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Takoma Park to draft stronger tenant-protection ordinance after HCD recommendations
Summary
Housing staff proposed an ordinance package including clearer rent-increase notices, expanded relocation assistance, a troubled-properties public list, mandatory tenant bill-of-rights distribution, and anonymous complaint options; staff plans an ordinance in early spring with phased implementation beginning summer 2026.
Takoma Park’s Housing and Community Development staff presented a package of tenant-protection recommendations to the City Council on Feb. 23 and said staff will draft an ordinance for council review in early spring.
Paloma Royal LeFebre, the city’s housing manager, said the proposals aim to shore up gaps in existing city protections — including rent-stabilization rules, a tenant opportunity-to-purchase law, and emergency rental-assistance programs — by improving notice, enforcement, and tenant access to remedies. Key proposals include requiring proof of delivery for rent-increase notices and standardizing the information those notices must include; expanding temporary-displacement and relocation assistance when tenants must leave through no fault of their own; mandating distribution of a tenant bill of rights; and creating a troubled-properties program that aggregates and publishes chronic code-violation scores to help tenants evaluate buildings.
Royal LeFebre also recommended lowering barriers to making complaints before the Commission on Landlord and Tenant Affairs (COLTA), including systems that would let tenants remain anonymous when possible, and strengthening eviction-notification systems so the city receives earlier notice of pending sheriff-conducted evictions.
Council members pressed staff on details. Questions included whether the proposals would apply to smaller ‘‘light tech’’ rental units, how the measures would interact with an ongoing rent-stabilization policy review by an outside consultant (RSG), and how troubled-property scoring would avoid penalizing small landlords unfairly. HCD staff said rental licensing already covers all rental properties and that the ordinance drafting process will include city attorney review to address legal and procedural concerns.
Royal LeFebre said staff expect to bring multiple work sessions on a proposed ordinance package in early spring, with a target for phased implementation beginning summer 2026 and reporting on status and implementation data by winter 2027.
The presentation and council remarks made clear the effort will require close coordination with the county’s existing tenant-displacement protections and careful drafting to balance tenant protections with enforceability and legal constraints.
