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Council committee hears competing views on bill to clarify LIHTC rent-stabilization exemption
Summary
Supporters say the LIHTC clarification is needed to preserve financing for roughly 100 properties and 11,000 units after a court ruling; opponents warn it would strip tenants of rent-regulation protections and worsen building maintenance problems.
Chair Robert White opened a Committee on Housing hearing on Nov. 20 with a briefing on Bill 206429, the LIHTC Rent Stabilization Exemption Clarification Amendment Act of 2025, which would codify that housing financed through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit is exempt from the District's rent stabilization regime.
Maya Brennan, Chief Housing Officer at the Coalition (formerly CNHED), told the committee that a D.C. Superior Court ruling earlier this year threatened a settled interpretation dating to 1985. "LIHTC is an eligible subsidy," she said, arguing that nearly 100 LIHTC properties and "more than 11,000 units" rely on investors' and lenders' expectations that those buildings are not subject to rent stabilization. Stephen Palmer, director of public policy at a regional housing membership association, added that LIHTC "is a capital subsidy that arrives at the start of a project" and that changing the rules now could disrupt preservation financing.
By contrast, Sofia Jayanti of Legal Counsel for the Elderly said the bill would "strip thousands of residents of rent stabilization protections," describing the measure as a "landlord giveaway" that could accelerate displacement and deferred maintenance. Tenant Deborah Daniels described repeated ceiling collapses and mold in her unit as an example of the risks tenants face when regulatory protections are removed.
Committee members pressed panelists on technical differences between LIHTC rent-setting (AMI-based caps tied to the federal program) and local rent stabilization (CPI-plus formulas and tenant petitions tied to code compliance). Supporters warned that applying rent stabilization to LIHTC-financed deals could undermine long-term loans and investor commitments; critics said the council should not substitute industry risk for tenants' daily housing safety.
The committee requested more data from the forthcoming rent registry to compare LIHTC rents with rent-stabilized rents and signaled it would continue oversight of the issue as the bills proceed through markup. No vote occurred at the hearing.
