The D.C. City Council has passed temporary (90 day) legislation that rolls back certain 2020 pandemic era eviction protections and rental assistance afforded to tenants through the D.C Emergency Rental Assistance Program (“ERAP”), that the Council now asserts has created undue hardship on affordable housing landlords. Under the temporary law, tenants seeking eviction protections under ERAP will now have to provide documented proof of an emergency that prevents them from paying their rent, and judges presiding over eviction proceedings may only delay the proceeding once per case. This is a departure from the previous policies that allowed individuals applying to ERAP to self-certify as to their eligibility (even if a tenant was not eligible) and required judges to repeatedly delay proceedings if an ERAP application was pending, even if it ultimately was not approved.

The Council’s future plans regarding this temporary legislation are currently unknown, but has stated it intends to observe the results of this temporary legislation to help guide its next move.

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