise your rent by an amount the Rental Housing Commission sets each year based on the change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). That annual cap can never exceed 10%.⁵ For 2026, the allowable increase is 4.1% for most tenants.⁶

Elderly tenants and tenants with disabilities get a lower cap. Their rent increase cannot exceed the least of three amounts: the general CPI-W adjustment, the most recent Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or 5% of the current rent, whichever is smallest.⁷ For 2026, this works out to a 2.1% cap.⁶ You don’t need to prove income to qualify — just age or disability status, verified by documents like a driver’s license, birth certificate, or a letter from a licensed healthcare professional.

No landlord can raise rent more than once every 12 months, and any increase notice must state both the current and the new rent amount along with a summary of your rights.⁸

Units That Are Exempt

Not every unit falls under rent stabilization. The main exemptions:

Units in buildings where the building permit was issued after December 31, 1975, or newly created units covered by a certificate of occupancy for housing issued after January 1, 1980.
Buildings with four or fewer rental units, if they are owned by no more than four individuals who have no interest in any other D.C. rental property. The owner must file a claim of exemption with the Rent Administrator.
Federally or locally subsidized units already subject to their own rent restrictions.

Your landlord must tell you at the start of your lease whether your unit is covered.⁴ If you’re unsure, the OTA can help you check.

Late Fees and Application Fees

Late fees are capped at 5% of the full monthly rent. Your landlord can only charge one if the lease spells out the maximum late fee amount and you’re at least five days past the due date.⁹ If your lease provides a longer grace period, that longer period controls. A flat $100 late fee on a $1,500 apartment would be an overcharge; the maximum would be $75.

Rental application fees are also regulated. For 2026, the Rental Housing Commission set the maximum application fee at $54.⁶

Habitability and Repairs

Every rental unit in D.C. must be clean, safe, sanitary, in good repair, and free from rodents and vermin. Landlords must maintain all facilities, utilities, and services required by the housing code.¹⁰ The specifics that come up most often:

Heating must be capable of maintaining at least 68°F during the day throughout the heating season, October 1 through May 1.
Hot water must be delivered at no less than 120°F to all required fixtures.¹¹
The landlord is responsible for exterminating infestations of insects and rodents, including addressing the conditions that caused them.
The unit must be weather-tight, with functional locks on all entry doors and adequate lighting in common areas.
In buildings constructed before 1978, landlords must disclose any known lead-based paint hazards and provide tenants with the EPA’s lead safety pamphlet before signing a lease.

When a landlord ignores maintenance problems, you have the right to withhold rent, but this is a serious step with real risks. Put your repair request in writing first and keep a copy. If the landlord still doesn’t act, you can withhold all or part of your rent after giving reasonable notice. Set the withheld rent aside in a savings account, because if a judge later decides the withholding wasn’t justified, you’ll need to pay it back to avoid eviction. You can also file a case in the Housing Conditions Calendar of D.C. Superior Court, which can order your landlord to make repairs.

Landlord Entry

Your landlord cannot walk into your apartment whenever they feel like it. Outside of a genuine emergency, D.C. law requires at least 48 hours of written notice before entry.¹² That notice can come by email or text message, but if you don’t send a written acknowledgment, the landlord must follow up with a paper notice. Entry must happen at a reasonable time, which the statute defines as between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on a day that is not a Sunday or federal holiday, unless you agree otherwise in writing. Even with proper notice, the landlord needs a legitimate reason such as a routine inspection, a scheduled repair, or a showing to prospective tenants or buyers.

Discrimination

The D.C. Human Rights Act makes it illegal to deny housing, set different lease terms, refuse repairs, or harass a tenant based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status, disability, political affiliation, personal appearance, source of income, sealed eviction record, or homeless status.¹³ This list goes well beyond federal fair housing law.

Source of income protection matters especially for voucher holders. A landlord cannot refuse to rent to you because you pay part of your rent with a Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8), Social Security disability benefits, veterans’ benefits, unemployment insurance, or any other government subsidy.¹⁴ Advertising a unit as “No Section 8” or telling an applicant they must earn three times the full rent even with a voucher are both violations. Complaints go to the D.C. Office of Human Rights.

Eviction

D.C. is a just cause jurisdiction. Your landlord cannot evict you simply because your lease expired. As long as you keep paying rent, your tenancy automatically continues even after the lease term ends.¹⁵ To remove you, the landlord must prove one of the specific grounds the law allows, serve the correct written notice, and get a court order. No landlord can physically remove you from your home without a judge’s approval.

Notice periods vary by reason:

Nonpayment of rent: at least 10 days’ notice before the landlord can file in court, and only if you owe $600 or more.
Lease violation other than rent: 30 days to fix the problem after receiving notice.
Illegal activity: 30-day notice to vacate, dropping to 10 days for dangerous or violent crimes committed after December 31, 2025.
Owner wants to move in: 90-day notice, and the landlord cannot rent the unit to anyone else for 12 months afterward.
Sale to a buyer who will live there: 90-day notice.
Renovations or substantial rehabilitation: 120-day notice.
Demolition or discontinuing housing use: 180-day notice.

These are minimums. The landlord still has to go to court after the notice period expires, and you have the right to contest the eviction at every stage. Nonpayment of a late fee alone is never valid grounds for eviction.¹⁵

Retaliation

If you report a housing code violation, request repairs, organize with other tenants, withhold rent over unsafe conditions, or take any legal action against your landlord, the landlord cannot punish you for it.¹⁶ Retaliation includes trying to evict you, raising your rent outside normal limits, cutting services, harassing you, refusing to renew your lease, or making your living situation deliberately unpleasant.

The law puts the burden on the landlord. If any negative action happens within six months of you exercising a protected right, a court will presume the landlord retaliated. The landlord then has to overcome that presumption with clear and convincing evidence.

Right to Buy Before Your Building Is Sold

The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) gives you a legal right to buy your rental building before the owner sells it to an outside buyer, demolishes it, or stops using it as housing.¹⁷ The owner must deliver a written offer of sale to tenants at a price and terms that represent a genuine offer. Strict deadlines follow.

For buildings with five or more units, tenants must form (or already have) an incorporated tenant organization to exercise TOPA rights collectively. The deadlines:¹⁸

Statement of interest: 45 days for a newly formed tenant organization, 30 days if one already exists.
Negotiation period: at least 120 days after the landlord receives the statement of interest, extended day-for-day if the landlord fails to provide required information.
Right of first refusal: if the landlord enters a contract with a third party, tenants get 15 additional days to match the terms.
Financing: typically 120 days after contracting, extendable up to 240 days if a lender provides a written estimate that a financing decision will take longer.

The process is complex, and the OTA provides dedicated assistance and tutorial materials for tenants going through it.

If Your Building Is Foreclosed

You don’t automatically lose your home if your landlord’s building goes into foreclosure. Under the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, whoever acquires the property must give you at least 90 days’ notice before starting any eviction proceeding.¹⁹ If you have a lease that extends beyond that 90-day period, the new owner must honor it through the end of the lease term. The exception: if the new owner plans to live in the unit as a primary residence, they can terminate your lease after the 90-day notice.

Tenants with Housing Choice Vouchers get an extra layer of protection. The new owner must take over the existing housing assistance payment contract and cannot use the foreclosure itself as a reason to end your tenancy. These federal rules don’t override D.C.’s just-cause eviction protections, which continue to apply.

Servicemember Lease Termination

Active-duty servicemembers who receive PCS orders, deployment orders for 90 days or longer, or who enter active duty after signing a lease can terminate that lease without penalty under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Deliver written notice along with a copy of your military orders to the landlord, either by hand, private carrier, or certified mail. For a monthly lease, termination takes effect 30 days after the next rent payment comes due following delivery of the notice. The landlord cannot charge early termination fees, and any rent paid in advance for the period after the termination date must be refunded within 30 days. You remain responsible for any damage beyond normal wear and tear.

Getting Help

The Office of the Tenant Advocate is a D.C. government agency whose sole job is helping tenants. They provide free legal resources, can explain your rights in a specific dispute, and offer educational materials on rent increases, housing code violations, and the TOPA process.⁶ Reach them by phone at (202) 719-6560, visit their office at 899 North Capitol Street NE, Suite 6200 (walk-ins Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.), or submit a question through their website.

1
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code Title 42 Chapter 35 – Rental Housing Generally
2
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-3502.17 – Security Deposit
3
D.C. Law Library. D.C. Law 16-276 – Security Deposit Amendments
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-3502.05 – Registration and Coverage
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-3502.06 – Rent Ceilings Abolished
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Office of the Tenant Advocate. Office of the Tenant Advocate Homepage
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-3502.24 – Elderly Tenants and Tenants With Disabilities
8
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-3502.08 – Increases Above Base Rent
9
D.C. Law Library. D.C. Law 21-172 – Rental Housing Late Fee Fairness Amendment Act of 2016
10
District of Columbia Municipal Regulations. 14 DCMR 400 – General Provisions
11
District of Columbia Municipal Regulations. 14 DCMR 606 – Water Heating Facilities
12
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-3505.51 – Access by Housing Provider to Dwelling Unit
13
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 2-1402.21 – Prohibitions
14
DC Office of Human Rights. Source of Income Discrimination in Housing – OHR Guidance No. 16-01
15
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-3505.01 – Evictions
16
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-3505.02 – Retaliatory Action
17
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-3404.02 – Tenant Opportunity to Purchase
18
Office of the Tenant Advocate. TOPA – 5 or More Units
19
GovInfo. Public Law 111-22 – Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009