Press Release: At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds Successfully Moves Landmark Tenant Protection Legislation into Law

News Release — At-large DC Council member Anita Bonds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Contact: Kevin B. Chavous

Eviction record sealing and anti-discrimination provisions in housing are among the strongest in the nation. 

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds, Chairperson of the Committee on Housing and Executive Administration, moved into law a measure that provides permanent due process protections for renters in the District.  This bill, entitled the “Eviction Record Sealing Authority and Fair Tenant Screening Amendment Act of 2021,” includes many crucial provisions, including the requirement that housing providers provide written notice of legal proceedings to tenants in all nonpayment of rent cases and the requirement that Court eviction records of all cases that are resolved in the favor of the housing provider must be sealed after three years. 

This transformational law extends and expands on provisions which have been in effect on an emergency and temporary basis since the Council passed the “Fairness in Renting” emergency acts of 2020 and 2021 in recognition of the potential increase in eviction proceedings and represents the culmination of a long process that started in 2018 with Councilmember Bonds’ introduction of the original “Eviction Record Sealing Authority Amendment Act of 2018”.

“I am proud of the Council today,” said Councilmember Bonds.  “This legislation is necessary to ensure that tenants receive the due process that they are entitled to when faced with eviction proceedings; and, perhaps more importantly, that we don’t create a whole new class of disenfranchised residents who bear a scarlet letter – simply because an eviction case was filed against them.  Housing in the District is fundamental, and an individual trapped in poverty or temporarily hampered by missed bill payments should not be denied a second or third chance to receive housing due to their previous financial hardship.”

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