14 DCMR § 14-4399

4399.1 The provisions of § 3899 of Chapter 38 of this title and the definitions set forth in that section shall be applicable to this chapter.

4399.2 In addition to § 4399.1, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:

Adverse action -

(a) Denial of a prospective tenant’s rental application; or

(b) Approval of a prospective tenant’s rental application, subject to terms or conditions different and less-favorable to the prospective tenant than those included in any written notice, statement, or advertisement for the rental unit, including written communication sent directly from the housing provider to the prospective tenant, including:

1) Requiring a co-signer on the lease;

2) Requiring a deposit that would not be required for another applicant;

3) Requiring a larger deposit than would be required for another applicant; or

4) Demanding more rent than would be charged to another applicant.

Application Fee - the total of all costs of fees that a prospective tenant is required to pay to a housing provider at the time of application or at any time prior to signing a lease as a prerequisite to evaluating or approving a prospective tenant’s application for rental housing, including processing, reviewing, or screening the prospective tenant’s application, but not including holding deposits.

Consumer report - in accordance with § 603(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681a(d)), in relevant part:

(a) In general: any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living that is used or expected to be used or collected in whole or in part for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer’s eligibility for rental housing purposes.

(b) Exclusions: the term “consumer report” does not include:

(1) Any:

(A) Report containing information solely as to transactions or experiences between the consumer and the person making the report;

(B) Communications of that information among persons related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control; or

(C) Communication of other information among persons related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, if it is clearly and conspicuously disclosed to the consumer that the information may be communicated among such persons and the consumer is given the opportunity, before the time that the information is initially communicated, to direct that such information not be communicated among such persons;

(2) Any authorization or approval of a specific extension of credit directly or indirectly by the issuer of a credit card or similar device;

(3) Any report in which a person who has been requested by a third party to make a specific extension of credit directly or indirectly to a consumer conveys his or her decision with respect to such request, if the third party advises the consumer of the name and address of the person to whom the request was made, and such person makes the disclosures to the consumer required under § 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681m).

Consumer reporting agency - in accordance with § 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f)), any person that, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties.

CPI-U - the average of the bi-monthly publications of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for All Items for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-MD-VA-WV, Core Based Statistical Area during the twelve (12) month period ending on November 30 of a given year, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Credit score - in accordance with § 609(f)(2)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681g(f)(2)(A)), in relevant part, a numerical value or a categorization derived from a statistical tool or modeling system used by a person who makes or arranges a loan to predict the likelihood of certain credit behaviors, including default (and the numerical value or the categorization derived from such analysis may also be referred to as a “risk predictor” or “risk score”).

Holding deposit - the amount a housing provider requires a prospective tenant to pay after a housing provider approves a tenant’s application, which temporarily makes a unit unavailable to other prospective tenants and which if a tenant accepts a unit becomes part of the prospective tenant’s first month’s rent or security deposit.

Multifamily housing accommodation - a housing accommodation covered by the Act, as provided in § 4100.3, consisting of two (2) or more rental units that is owned or operated by a single housing provider.

Tenant organization - a tenant association, the tenants of a housing accommodation acting jointly as provided by § 410 of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act of 1980 (D.C. Law 3-86; D.C. Official Code § 42-3404.10) (“TOPA”), a tenant organization as provided in § 411 of TOPA (D.C. Official Code § 42-3404.11), or any other continuing agreement between the tenants of two (2) or more rental units covered by the Act to support the exercise of any legal rights as tenants.

Tenant organizer - a person, who may or may not be a tenant, who assists tenants of a multifamily housing accommodation in establishing and operating a tenant organization, and who is not an employee, representative, or other agent of the housing provider, or of a prospective housing provider or owner of the property.

Tenant screening - any process used by a housing provider to evaluate the fitness of a prospective tenant.

Qualified third party - any of the following persons acting in their official capacity:

(1) A sworn officer of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, in accordance with D.C. Official Code § 4-1301.02(15);

(2) A sworn officer of the District of Columbia Housing Authority Office of Public Safety;

(3) A health professional licensed under or permitted by District of Columbia law to practice a health occupation in the District of Columbia in accordance with D.C. Official Code § 3-1201.01(8); or

(4) A domestic violence counselor who is an employee, contractor, or volunteer of a domestic violence program, in accordance with D.C. Official Code § 14-310(2).

4399.3 The provisions of § 3816 of Chapter 38 of this title shall be applicable to the calculation of any time periods provided by this chapter.