Housing Conditions Handbook

Housing Conditions Court (also called the Housing Conditions Calendar) lets you sue your landlord to fix housing code violations. It's part of the D.C. Superior Court.

During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Court began holding all Housing Conditions Court hearings remotely and has continued to do that. This means that you do not need to come to the courthouse to attend your hearing; you can attend your hearing by phone or by video conference (WebEx). The Court will give you instructions for how to participate in your remote hearing.

If you prefer to attend your hearing in person at the courthouse, just let the clerk or judge know ahead of time and they will tell you which courtroom to go to. Even if you attend your hearing in person, your landlord may still choose to participate by phone or video.

Unless the judge orders otherwise, all hearings in Housing Conditions Court are scheduled for Tuesdays.

File a case if you want to sue your landlord for not making needed repairs or not taking other steps to fix housing code violations (like rodent or bug infestations). The judge can order your landlord to make repairs. The judge should make sure that the landlord makes all needed repairs.

A Housing Conditions case is just about repairs. The judge will not decide:

• Anything about eviction, unpaid rent, or possible lease violations. If your landlord wants to evict you, they have to file a different kind of case.
• Whether your landlord owes you money.

It's illegal for a landlord to try to evict you just because you complained about problems in your home or filed a Housing Conditions case. But, suing your landlord might make them more likely to try to evict you if you are behind in your rent. If you're worried that your landlord might try to evict you, contact:

• Legal Aid DC at 202-628-1161 or online; or
• The Landlord Tenant Legal Assistance Network (LTLAN) at 202-780-2575.

No. If your landlord already sued you in Landlord and Tenant Court for not paying your rent, you can't file a Housing Conditions case. But, you can bring up the housing code violations as a "defense" or "counterclaim" against your landlord.

If you're sued for eviction, call Legal Aid DC at 202-628-1161 or the Landlord Tenant Legal Assistance Network (LTLAN) at 202-780-2575.

No. Lots of tenants go to these hearings without a lawyer. You will be able to make your case, even without a lawyer.

• If you can, take pictures of all the problems in your apartment. Make sure to save these pictures.
• Make sure your landlord knows about all the problems in your rental unit. If you can, tell your landlord about these problems in writing. Emails or text messages can be a good way to complain to your landlord about the problems in your rental unit. Make sure to save these emails and texts

You can sue the person or company you usually contact when you want repairs made. You can also sue the person or company that you pay your rent to. You can sue the property management company, the owner, or both.

If you only sue the owner, tell the property management company (if you have one) about the case and the first hearing date.

You have to file three forms. All of these forms are available individually and in the packet at the top of this page and are linked below. Know that any document you file with the Court could end up being public.

1. Fee Waiver Application (if you 're asking the Court to waive your fees): File this form first so you don't have to pay to file the other forms. The Court calls this form an "Application to Proceed Without Prepayment of Costs, Fees, or Security."
    
2. Summons: This form tells the person or company you're suing that you've filed a case against them. It tells them when the first court date is.
   
   If you sue both the owner and the property manager, fill out a summons for each of them. But it's ok to sue just the owner or just the property manager. You don't need to sue them both.
   
   Don't fill out the court date on the summons. The clerk will fill it in for you after you file your case.
    
3. Complaint: This form tells the person or company you're suing why you're suing them. It has checkboxes for common problems and space for you to fill in the details.

If the conditions in your home are so bad that you can't wait for the first hearing date, ask for a Temporary Restraining Order (a "TRO" for short). A TRO is an emergency order that requires the landlord to make repairs before your first court date.

Conditions that might cause a judge to order a TRO are things like:

• No heat in winter;
• No utilities that the landlord must give you;
• Major water leaks; or
• Other serious and life-threatening violations.

To ask for a TRO: Fill out the TRO application along with all the other forms. 

You do have to try to let the landlord know about the hearing. One way to do this is by serving your landlord with the court papers (learn more about serving your landlord below). If you don't have time to serve the landlord before the hearing, complete a "Certificate of Notice" instead. Ask for a copy of this from the clerk in Room 4220.

What happens after you file for a TRO: The hearing on the TRO will be scheduled with Judge-in-Chambers. You may be able to participate in the hearing either remotely (by phone or WebEx) or in person in Room 4220 (4th Floor) of the Moultrie Courthouse.

It depends. Filing a Housing Conditions case costs $15. But, you can ask for a fee waiver to file for free using the fee waiver form.

If you get one of the benefits listed on the fee waiver form, you should be able to file a case for free. Some examples of benefits that would count are:

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Program on Work, Employment, and Responsibility (POWER)
• Medicaid
• DC Healthcare Alliance
• Interim Disability Assistance (IDA)
• General Assistance for Children (GAC)

If you don't get any of the benefits that make you automatically eligible for a fee waiver, you can still apply for a fee waiver. But you may need to give more information about your income, expenses, and family members. Then, the court will decide if you have to pay the $15 and any other costs.

A fee waiver can be helpful because it means the Court can help you with serving the landlord. Learn about serving your landlord below.

Option 1: File in Person

Step 1: Fill out the Complaint, Summons, and Fee Waiver (plus the Temporary Restraining Order form if it’s an emergency). All of these forms are linked on this page, but you can also get these forms at the courthouse.

Step 2: Go to the Moultrie Courthouse, 500 Indiana Avenue NW, Civil Clerk’s Office, Room 5000 (5th Floor). This office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The clerk can answer some of your questions, but they can’t give you legal advice.

Step 3: File the summons and complaint (and fee waiver and Temporary Restraining Order application, if you’re filing those). If the clerk needs a judge to review your fee waiver form, they may ask you to wait for a judge to become available or send you to another part of the courthouse. Otherwise, the clerk should accept your documents for filing and give you your case number and first hearing date and time. The clerk may write the first court date on the summons, or they may give you a hearing information sheet to provide the defendant/landlord. 

Option 2: File by Email

Starting with the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Court began accepting filings submitted by people without lawyers by email.

Step 1: Fill out the Complaint, Summons, and Fee Waiver (plus the Temporary Restraining Order form if it’s an emergency) in an electronic form (Word document or PDF). 

Step 2: Email these completed forms to civilefiling@dcsc.gov.

Step 3: Follow the instructions from the clerk who receives your emailed forms. If you do not get a response to your email after one or two business days, follow up by sending another email to civilefiling@dcsc.gov and asking if the Court has received your documents and is processing them.

Before your case can begin, you have to "serve" your landlord. You must do this at least 8 days before your first hearing, but it is a good idea to do it as early as possible to make sure you do it correctly. "Serving" someone means giving them a copy of the summons and complaint.

• IF your fee waiver was approved: The Court will serve your landlord. Give the Court the address for everyone you're suing. If the Court doesn't serve your landlord, you need to serve them. See below.
• IF you did not get a fee waiver: You have to serve your landlord

Note: When the Court serves your landlord, they will send your landlord a “Notice and Acknowledgement Form” that the landlord will need to fill out and return to confirm they received the summons and complaint. If a landlord does not fill out this form and does not show up to the first court date, you may need to try serving the landlord yourself. Ask the judge for more time to serve the landlord, then serve the landlord yourself using one or more of the options below.

If you didn't get a fee waiver, or if the Court was not able to serve your landlord for you, you can serve your landlord in one of two ways:

• Option 1: Send the summons and complaint to the defendant (your landlord) by certified mail with a return receipt requested.
• Option 2: Ask someone else to give your landlord the summons and complaint in person. You're not allowed to do this yourself. You can ask a friend or a family member as long as they're over 18 and don't live with you. This person should serve the papers at least 8 days before your first hearing.

At least 3 days before your hearing, file an “Affidavit of Service” with the clerk’s office. This is a paper that says how and when the defendant was served. A form affidavit of service is included in this packet. The person who served the summons and complaint needs to fill out the affidavit of service, sign it, and have it notarized. 

If you couldn't serve your landlord before your court date, you should still show up. Explain the situation to the judge. Ask for more time. The judge will likely set a new hearing in a few weeks. If you got a fee waiver, tell the judge. Make sure the Court has the right address for your landlord.