The Washington Post: Housing advocates push for more aggressive rent-control measures in D.C.

In Sept, D.C. council signed off to extend the 1985 rent control law until Dec. 2030, which allows annual rent increases by landlords. Fearing a higher rate of gentrification in the city, a coalition of 17 groups, unveiled "The Reclaim Rent Control" campaign.  This campaign, seeks to expand rent control laws in four ways listed below: 

● Cap annual rent increases at the rate of inflation by eliminating the extra 2 percent allowed under the current law.

 ● Make small, four-unit apartment buildings and all buildings built before 2005 subject to rent control.

● Make new units subject to rent control after 15 years.

● Cut the minimum number of properties landlords must own before they are subject to rent-control provisions and eliminate what are known as “vacancy increases,” which allow landlords to increase the rent of a unit when it is vacated by the previous tenant. 

According to a National Community Reinvestment Coalition, out of any other city in the country, D.C. had the greatest "Intensity of Gentrification". To be exact, between 2000 and 2013, 40% of the District's lower-income neighborhoods experienced gentrification.  Further research found that over 20,000 African Americans were displaced during that time from their neighborhoods by affluent, White outsiders. Unite Here Local 25 representative, Benjy Cannon, states “Our members live in D.C., and even with the strong wages and benefits we’ve been able to secure for them, staying in the city is still really, really difficult and really, really expensive,” “It’s so important to have a diverse cross-section of groups pushing for this because issues of inequality, racism, housing, poverty, employment — they’re all interconnected.”

Read More