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The Death & Life of DC

@deathandlifeofdc

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🌸☠️ DC Politics and Housing for REAL people
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@dcdpw is looking ideas to name the new plows and I am throwing my hat in the ring. Please click the link in my bio to submit your vote for Muriel Plowser #murielplowser like this post and share with your friends so we can make this happen! by @deathandlifeofdc

I am frustrated so last week I spoke with @hayleymilontv from @dcnewsnow about RUBS. Some D.C. renters pay utility bills based partly on what their neighbors use, with charges that can also cover shared spaces and apartments sitting empty. A new District law is changing which expenses landlords can bill separately thanks to @cmcharlesallen

The Fair Housing Practices Amendment Act of 2026 took effect Aug. 14, clarifying restrictions on fees for required services, including trash and third-party utility billing. A separate provision beginning Jan. 1, 2027, prohibits landlords from separately charging tenants for utilities used in common areas or vacant units.

I feel like this change is a great start, but it doesn’t go far enough to protect consumers. We need to ban rubs in dc so renters are only paying for utilities they actually use. This is personally important to me because after I testified about this Johanna Shreve who is the Chief Tenant Advocate of the District of Columbia told me that it would never get banned. I thought this was a super weird comment from the Chief Tenant Advocate. Now it’s my goal to prove her wrong. by @deathandlifeofdc

If you live in dc, the easiest way to save money on your utility bill is to call or email your CM and ask them to ban RUBS. Stop paying your neighbor’s utility bills- you should only be responsible for what your household *actually* uses. Ask council to amend the True Act and Ban RUBS. Seriously- the legislation is being discussed so email and call your councilmembers and the councilmembers at large TODAY.
Call and email the at large council and your ward CM- tell them to ban rubs under the true act so that you don’t pay for your neighbor’s utilities!

At Large Council:
Phil Mendelson: pmendelson@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8032
Anita Bonds: abonds@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8064
Robert White: rwhite@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8174
Christina Henderson chenderson@dccouncil.gov(202) 724-8105
Doni Crawford dcrawford@dccouncil.gov

Ward Councilmembers:
Ward 1: Brianne Nadeau bnadeau@dccouncil.gov(202) 724-8181
Ward 2: Brooke Pinto bpinto@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8058
Ward 3: Matthew Frumin mfrumin@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8062
Ward 4: Janeese Lewis George jlewisgeorge@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8052
Ward 5: Zachary Parker zparker@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8028
Ward 6: Charles Allen callen@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8072
Ward 7: Wendell Felder wfelder@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8068
Ward 8: Trayon White twhite@dccouncil.gov (202) 724-8045 by @deathandlifeofdc

@braschreports has been covering the mess that is the @councilmember_robertwhite transition including the dire warning from @dcdemocrats about home rule and dc democracy and also coverage on how this leaves the housing committee.

@councilmember_robertwhite is a true public servant and is in this for the right reasons and I am going to miss him on the council so much. by @deathandlifeofdc

HUD’s nationwide freeze on new housing vouchers means the DC Housing Authority (DCHA) cannot help any new families on its waiting list. When a family leaves the voucher program, DCHA cannot hand that voucher to the next person in line. This traps thousands of low-income DC residents in a frozen system, unable to get help. On top of that, if DC has to lower its voucher payouts—just like Alexandria dropping from 110% to 99%—the vouchers become less valuable. In a super-expensive city like DC, a lower payout means families can no longer afford their rent, leading to evictions, moves to lower-income areas, or homelessness. It also scares away private landlords, who will create screening guidelines that will allow them to circumvent accepting vouchers entirely if the government payments don’t cover market rents.

Alexandria’s massive $54.5 million repair bill also highlights that federal money for fixing public housing has dried up, which is terrible news for DC’s aging buildings. DC has its own giant, multi-billion-dollar backlog of broken elevators, mold, and leaky roofs in its public housing. With the federal government cutting back, DC won’t get a federal rescue check to fix these apartments. This forces DC to either have to use local tax dollars to fix the buildings, or let them fall apart and rot until they are unlivable. To make matters worse, because Alexandria is cutting back on help, families from Northern Virginia will try to move their vouchers into DC to find housing. This creates a regional bottleneck, forcing more families to compete for a shrinking number of available, affordable apartments. by @deathandlifeofdc

Least problematic elected official who is beloved by all @christinahendersondc is potentially switching her party affiliation which would allow the council to put her into @councilmember_robertwhite as reported by @tomsherwooddc by @deathandlifeofdc

What down payment assistance programs have you used or do you reccomend as a dc resident?

As reported by @urbanturf a new report by @zillow shows how impactful these programs can be especially in dc. by @deathandlifeofdc

hey babe this is fraud… by @deathandlifeofdc

by @deathandlifeofdc

Excluding kettler and bozzuto the following groups represent 20% of the eviction cases filed in dc. I want to see this program be successful, but I want the money to reach actual people in need and landlords who aren’t using the court system to intimidate tenants into compliance. In addition to filing the most evictions, the landlords on this list have tens of millions of housing code violations and tax payers have already been spraying them with cash for years. by @deathandlifeofdc

Even with the new legislation, you can still be responsible for hefty utility bills, even if you go on vacation or are deployed overseas.

DC needs to ban rubs. All the landlords in my comments need to chill- you can still bill tenants via base rent to account for utilities you are unable to submeter. No mental gymnastics will convince me tenants should be responsible for variable utility expenses that they have no control over. by @deathandlifeofdc

The office of @dcattorneygeneral is testifying in connection with the Shared Housing Agreements and Resolution Effort (SHARE) Act, legislation that would create a mediation pilot program designed to resolve nonpayment of rent eviction cases more quickly.

They note: “Early mediation of eviction cases can help address ongoing nonpayment of rent challenges the system is facing. An eviction mediation program can speed resolutions in these cases and help minimize the strain on the Court. Many eviction cases settle – less than 1% went to trial in 2025 – but settlements often happen months into the case. Early mediation uses the time between an eviction filing and initial hearing to disrupt nonpayment, resolve cases, conserve judicial resources, and allow landlord and tenant attorneys to focus on cases where early settlement is not possible.”

Coupled with investment in tenant housing counseling services the early intervention can help resolve situations where landlords are using the court system as a collection/intimidation tool and tenants can be connected with resources/structure payment plans in a timely way with actual advocates.

Right now the proposed program would be able to help around 2,000 people but the ag wants to increase that to 5,000. There are around 15,000 that get served with eviction every year, with less than 1% going to trial. by @deathandlifeofdc