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Council approves emergency fix to preserve thousands of LIHTC-assisted affordable homes
Summary
Council passed emergency legislation clarifying that properties financed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits remain exempt from local rent-stabilization rules after a court ruling. Sponsors said the move was needed immediately to prevent financial shocks to about 11,000 affordable units.
The D.C. Council on Oct. 7 approved emergency legislation (PR26-326 and underlying Bill 26-376) to clarify that properties developed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) remain exempt from the District’s rent-stabilization law, reversing uncertainty created by a recent court ruling.
Council Member Robert White, who introduced the emergency measure, told colleagues that the court decision had jeopardized the financing assumptions underlying nearly 11,000 affordable homes across about 100 buildings and that defaults could lead to evictions and loss of affordable units. “If we don’t act, we will undermine one of our most important tools for affordable housing preservation,” White said on the council floor.
The emergency declaration and the underlying bill were approved unanimously during the legislative meeting. White said he will file a permanent version of the legislation in the coming weeks to make the clarification durable beyond the emergency window.
Council members framed the measure as a short-term legal fix to preserve investor and lender confidence while a longer-term statutory correction is prepared. The council did not provide a fiscal-impact change tied directly to the emergency; sponsors emphasized the measure’s purpose as preserving existing financing structures and preventing a wave of foreclosures and tenant displacement.
The action moves quickly to address a court-created ambiguity that advocates and lenders warned could destabilize the affordable‑housing stock in the District. The sponsor said a permanent bill would be filed soon to make the clarification explicit in the rental-housing code.
