(a) Except as provided in this Section, the Director must inspect each apartment complex and personal living quarters building licensed as rental housing, at least once within each three-year period to determine if it complies with all applicable laws. The Director may inspect an apartment complex or personal living quarters building more often than the triennial inspection.
(b) The Director must inspect, at least once each year, any rental housing which, after inspection, the Director:
(1) finds in violation of any applicable law that adversely affects the immediate health and safety of the tenants, including:
(A) rodent or insect infestation affecting 20% or more units in a building;
(B) extensive and visible mold growth on interior walls or surfaces exposed to the occupied space;
(C) windows that do not permit a safe means of egress;
(D) pervasive and recurring water leaks that result in chronic dampness, mold growth, or personal property damage in more than one unit; or
(E) lack of one or more working utilities that is not shut off due to tenant non-payment, including:
(2) determines to be a troubled property, under a procedure established by method (2) regulation that:
(A) classifies violation types by severity; and
(i) severity of violations; and
(ii) quantity of violations.
(c) The Director must require a corrective action plan for any property subject to annual inspections under subsection (b). A property required to develop and implement a corrective action plan must be inspected at least once each year until the Director determines that the corrective action plan has been successfully completed.
(d) The Director may inspect any other rental housing if the Director receives a complaint or a request from a landlord or tenant or believes that the rental housing does not comply with all applicable laws.
(e) As a condition of receiving a license under this Chapter, a landlord must agree to:
(1) allow access to the Department for any inspection required under this Chapter or Chapter 26;
(2) notify any affected tenant whose unit requires inspection at least 72 hours in advance of a scheduled inspection under subsection (a) of this Section; and
(3) when subject to annual inspection under subsection (b), provide quarterly updates to the Director listing all maintenance requests received by the landlord from tenants.
(f) If an inspection indicates that any rental housing does not comply with all applicable laws, the Director must notify the landlord in writing and order correction of each violation within a specified period of time. If the landlord does not correct the violation in the specified period of time, the Director may:
(1) authorize a tenant to:
(A) have the violation corrected by a licensed contractor selected from a list maintained by the Director; and
(B) deduct the reasonable cost of the repair up to the amount of one month’s rent, from the tenant’s rent; or
(2) revoke the license or take other remedial action under Section 29-25.
(g) A landlord of licensed rental housing notified after initial inspection of a violation of applicable laws must pay the cost of the third, and subsequent inspections, as established by regulation, if the violation is not corrected by the second inspection. (1972 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 1973 L.M.C., ch. 14, § 2; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 11, § 2; 1980 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1; 1981 L.M.C., ch. 35, § 2; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 23, § 6; 1992 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 1; 1997 L.M.C., ch. 1, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; , § 1; , §1.)
Editor’s note—, § 2, states: Two-year intensive inspection program.
(a) The Director must, by July 1, 2019, inspect a sample of each multifamily rental property for which a certificate of occupancy was issued before January 1, 2015.
(b) The Director must provide to the Council, by January 15, 2017, a plan to inspect rental housing under subsection (a) that includes:
(1) a means of prioritizing inspections;
(2) standardized inspections for all units; and
(3) an estimate of the cost for conducting the inspections.
Section 29-22, formerly § 29-21, was renumbered, amended and retitled pursuant to 2000 L.M.C., ch. 32, §1.
