(a) The Office of the Tenant Advocate ("OTA"), with the assistance of and in close consultation with the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the Office of Tax and Revenue, the Rental Accommodations Division ("RAD") of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Housing Provider Ombudsman of the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, shall develop a user-friendly, Internet-accessible, and searchable database for the submission, management, and review of all documents and relevant data housing providers are required to submit to the RAD pursuant to this subchapter.
(a-1) The Chief Tenant Advocate may contract to implement the database established by this section. Any contract under this section shall be in accordance with Chapter 3A of Title 2.
(b) The database shall include:
(1) An online portal for housing providers located on the website of the Department of Housing and Community Development ("DHCD"), not accessible to the general public, which housing providers shall use to file all documents and data required by this subchapter and all regulations promulgated pursuant to this subchapter; and
(2) An online portal accessible to the general public located on the DHCD website that provides information relevant to tenants seeking and living in rent-controlled accommodations populated from the documents submitted by housing providers pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(c) The portal accessible to the general public shall:
(1) Include the following real-time, searchable parameters:
(A) The building address and ward number;
(B) The base rent for each rental unit in the accommodation;
(C) Any services or facilities provided as part of the base rent;
(D) The amount and date of each annual rent increase or decrease;
(E) The number of bedrooms in each unit;
(F) The vacancy status of each unit;
(G) The accessibility information of the building, as it relates to District of Columbia and federal law;
(H) The name, telephone number, and email address of the housing provider and property manager;
(I) Dates and numbers of the basic business license of the housing provider;
(J) Dates and numbers of the certificate of occupancy of the building;
(K) The name, contact information, and place of business of the registered agent of the building, if applicable;
(L) The licensing and registration of the property manager of the accommodation, when other than the housing provider;
(M) The RAD registration exemption number and date of the housing accommodation;
(N) Any pro-active inspection dates;
(O) Any outstanding violations of the housing regulations applicable to the accommodation;
(P) The notice date of any housing code violations;
(Q) The rate of return for the housing accommodation and computation required by § 42-3502.05(f)(3)(D)(iv);
(R) Any petitions filed by the housing provider including, related services and facilities petition, capital improvement petition, substantial rehabilitation petition, voluntary agreement petition, hardship petition, other valid tenant petitions;
(S) Any court or administrative actions; and
(T) Other information the OTA determines is relevant to tenants seeking and living in rent control accommodations.
(2) Exclude any documentation submitted in support of a tenant's application for elderly or disability status pursuant to § 42-3502.08(h)(2), and any other information the Rent Administrator may deem necessary to exclude to protect the privacy and personal information of a tenant.
(d) Repealed.
(e) The database created pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be completed, tested, and operational by September 30, 2020.
(e-1)(1) OTA shall develop an online portal and database for the filing of registration statements and claims of exemption under § 42-3502.05(f), which OTA shall integrate into the database created pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, by the same date required in subsection (e) of this section for database completion, testing, and operation.
(e-2)(1) The OTA shall transfer administration and maintenance of the databases created pursuant to this section to RAD by the same date required in subsection (e) of this section for database completion, testing, and operation.
(2) While OTA is administering the databases created pursuant to this section, RAD may access the databases and any data housed therein as necessary to carry out its duties under this subchapter.
(f) Repealed.
(g) The OTA shall report to the Council regarding the progress of the database created pursuant to subsection (a) of this section on a quarterly basis.
(h) Beginning January 2020, DHCD shall report to the Council monthly on database usage, including, for the relevant reporting period, the total number of filings housing providers made pursuant to this subchapter, the number of new registrations and claims of exemption filed pursuant to § 42-3502.05, and the number of searches conducted by members of the general public. With the report, DHCD shall provide electronic spreadsheets of all data housing providers entered into the database during the relevant reporting period.
(July 17, 1985, D.C. Law 6-10, § 203a [redesignated]; as added Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, § 2212(a), 62 DCR 10905; Dec. 13, 2017, D.C. Law 22-33, § 2092, 64 DCR 7652; Oct. 30, 2018, D.C. Law 22-168, § 2282(b), 65 DCR 9388; redesignated as § 203c, Sept. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 23-16, § 2132, 66 DCR 8621.)
Emergency LegislationFor temporary (90 days) addition of this section, see § 2122(a) of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).