COUNCILMEMBER ROBERT WHITE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL BRIAN SCHWALB INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO PROTECT TENANTS LIVING IN DANGEROUS HOUSING STRONG Homes Amendment Act gives the District faster, stronger tools to intervene when landlords allow conditions to spiral into crisis WASHINGTON, DC —Today, Councilmember Robert White, alongside Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb, introduced the STRONG Homes Amendment Act of 2025, legislation designed to close long-standing loopholes that let the worst landlords delay repairs while tenants live with collapsing ceilings, hazardous mold, broken heat, rodent infestations, and other dangerous conditions. “Too many families in our city are still boiling water on stoves for heat, sleeping under tarps because the roof leaks every time it rains, or putting their kids to bed in rooms filled with mold,” said Councilmember Robert White. “This bill gives us the tools to step in faster, cut through delay tactics, and force action when landlords fail to meet even the most basic standards of safety and dignity.” For years, the District has relied on the Tenant Receivership Act, a law that allows the Court to appoint a neutral third party to take temporary control of a severely neglected property. Receivers are empowered to assess repairs, collect rent, and make sure critical work gets done. But gaps in the law including limits on how funds can be used, weak consequences for delay tactics, and uncertainty around what happens after a property is sold have allowed some of the city’s worst conditions to drag on for months or even years. These failures were made painfully clear during Councilmember White’s From Neglect to Respect: Housing Conditions Roundtable, where residents described ceilings collapsing on children’s beds, mushrooms growing from walls, broken boilers in the middle of winter, raw sewage backing up into apartments, and landlords who simply stopped responding.
“My office receives dozens of complaints every year about Washingtonians, across the District, being forced to live in unsafe, unhealthy, illegal conditions. To more effectively hold slumlords accountable and ensure that tenants enjoy the safe, habitable homes they are entitled to, we must address systemic gaps that can interfere with swift remediation of the worst conditions and patterns of neglect,” said Attorney General Schwalb. “I’m proud to partner with Councilmember White to improve upon the current system that too often leaves too many District residents suffering for far too long.” The STRONG Homes Amendment Act of 2025 strengthens the Tenant Receivership Act so the District can act quickly and decisively in the worst cases of landlord neglect. The bill: Improves Emergency Response • Allows OAG to use the Tenant Receivership Abatement Fund for emergency repairs, temporary relocations, and receiver fees enabling immediate interventions when conditions pose health or safety risks. Closes Loopholes and Stops Delay Tactics • Prevents landlords from stalling cases with weak or incomplete abatement plans. • Allows violations to be served by email, reducing opportunities for owners to dodge notice. Ensures Real Accountability for Negligent Owners • Authorizes the Court to order the sale of a property when an owner refuses to make necessary repairs or address chronic, dangerous conditions. • Requires any purchaser of a receivership property to correct all existing housing code violations and submit a detailed plan to do so. • Ensures receiverships continue seamlessly after a sale, making new owners fully responsible for funding and complying with the receivership. Protects Tenants from Paying for Neglect • Prohibits landlords from raising rents during or after a receivership in order to recoup the cost of repairs they should have made years earlier. Strengthens Oversight of LLC and LP Owners • Extends the Attorney General’s authority to seek judicial disso…
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