Landlord Atlas

District of Columbia: Rent Stabilization Program

Verified September 20, 2026 All District of Columbia topics →

In the District of Columbia, rent on a unit covered by the Rent Stabilization Program may rise by no more than 4.1% in the year beginning May 1, 2026, and by no more than 2.1% where the tenant has registered as age 62 or older or as having a disability.

Cited to D.C. Code § 42-3502.08 (increases above base rent; the rent cap) and 24 more sources · Verified September 20, 2026

The limit comes from the Rental Housing Act of 1985: the yearly adjustment of general applicability, which is the prior calendar year's change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the Washington area, plus 2 percentage points, and never more than 10% in total. The Rental Housing Commission certifies the figures before February 1 each year and they take effect the following May 1. Rent may rise only once every 12 months, and a notice of increase does not take effect until the first normal rent day more than 60 calendar days after the tenant receives it. Many units are exempt, including buildings permitted after December 31, 1975, subsidized and tax-credit housing, and buildings of 4 or fewer units owned by no more than 4 natural persons who own nothing else in the District, but an exemption for a small owner counts only if a claim of exemption has been filed. When a tenant leaves, the rent may rise 10%, or 20% if that tenant had been there more than 10 years. Separately, and whether or not a unit is rent-stabilized, a tenant in the District cannot be evicted just because a lease ended, so long as the rent is paid.

Current published figures

Figure Value Applies to Source
General limit on a rent increase for an occupied covered unit 4.1% (the 2.1% adjustment of general applicability plus the 2 percentage points allowed by D.C. Code § 42-3502.08(h)(2)(A)) May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027 Official source
Limit for a unit occupied by a registered elderly tenant or tenant with a disability 2.1% (the least of the 2.1% adjustment of general applicability, the 2.8% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2026, and 5%) May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027 Official source
Adjustment of general applicability (the price-index figure on its own) 2.1% May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027 Official source
Income ceiling to be exempt from a petition surcharge as an elderly tenant or tenant with a disability $68,850 for one person, $78,650 for two, $88,500 for three, $98,350 for four, and $108,150 for five or more plus $9,850 for each additional person May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027 Official source
Maximum application fee, and maximum replacement, assignment or sublet fee $54 calendar year 2026 Official source

These figures change on a published cycle; each row states the window it applies to and links the source that published it. Confirm the current figure at the source before acting on it.

What is in force

In force today. The Rent Stabilization Program runs under the Rental Housing Act of 1985 (D.C. Law 6-10), effective July 17, 1985 and codified at D.C. Code § 42-3501.01 and following. The Rental Housing Commission sets the yearly increase limits and the Rental Accommodations Division of the Department of Housing and Community Development administers the program. The most recent changes came from the Rebalancing Expectations for Neighbors, Tenants, and Landlords (RENTAL) Amendment Act of 2025, effective December 31, 2025, which reshaped the eviction sections, and from two acts effective April 16, 2026: one barring evictions on days above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and one confirming that units receiving Low-Income Housing Tax Credit credits are exempt from rent stabilization. A further act effective August 14, 2026, the Fair Housing Practices Amendment Act of 2026 (D.C. Law 26-156), bars fees for services a housing provider must supply under the implied warranty of habitability, adds a 45-day notice of any amount claimed after a tenant moves out, and, beginning January 1, 2027, bars separately billing tenants for the utility charges of common spaces and vacant units.

The rent increase limit

For a covered unit that is occupied, the increase may not exceed the yearly adjustment of general applicability plus 2 percentage points, and the total may never exceed 10% (D.C. Code § 42-3502.08(h)(2)(A)). The adjustment of general applicability is the prior calendar year's change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the Washington area, and it is itself capped at 10% (§ 42-3502.06(b)). For a unit occupied by an elderly tenant or a tenant with a disability who has registered that status, the increase is the least of the adjustment of general applicability, the most recent Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or 5% (§ 42-3502.24(a)). For a unit leased or co-leased by a home and community-based services waiver provider, the limit is the lesser of 5% or the adjustment of general applicability. Rent may not be raised until a full 12 months have passed since the last increase, and an unused year cannot be saved up and added to a later increase. A housing provider who wants more than the yearly limit must petition the Rent Administrator: capital improvements allow up to 20% for a building-wide project or 15% for work on individual units, a hardship petition allows an increase generating no more than a 12% rate of return, substantial rehabilitation allows up to 125% of the prior rent, and 70% or more of the tenants may sign a voluntary agreement.

What housing is covered

The Rent Stabilization Program reaches every rental unit in the District except those the law exempts. The main exemptions are: units in federally or District-owned or subsidized housing, and units receiving Low-Income Housing Tax Credit credits; units in a building whose construction permit issued after December 31, 1975, and units added to an existing building under a certificate of occupancy issued after January 1, 1980; buildings of 4 or fewer rental units owned by no more than 4 natural persons where none of the owners holds any interest in any other rental unit in the District; units continuously vacant since January 1, 1985; certain cooperative units held by no more than 4 natural persons; and buildings under an executed building improvement plan. An exemption for a small owner or a cooperative unit exists only if a claim of exemption is filed with the Rent Administrator. Four exemptions the Council passed in 1985 were rejected by District voters that November and never took effect. Separately, the Rental Housing Act as a whole does not reach diplomatic residences, units in hospitals and nursing and personal care homes, dormitories, or certain long-term temporary housing run by a nonprofit for families under 50% of area median income.

What happens on vacancy

When a tenant leaves voluntarily, or after a notice to vacate for nonpayment of rent, a violation of the tenancy, or a court-determined illegal use, the housing provider may raise the rent by 10% if the departing tenant lived there 10 years or less, or by 20% if the tenant lived there more than 10 years (D.C. Code § 42-3502.13). The unit must be registered first, and no vacancy increase may be taken within 12 months after a hardship increase. If a unit goes vacant within 12 months of an earlier increase, the vacancy increase may still be taken, but then no further increase is allowed for a full 12 months even if the unit turns over again. At the start of a new tenancy the housing provider must give the tenant, on a form published by the Rent Administrator, the starting rent and every increase over the preceding 3 years with the reason for each, and must file that notice with the Rent Administrator within 30 days.

Eviction and termination rules

A tenant may not be evicted even after the lease expires, so long as the tenant keeps paying the rent owed, and nonpayment of a late fee is never a basis for eviction (D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(a)(1)). Every eviction needs a written notice, and every notice other than for nonpayment goes to both the tenant and the Rent Administrator. The notice periods are 10 days before filing a nonpayment case, and only if at least $600 of rent is unpaid; 30 days to correct a violation of the tenancy; 30 days for a court-determined illegal act, cut to 10 days with a hearing within 20 days where the act would be a dangerous crime or a crime of violence in a case filed after December 31, 2025; 90 days for an owner moving in; 90 days for a sale to a buyer who will live there; 120 days for alterations that cannot be done while the unit is occupied; 120 days for substantial rehabilitation; and 180 days for demolition or for ending the housing use. After an owner move-in or a contract sale, no rent may be collected on the unit for 12 months, and a housing provider who breaks that owes the former tenant relocation costs and damages of up to 12 months of rent. No eviction may take place on a day the National Weather Service predicts at 8:00 a.m. that the temperature at the National Airport station will fall below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or rise above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, or while precipitation is falling at the unit, unless a court has found an illegal act, undue hardship on other tenants or neighbors, or abandonment. At the writ stage the housing provider must show the court a current rental housing business license. A tenant who is a victim, or the parent or guardian of a minor victim, of an intrafamily offense has a defense, and a court may not enter judgment for possession where a protection order has already ordered the other party to leave. In a case for unpaid rent, the court may pause the case once while the tenant has an application pending with the District's Emergency Rental Assistance Program. If the tenant tells the housing provider at least 48 hours before a scheduled eviction that an approved application will pay the full amount needed to keep the tenancy, the housing provider must cancel the eviction, and any new date must be at least 3 weeks after the cancelled one. The court may order a housing provider to give the program the payment information it has asked for, and where the housing provider failed to provide it for more than 45 days, may treat the rent the program would have paid as waived, unless the delay was caused by someone outside the housing provider's control, there was other good cause, or the program has since paid (D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(r)–(t)).

Registration and filings

Every housing provider must register each housing accommodation with the Rent Administrator, whether the units are covered by rent stabilization or exempt, and must file online through the RentRegistry portal at rentregistry.dc.gov. A person who becomes a housing provider must file within 30 days. A housing provider who fails to register owes a penalty of $100 per unit, and a non-exempt housing provider who has not registered may not put a rent increase into effect until registration and any penalty are settled. After an increase, a copy of the notice given to the tenant must be filed within 30 days of the effective date; a change in ownership, management, or the services included in rent must be filed within 30 days. A duplicate of the registration statement must stay posted in a public place on the property, or be mailed to the tenant where the accommodation is a single unit. A tenant claiming elderly status or disability status files that claim through the same portal, and the status takes effect on the first day of the first month after the filing is complete.

Other requirements

A rent increase does not take effect until the first normal rent day more than 60 calendar days after the tenant receives notice (D.C. Code § 42-3509.04(b)); this replaced a 30-day period on November 28, 2023. Rent may not rise above base rent at all unless the property is in substantial compliance with the housing regulations, the accommodation is registered, the housing provider is licensed, and the tenant has been told in writing what the maximum increase is for an elderly tenant or a tenant with a disability and how to establish that status. The increase notice must state the current rent, the new rent, the utilities covered, and the reason, and must include a summary of tenant rights. A late fee may not exceed 5% of the full rent due, may be charged only after a 5-day grace period, only if the lease states the maximum, and never more than once per late payment. A mandatory fee for a service or facility that has not been approved is prohibited and carries treble damages. An application fee is capped and adjusted each year; a replacement, assignment, or sublet fee is capped at the same amount. A housing provider must give a prospective tenant a written disclosure before taking any fee, covering the fees, the screening criteria, and the criteria that cause automatic denial. Once a year on written request, a tenant may require a statement of every rent increase over the preceding 3 years and the reason for each, delivered within 10 business days. Entry to an occupied unit needs a reasonable purpose, a time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. other than a Sunday or federal holiday, and 48 hours of written notice, except in an emergency. A tenant challenging an increase must petition the Rent Administrator within 3 years of the increase taking effect. Separately, under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, an owner must offer tenants the chance to buy before selling the property or issuing a notice to vacate for demolition or for ending the housing use; since December 31, 2025 that duty does not attach to a building whose permanent certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years. Since August 14, 2026, a housing provider may not charge a fee before move-in, during a tenancy, or after move-out for services it must provide to keep the unit in the condition the implied warranty of habitability and Titles 12 and 14 of the Municipal Regulations require, including any fee for utilities, trash, locks, or the administration of third-party billing (D.C. Code § 42-3505.10(b-2)); withholding a security deposit for damage beyond ordinary wear and tear is unaffected. Within 45 days after a tenancy ends, the housing provider must notify the departed tenant in writing, in person, by email, or by certified mail to a forwarding address it must request, of any amount it claims, with photographs or other supporting documentation and a statement of the right to dispute; the tenant has 30 calendar days to dispute, the housing provider must answer in writing within 10 days, and it must keep proof of service for at least 60 days before sending the amount to a debt collector (D.C. Code § 42-3502.17(e)). Beginning January 1, 2027, a housing provider may not separately charge tenants, other than through the monthly rent, for the utility charges of common spaces or vacant units, though a ratio utility billing system that allocates master-metered charges among tenants remains permitted (D.C. Code § 42-3505.11).

Notes and caveats

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, District of Columbia: Rent Stabilization Program (verified September 20, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/district-of-columbia/rent-stabilization/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified).

Citations

This page records the District of Columbia's own law. The site's statewide topic pages — deposits, notice periods, late fees, entry, evictions — cover the 50 states and do not cover the District; the District of Columbia page lists what the site carries for the District.