Content categorized as Eviction

Council acts to seal eviction records and tamp down on serial eviction filing

The D.C. Council passed emergency legislation last week that provides for eviction records to be sealed after 30 days when eviction is not granted, and after three years when a tenant is evicted. The legislation is part of a package to limit the long term impacts of eviction, which limits the use of prior evictions for landlords deciding whether to rent to tenants and calls for the fee to file an eviction with the court to be raised.

Of DC’s 24 at-large candidates, who has a specific plan to address homelessness?

A Street Sense Media analysis determined that only six of the 24 at-large DC Council candidates on the ballot advertised specific plans with measurable goals to address homelessness in their online platforms. We sent them five questions about local poverty.

For District residents who can’t make rent, aid is still available

Three rental assistance programs, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program the COVID-19 Housing Assistance Program and the DHCD Rental Assistance program still have funds available for tenants. With these funds, as well as further action, the District hopes to prevent an eviction surge post-pandemic.

DC landlords can no longer provide eviction notices during the pandemic

Landlords cannot provide eviction notices to tenants until the current eviction moratorium expires, the D.C. Council decided Sept. 22.

Protesters call for Anita Bonds to cancel rent and defund MPD

Organizers and D.C. residents made noise outside At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds’s house and gave speeches about the need for rent cancellation for D.C. residents.

Tenants withholding payments urge DC Council to cancel rent

The DC Tenant Union organized strikes in a dozen apartment buildings across the city to urge the council to cancel rent in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2-day sit-in across from the Wilson Building protests DC police budget expansion

Members of the racial justice collective Freedom Fighters D.C. began to sit in at the plaza in protest of the mayor’s proposed police budget. Hundred joined them over the course of two days.

No significant funding added to Emergency Rental Assistance Program despite ongoing effects of COVID-19

Proposed funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program in fiscal year 2021 has decreased by $15,000 compared to what was approved this year.

Tenants on strike describe the financial, medical, and emotional toll of apartments in disrepair

Local tenants who have been withholding rent since December describe the myriad problems with their apartments, including mold, bedbugs, leaks and broken heaters.

Rent Strike: Facing eviction, tenants rally outside courthouse demanding repairs

After local tenants withheld their rent to demand repairs, their landlord sent them eviction notices. A rally was held the morning of their court date.

Brookland Manor residents keep battling possible displacement

Brookland Manor residents keep on fighting the possible displacement they face with upcoming redevelopment.

Seeing Double: DC drastically reduces the number of people in shelter as more double up

Since 2015, the D.C. Department of Human Services has decreased the number of families in its care by over 40 percent.

DC residents launch a city-wide tenant union in hopes to foster solidarity across the District

Hundreds of D.C. tenants gathered on July 20 to elect a board for the first city-wide tenant union in years and share organizing strategies to preserve affordable housing.

Cheh re-introduces eviction bill hoping to seal case records and end discrimination

A new eviction policy bill aimed at promoting a second chance for tenants with eviction records could decrease mass eviction filings by mandating a 30-day notice from landlords.

After years of questionable housing and facing homelessness, this woman will keep surviving

IjahQueen Is Peniel is losing her housing voucher following three years of poor living conditions and struggling to pay rent. She believes a paperwork error led her to fall behind on her rent and not have her lease renewed. Now she must try and find new housing without the subsidy from the state.

Landlords and advocates for the homeless community push back on new eviction legislation

Three eviction bills, some benefiting landlords and some benefiting tenants, were debated by landlords, tenants and advocates at a Sept. 24 D.C. Council hearing.  Councilmember Anita… Read more »

This court-appointed receiver filed eviction suits in bulk against tenants of two properties it intends to sell

Residents of once-Sanford Capital owned properties are being sued for back pay following divestment of the low-income real estate firm’s assets to a receivership group. 

Eviction Companies Pay Homeless People Illegally Low Wages to Put Others on the Street

Eviction companies are still illegally paying the homeless below minimum wages to put out other people on the street. Street Sense editor reported his first hand experience on an eviction truck. Reprinted with permission from Washington CityPaper.

D.C. Council Considers Free Legal Services for Washingtonians Facing Eviction

District residents facing eviction or shelter termination may soon have access to free legal services in landlord-tenant court