Washington DC rent increase

[Brad Wood]

I am a new home owner and have an english basement rental with its own CofO. The lease expires in June, therefore I am in a scramble to understand the rules around rent increases. 

Current rent is $1550 and I would like to raise it to $1600. In fact, I may have gotten ahead of myself by already notifying the tenant of my intention to raise it $1600. This amounts to approximately a 3.2% rent increase, which is likely above the CPI+2% on the OTA site, however this is my only property and my understanding is that guidance may only apply to rent controlled properties.

So my question is, am I okay with that rent increase or do I need to stick within CPI+2%? In either event, I haven't "registered" my property with the city. Do I need to do that or anything to ensure our rental property can stand up against any challenge from the tenant (not that I have any reason to believe they have an issue or will take an issue at this stage).

Thanks for your guidance BP!

[Nick Pisano]

Hi Brad! As far as I understand, if you have fewer than 4 units, you're not subject to restrictions on raising rents. In terms of not being "registered", have you obtained a basic business license for the unit? That should be done in any case, and once you have that, you can get a rent control exemption from DC Government's Rental Accommodations Division, which should give you the green light to make that increase.