By The Washington Times (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-13 19:46:10 | Updated at 2026-08-13 21:09:10
2 hours ago
Housing providers have asked House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer to investigate the District for ignoring the end of COVID-19 renter protections, which they say has blocked them from collecting back payments and evicting tenants in arrears.
The DC Housing Recovery Coalition, a group of landlords that formed in March to address the city’s housing crisis, told the Kentucky Republican in a July 27 letter that backlogged evictions are still taking a year or more to get through D.C. Superior Court despite a recent law designed to expedite them.
The coalition cited “record-setting levels of economic vacancy and rental nonpayment” exceeding $1 billion as reasons for Mr. Comer’s committee to launch a “comprehensive review” of delays built into the court system and D.C. Council policy.
“They’ve set up a policy that makes it almost impossible to collect rent or evict people,” coalition chairman Dean Hunter told The Washington Times. “The situation is escalating and destabilizing the city’s housing ecosystem.”
Mr. Hunter estimated that half the city’s publicly financed affordable housing units are financially distressed, pushing landlords to default on loans and foreclose as they struggle to cover repairs and maintenance.
“It’s outrageous that we’re still asking six years after the pandemic for emergency protections to be rolled back,” he added in a Thursday phone call.
Congress is on recess, and attempts to reach Mr. Comer for comment proved unsuccessful.
D.C. Council member Robert White, at-large Democrat and chairman of the Housing Committee, urged the coalition in a letter Sunday to cancel its demand.
His letter, which Mr. Hunter shared with The Times, cites the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops and immigration agents as reasons for opposing congressional oversight.
“Whatever frustrations housing providers have with the Council, the courts, or District agencies, there is no basis for assuming that Congress will enter D.C.’s housing system as a neutral arbiter focused narrowly on the interests of small housing providers,” wrote Mr. White, who oversees housing policy for the council.
The Times reached out Thursday to Mr. White and other city officials for comment.
“Under local control, we have built a strong local economy, gone from junk-bond status to a AAA bond rating, built tens of thousands of units of housing, and invested in world-class services for residents,” the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development said in an emailed statement.
“DC’s elected Mayor and Council are chosen by Washingtonians and accountable to Washingtonians, and must remain the deciding bodies for policies affecting DC’s future,” it added.
Enacted at the end of last year, the D.C. RENTAL Act reduced the required notice period before most evictions can be filed from 30 to 10 days and lifted some pandemic-era restrictions on the process.
Its effect on backlogged eviction cases remains unclear, and unpaid rent has continued to snowball.
The housing policy think tank New America counted 1,065 eviction filings and 162 completed evictions per month in an analysis of city data between June 2025 and December. That number inched up to 1,231 filings — but only 110 physical removals — in February after the RENTAL Act kicked in.
New America estimates that the District averaged 12,700 eviction filings per year between 2023 and 2025, down 58% from 30,455 annually between 2016 and 2019. So far this year, the tally of new eviction filings is more in line with the last three years than the pre-pandemic period.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat who leaves office at the end of the year, introduced two housing bills in the D.C. Council last month to address delays in the system. They include the proposal for a 60-day deadline to schedule a hearing after an eviction filing — an idea the council removed from the final version of the RENTAL Act when she first proposed it last year, citing judicial vacancies and due process concerns.
“This legislation is about creating a fairer, more predictable housing system that protects tenants, while giving housing providers the confidence to continue investing in our neighborhoods,” Ms. Bowser said in a July 10 statement.
