D.C.’s beleaguered housing authority — which has faced leadership turnover, a cyberattack and a scathing audit this year — is the city’s worst offender when it comes to unresolved housing violations.
The District’s housing authority (DCHA) owes D.C.’s Department of Buildings (DOB) more than $2.2 million for over 2,500 unresolved violations across its properties, per a public DOB dashboard. Some violations date back to 2019.
The issue stems in part from the fact that the agency, which owns more than 8,500 public housing units, polices itself. Unlike private landlords who answer to DOB, by law, DOB cannot do more than issue fines to the housing authority.