Testimony before the Hon. Councilmember Robert C. White Jr.
Chair of the Committee on Housing
District of Columbia Council
We ask the DC Council to support the Emergency Rental Assistance Reform Amendment Act (B25-994) to avert a crisis driven by unprecedented levels of unpaid rent. The bill would ensure that DC law establishes the right incentives to bring tenants and housing providers together to save and stabilize at-risk housing to serve low income DC residents.
Affordable housing providers are not receiving enough rent collection to pay their mortgages or maintenance costs. This gap in unpaid rent risks foreclosure and mass evictions. Without the proposed revisions in this bill, tens of thousands of dedicated, District-subsidized homes could be lost forever.
This legislation facilitates eviction diversion mediation, and affordable payment plans that allow tenants and landlords to resolve past debts. The goal is to bring tenants back to actively engaging with housing providers to find solutions to cover the cost of housing. The current level of unpaid rent puts all tenants at risk of eviction – those who are paying rent, and those who are not – if these buildings go into foreclosure and are sold. This bill supports alternatives to eviction that are not possible under the ERAP law prior to the temporary emergency legislation currently in place.
Affordable housing providers are urging the Council to adopt this legislation to get tenants back on track to working with landlords to pay rents they can afford, obtain subsidies that are available, and meet affordable housing compliance requirements. We join affordable housing providers in supporting this legislation.
This bill is only the beginning to stabilizing the DC affordable housing market that is at the brink of collapse. We will continue to advocate for increased investment in housing affordable to low income residents, addressing the LIHTC bond cap, and additional improvements to ERAP and other support for tenants to secure decent, affordable homes close to jobs, services, and transit.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Cheryl Cort
Policy Director