In this Chapter, the following words and phrases have the following meanings: Accessory apartment or accessory dwelling unit: A residential unit that is: (a) Either: (1) In or added to an existing one-family dwelling, or (2) In a separate accessory structure on the same lot as an existing one-family dwelling; and (b) For use as a complete, independent living facility with provision within the accessory dwelling unit for cooking, eating, sanitation, and sleeping. Affected tenant: Any tenant whose health, safety and welfare is, or reasonably may be, impaired by a defective tenancy. Apartment complex: A set of related buildings that have the same landlord and that all contain multifamily rental dwelling units. Apartment hotel: Any building or portion of a building designated for or containing both guest rooms and dwelling units. Commission: The Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs. Common ownership community: (a) a development subject to a declaration enforced by a homeowners' association, as those terms are used in State law; (b) a condominium, as that term is used in State law; and (c) a cooperative housing project, as that term is used in State law. Common ownership community fees means fees charged by the entity authorized to impose a fee on the owner or occupant of a housing unit in a common ownership community for services or the benefit of common areas in the community. County laws: Unless otherwise indicated, Chapter 27, Article II of Chapter 8, Chapter 22, Chapter 26 and Chapter 59 and all other housing-related laws and regulations. Defective tenancy: Any condition in rental housing that violates a term of the lease, this Chapter, or any other law or regulation. Department: The Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Director: The Director of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs or the Director's designee. Dwelling unit: That portion of a building that is designated, intended, or arranged for use or occupancy as a residence by one or more persons. Dwelling unit includes: (a) personal property, including a mobile home as defined in Section 29-66, located in the County if the personal property is offered for lease as a residence; (b) real property on which the personal property is situated (or will be situated) and that is necessary for the convenient use of the personal property; and (c) property owned by the landlord that is available for use by the tenant in connection with the tenant's occupancy for which the tenant must pay rent. Dwelling unit does not include a rented room in a single family dwelling unit. Dwelling unit, multifamily: (a) a dwelling unit that shares a common entrance from the outside with other dwelling units in the same building; (b) a dwelling unit in a structure where units are arranged above or below, or next to, another dwelling unit; (c) an accessory dwelling unit; or (d) an individual living unit. Dwelling unit, single-family: A dwelling unit that has at least one direct entrance from the outside for the exclusive use of its occupants. A single family dwelling unit may be detached from other dwelling units or share a side or rear wall with another dwelling unit. Governing body of a common ownership community: The council of unit owners, board of directors, or any other body authorized by an association document to adopt binding rules or regulations. Individual living unit: A private living accommodation, located in a personal living quarters building, that a tenant must agree to occupy for longer than 30 days, that may contain complete sanitation facilities and equipment for incidental food preparation, such as small portable kitchen appliances, but must not contain complete cooking facilities, such as a stove, oven, or similar device. Landlord: The owner, the owner's agent, lessor, or sublessor of the dwelling unit authorized to exercise any aspect of the management of the premises, except persons engaged solely in custodial and maintenance functions. In a condominium housing structure, the owner of any dwelling unit that is designated, intended, or arranged for use or occupancy as a residence by one or more persons and for which the owner receives consideration, and the owner's agent, is a landlord. In a cooperative housing structure, any person having an ownership interest in the legal entity that holds title to the cooperative housing structure and enjoys exclusive use of a dwelling unit and for which the party who has an ownership interest in the legal entity receives consideration for leasing the dwelling unit is a landlord. Lease: Any written agreement that establishes or modifies the terms, conditions, rules, regulations or any other provisions concerning the use and occupancy of a dwelling unit. Personal living quarters building: Any building or portion of a building that: (a) contains at least 6 individual living units, (b) has cooking facilities that the residents may share, and (c) may also have shared sanitation facilities. Rental housing: Any structure, or combination of related structures and appurtenances, including a personal living quarters building and a mobile home park as defined in Section 29-66(1), in which a landlord provides to a tenant for consideration one or more dwelling units. Rental housing does not include: (a) any transient housing, such as a guest room in an apartment hotel, boarding house, tourist home, inn, motel, hotel, school dormitory, hospital, or medical facility; or (b) any housing operated for religious or eleemosynary purposes. Security deposit: Any payment of money, including the payment of the last month's rent before it is due, given to a landlord to offset nonpayment of rent or damage to the leased premises. Tenant: Any person who occupies a dwelling unit for living or dwelling purposes with the landlord's consent.

The County Council finds that there is often unequal bargaining power between landlords and tenants; that the common law principles under which leases are interpreted as grants of right of possession rather than mutual and dependent covenants evolved in an agricultural setting and are ill-suited to the modern residential setting of this urban county; that, in order to facilitate fair and equitable arrangements, foster the development of housing that will meet the minimum standards of the present day and promote the health, safety and welfare of the people, it is necessary and appropriate that the County appoint a commission and assign responsibilities to the Department to determine certain minimum rights and remedies, obligations and prohibitions, for landlords and tenants of certain kinds of residential property.

(a) This Chapter must be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies. (b) The underlying purposes and policies of this chapter are: (1) To simplify and clarify the law governing the rental of dwelling units. (2) To encourage landlords and tenants to maintain and improve the quality of housing in this county. (3) To assure fair and equitable relations between landlords and tenants. (4) To revise and modernize the law of landlord and tenant to serve more realistically the needs of an urban society developing in the County.

(a) Subject to State law, this Chapter regulates and determines the legal rights, remedies and obligations of the parties and beneficiaries of any rental agreement concerning any rental dwelling unit located in the County. (b) Any provision in a rental agreement, whether written or oral, that conflicts with this chapter is unenforceable under Section 29-28. An unenforceable provision does not affect other provisions of the agreement that can be given effect without the unenforceable provision. (c) Any dwelling unit occupied by a person who has an ownership interest in the unit or by a person who is a relative of the landlord is exempt from this Chapter. In this subsection, an ownership interest includes an interest owned by the landlord, the landlord's spouse or a minor child of either, jointly or severally, that exceeds in value 3 percent of the invested capital or capital stock of any business entity that owns or manages the dwelling unit. In this subsection, relative means: (1) the landlord's siblings, parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren, and their spouses; and (2) the landlord's spouse and the spouse's siblings, parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren, and their spouses. (d) Limited equity cooperatives are not subject to this Chapter.

(a) In selecting staff to carry out the responsibilities of the Department under this Chapter, the Director should consider the recommendations of the Commission. In proposing a budget to carry out this Chapter and in authorizing personnel and facilities, the County Executive should consider the recommendations of the Director and the Commission. (b) The Department has jurisdiction over all complaints filed under this Chapter except as provided in Section 29-38. (c) The Department has jurisdiction over all licenses granted, denied, revoked, suspended, or refused under this Chapter. In connection with this authority, each landlord must make available to the Director for inspection at reasonable times all rental housing and records necessary to enforce this Chapter or investigate any complaints filed under this Chapter.

In addition to any other power, duty, or responsibility assigned in this Chapter, the Director has the following duties: (a) The Director may initiate investigations and conciliations of any alleged or apparent violation of this Chapter. In connection with this authority, all landlords must make available to the Director for inspection at reasonable times all rental housing and records necessary to enforce this Chapter or resolve any complaints filed under it. (b) The Director must encourage landlords to meet with bona fide tenant associations or organizations upon a good faith request by an association or organization. (c) In addition to any other duties, the Director must assist the Commission in carrying out its duties and implementing Commission regulations adopted under Section 29-10. (d) In the case of condominium and cooperative rental units, the Director must encourage complaining parties to contact the council of unit owners or its designated agent or the board of directors of the condominium or cooperative, when appropriate, to attempt to resolve the dispute before filing a complaint under Article V. (e) The Director may issue a subpoena to compel a landlord or tenant to produce relevant documents, papers, books, records or other evidence when a complaint has been filed under this Chapter. (f) The Director must publish and maintain on the County website a model lease, drafted in clear language understandable to persons without legal training. The Director must make the model lease available in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other languages, as determined necessary by the Director. (g) The Director must publish and maintain on the County website, in a printable format, a Landlord-Tenant Handbook to serve as a practical guide for landlords and tenants summarizing their respective rights and responsibilities. The Director must make the Landlord-Tenant Handbook available in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other languages, as determined necessary by the Director. The Director must review the handbook at least biennially and revise it as necessary. (h) The Director must report on rental housing inspections to the Executive and the Council, by September 1 of each year. The report must include: (1) the address of each property inspected during the prior fiscal year; (2) the address of each property that has been inspected or is scheduled to be inspected on an annual or triennial basis during the current fiscal year; (3) for each property inspected: (A) a summary of violations by: (i) number found; (ii) number corrected; and (iii) type of violation; and (B) the status of any incomplete inspections. (4) for each property required to have a corrective action plan under Section 29-22 in the prior fiscal year or during the current fiscal year, a list of: (A) violations found; (B) violations corrected; and (C) the status of the corrective action plan; (5) the number of citations issued to each landlord during the prior and current fiscal years; (6) the amount of fines collected from each landlord during the prior and current fiscal years; and (7) the number of calls to the County concerning rental housing complaints, by language of the caller. (i) The Director must provide advocacy services and assistance to tenants in relation to their rights under this Chapter.

The Commission, Department, and all County governmental agencies concerned with housing and real property must cooperate in the administration of this Chapter. The Commission and Department may, subject to the approval of the Chief Administrative Officer, use employees and facilities of other County departments in carrying out this Chapter, and these departments must make their resources available to the Commission and Department as approved by the Chief Administrative Officer.

(a) Any violation of this Chapter, unless expressly specified otherwise, is a class A violation. (b) If enforcing this Chapter requires the County to initiate criminal or civil proceedings, the County Attorney must initiate those proceedings after receiving a referral from the Commission or the Department. After the Commission or the Department has referred a matter to the County Attorney, the County Attorney must initiate appropriate legal action, as provided under this Chapter or any other applicable law, against any person that the Commission or the Department finds to be in violation. However, if the County Attorney believes that additional information or action by the Commission or the Department is necessary to enable the County Attorney to take appropriate action, the County Attorney may refer the matter back to the Commission or the Department. Nothing in this Chapter limits the authority of the County Attorney to initiate prosecution or bring a civil action for violation of any County law or regulation whether or not the Commission or the Department has noted a violation of this Chapter. (c) Recovery of attorney’s fees. If the County is the prevailing party in any enforcement action, the County may recover costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.