"Certificates of assurance” might sound like dry legal documents, but they could generate windfalls for D.C. landlords or perhaps even handcuff lawmakers if they ever try to expand rent control protections in the city.
Its technical-sounding name aside, the principle behind these certificates is relatively simple: if D.C. expands its definition of which buildings fall under rent control, the owners of any affected properties can ask for a tax credit to offset that change….
For starters, it remains unclear whether the city has ever awarded one. Polly Donaldson, the director of D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development, told Bonds’ committee Sept. 14 that she couldn’t find any records of certificates ever being handed out. Industry advocates testified in the same hearing that some might’ve been issued in the immediate aftermath of their creation in 1985.
Washington Business Journal/Alex Koma