WASHINGTON (7News) — D.C. Councilmember Robert White announced a bill Wednesday aimed at taking down a barrier for pet owners when trying to find housing in the city, in another effort to increase the number of District residents to get into affordable housing.
On the steps of the John A. Wilson building – the home of the D.C. Council chamber – White announced he had introduced the Pets in Housing Act.
If passed into law, the bill would place a $25 cap on rent for pets and a $300 cap on pet security deposit fees, ban non-refundable fees for low-income residents living in subsidized housing, prohibit dog breed restrictions, and require D.C.'s Department of Human Services to ensure at least one low-barrier homeless shelter is available to people with pets.
“More than one in 10 District residents face housing insecurity. Barriers like exorbitant fees and breed discrimination are roadblocks for residents trying to find housing,” White said. “Too often, a person's beloved animal companion is a barrier to finding and staying in affordable housing here in D.C.”
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7News spoke with one dog owner who asked not to share his name.
He said he has faced such issues when finding an apartment for him and his pit bull.
“Who would want to pay extra money for a family member? Nobody. It's like another kid. Nobody wants to pay extra. Do you have to pay extra for a child you have? No. Why do you have to pay extra for this? It's like a child, too,” the dog owner said.
This dog owner said he had to find a way around these exorbitant extra fees.
“I had, really, the one issue. Once I got him registered as a service dog, no more issues. I've got no more issues. All I've got to do is show his paperwork,” he said.
Advocates at Wednesday's press conference said these pet restrictions disproportionately impact Black and Brown residents in the District.
Kailey McNeal, who is a recent George Washington University Law School graduate and the student leader for the school's Animal Welfare Project, said she had experienced pet restrictions when looking for an apartment.
“Though defended as a safety measure by housing providers, in reality, breed restrictions have been used as a tool for racial discrimination and stereotyping,” McNeal said. “Given that Black, Brown, and other communities of color have been systematically excluded from wealth and property ownership in our country and in the District, removing and lessening restrictions on housing is critical for racial equity in D.C.”
City leaders and advocates have long pushed for better affordable housing availability.
7News On Your Side asked White, who is the chair of the D.C. Council's Committee on Housing, how he and his colleagues are addressing other barriers to affordable housing.
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“That is one of the reasons we continue to fight so hard to have money in our housing production trust fund. We are trying to push that up. That's one of the reasons we have continued to add funding to the home purchase assistance program, but also making sure we have housing vouchers,” White said. I think the biggest game-changer on housing affordability will be transforming Downtown into a place of neighborhoods, as opposed to empty office buildings. That's something folks know I've been working on since 2016.”
Last year, White penned a letter to the city administrator urging him to work with D.C. agencies and get rid of the backlog for housing vouchers, which provide low-income residents money to help pay rent.
There were 3,730 available housing vouchers that had not been provided to eligible residents last year, which included undistributed vouchers from fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
There has been a sharp decline in housing vouchers that have not yet been distributed so far this year, but there are still 1,178 vouchers in need of distribution to renters. White's office told 7News they expect all of these to be provided to residents by the end of the fiscal year, however.
According to D.C.'s Department of Human Services, the average time to get a voucher recipient to affordable housing has also declined. In 2022, it took an average of 413 days between submitting a voucher application and signing a lease. Last year, it took an average of 317 days. This year, that's down to 201 days.
“We have done some specific things to decrease the backlogs. The Housing Authority is contracting out housing inspectors. That was one of the big gaps in time. We're going to contract with more housing inspectors to move that more quickly. I have both a long-term and short-term measure moving to add more social workers to the pipeline,” White said. “One is creating a free master's in social work program at UDC that will start next year. The other is allowing people who have finished their social work degree program but have not yet passed the test to engage in some of the social work activities that help move people from homelessness into housing.”
