Section 14-4212. PETITIONS FOR SUBSTANTIAL REHABILITATION

 

4212.1A housing provider who proposes to substantially rehabilitate a rental unit or housing accommodation may petition the Rent Administrator for an increase in the rent ceiling for the rental unit or housing accommodation under § 214 of the Act (a “substantial rehabilitation petition”).

 

4212.2A housing provider shall file a substantial rehabilitation petition on a form prescribed by the Rent Administrator and shall include with the petition the following information:

 

(a)Detailed plans, specifications and projected cost of the proposed rehabilitation;

 

(b)Documentation of the assessed value of the housing accommodation as determined by the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue for real estate taxation purposes for the tax year beginning no later than sixty (60) days after the date on which the petition is filed; and

 

(c)A schedule showing all rental units in the housing accommodation to be rehabilitated showing whether the rental unit is vacant or occupied and, if vacant, the date and cause of its vacation.

 

4212.3A housing provider shall not begin the rehabilitation of any rental unit or housing accommodation or seek to evict a tenant in order to rehabilitate a rental unit without the prior approval of the Rent Administrator.

 

4212.4The Rent Administrator shall consider and dispose of each substantial rehabilitation petition within sixty (60) days of the date on which the petition is filed.

 

4212.5The Rent Administrator shall grant a substantial rehabilitation petition without a hearing if the Rent Administrator finds the following:

 

(a)That each rental unit for which a rent ceiling adjustment is sought is vacant;

 

(b)That no rental unit in subsection (a) was vacated in violation of §§ 501 or 502 of the Act; and

 

(c)That the cost of the proposed substantial rehabilitation exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the assessed value of the rental unit or housing accommodation; provided, that the assessed value of a rental unit shall be that portion of the assessed value of the housing accommodation calculated by multiplying the assessed value of the housing accommodation calculated by a fraction whose numerator is the square footage of the rental unit and whose denominator is the total square footage of the housing accommodation including all common elements.

 

4212.6If any rental unit for which a rent ceiling adjustment is requested under this section is occupied, the Rent Administrator shall consider and dispose of the petition pursuant to the hearing provisions of chapters 39 and 40.

 

4212.7A housing provider who has filed a petition under this section affecting an occupied rental unit shall promptly serve on the tenant of the occupied unit a notice of intent to substantially rehabilitate the rental unit or housing accommodation in which it is located which shall state at least the following:

 

(a)That a petition to allow substantial rehabilitation has been filed with the Rent Administrator who will review the petition;

 

(b)That no work that will displace or inconvenience tenants, and no work in any occupied apartment, without a tenant’s permission, will begin for at least one hundred twenty (120) days;

 

(c)Whether the tenants will be required to vacate in order to perform the work necessary for the substantial rehabilitation, if it is approved;

 

(d)If the tenants shall be required to vacate for completion of the proposed rehabilitation, that the notice is the one hundred twenty (120) day notice to vacate required by § 501(f) of the Act;

 

(e)That upon completion of substantial rehabilitation the tenants have the right to re-rent their former rental units at the newly authorized rent ceiling; and

 

(f)That the tenants are entitled to relocation assistance as provided in title VII of the Act if they are required to vacate in order for the necessary work to be done. Where the tenants shall be required to vacate if the petition is approved, the initial notice shall contain the language set forth in § 501 of the Act.

 

4212.8The Rent Administrator shall grant a substantial rehabilitation petition affecting an occupied rental unit only if the Rent Administrator finds the following:

 

(a)That the proposed rehabilitation is in the interest of the tenant of the rental unit;

 

(b)That the cost of the proposed rehabilitation equals or exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the assessed value of the rental unit or housing accommodation as determined under § 4212.5(c); and

 

(c)That the building permit for the proposed rehabilitation was issued after January 31, 1973.

 

4212.9To determine whether a proposed substantial rehabilitation is in the interest of the tenant, the Rent Administrator may consider the following:

 

(a)The existing physical condition of the rental unit or housing accommodation as shown by reports or testimony of D.C. housing inspectors, licensed engineers, architects and contractors, or other qualified experts;

 

(b)Whether the existing physical condition impairs or tends to impair the health, safety or welfare of any tenant;

 

(c)Whether the existing physical conditions can be corrected by improved maintenance, repair or capital improvement; and

 

(d)The impact of the proposed rehabilitation on the tenant or tenants in terms of proposed financial cost, inconvenience or relocation.

 

4212.10The amount of a rent ceiling increase that a housing provider may take and implement pursuant to a final order of the Rent Administrator on a substantial rehabilitation petition shall be as follows:

 

(a)The amount which authorizes rent increases sufficient to repay a loan in the principal amount of the cost of the approved rehabilitation over the amortization period and at the rate of interest documented by the housing provider in a bona fide loan commitment agreement with a lender; or

 

(b)In the absence of a loan commitment agreement, over an amortization period of two hundred forty (240) months at the rate of interest equal to two (2) points above the average monthly bank prime loan rate established by the Federal Reserve Board in Publication H-15, Selected Interest Rates, for the week in which the substantial rehabilitation petition is filed; provided, that the amount of the rent ceiling shall not exceed one hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the rent ceiling at the time the petition is filed.

 

4212.11A housing provider shall take and perfect a rent ceiling adjustment pursuant to final order of the Rent Administrator on a substantial rehabilitation petition in the manner set forth in § 4204.10, and the date of perfection of the rent ceiling adjustment shall be the date on which the housing provider satisfies the notice requirements of § 4101.6; provided, that a housing provider shall not take and implement a rent ceiling increase under this section until the approved substantial rehabilitation has been completed.

 

4212.12Where a housing provider increases the rent for a rental unit to an amount equal to or less than the rent ceiling adjustment permitted by § 4212.1, the housing provider shall comply with the provisions of §§ 4205.4 and 4205.5, and the notices required by §§ 4101.6 and 4205.4(a) may be issued simultaneously on a form of notice approved by the Rent Administrator.

 

source

Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 33 DCR 1336, 1404 (March 7, 1986); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 33 DCR 2656, 2668 (May 2, 1986).

EditorNote

The District of Columbia Office of the Chief Financial Officer published a Notice of Public Interest at 44 DCR 2345 (April 18, 1997) which advised that "[t]he OFFICE OF TAX AND REVENUE will assume all of the duties and functions previously performed by the DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND REVENUE, as set forth in Commissioner’s Order 69-96, dated March 7, 1969." All references to the "Department of Finance and Revenue" in the original text of these regulations have been replaced with the "Office of Tax and Revenue."