Bill > B26-0443

Introduced Session

a bill, a customer’s payment is due, and an account is deemed delinquent. Once an account is deemed delinquent, both the property owner and any residents in the building at issue are notified of the delinquency. This notice gives tenants time to arrange to receive service in their own name or find a new residence before a disconnection. Currently, a bill for water service charges becomes delinquent after 30 days from when the bill was issued, after which a late fee of up to 10% may be applied.7 • Requires that DC Water wait a certain number of days following a delinquency before disconnecting water service, with longer waiting periods provided for tenants who may be unaware of the owner’s delinquency and vulnerable residents. • Prohibits DC Water from disconnecting service during periods of extreme heat or cold. • Expands options for tenants of a rental property or owner-occupants of a multi-unit property (e.g., a condominium) to receive water and sewer service themselves instead of through their landlord or unit owners’ association. • Requires DC Water to establish an amnesty program through which participating customers can have a portion of their outstanding balance for water and sewer services waived. 5 D.C. Official Code § 34-2303. 6 D.C. Official Code § 34-2304. 7 See supra note 3 • Requires DC Water to establish customer incentive programs through which it offers customers a discount for enrolling in an automatic payment program or setting up a third- party guarantor. • Updates the receivership process to be less burdensome on tenants and to allow the receiver to use a portion of the money collected to make improvements to the property. • Updates the process for initiating a lien proceeding against real property with delinquent water and sewer service charges to: (1) limit DC Water’s authority to initiate liens on properties with at least $25,000 in outstanding charges and (2) restrict DC Water’s ability to sell a property on which a lien has been placed unless it has at least $75,000 in outstanding charges. o Currently, a lien on a property may be filed after 60 days8 and the property may be subject to a tax sale after 180 days, regardless of the amount owed.9 • Requires that DC Water provide notice of delinquent accounts to the Department of Buildings, the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, the Office of the Tenant Advocate, the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of People’s Counsel, the Department of Disability Services, and the Department of Aging and Community Living, which would allow these agencies to pursues enforcement actions against the owner or provide resources to the owner/owner-occupants/tenants • Requires monthly reporting from DC Water to the Council on delinquency, disconnections, receivership petitions, liens, and other essential enforcement actions • Adds DC Water to the list of agencies to which the language access requirements apply for the purposes of issuing notices of disconnection based on the procedures outlined in this bill. DC Water’s recent efforts at collecting outstanding charges for water service have revealed significant challenges associated with water service disconnections at multifamily residential buildings. This legislation takes a comprehensive approach to ensure that DC Water can collect outstanding water debts while balancing the need for transparency, service reliability, and accountability for responsible parties during water disconnection proceedings. Sincerely. Councilmember Charles Allen, Ward 6 Chair, Committee on Transportation and the Environment Vice Chair, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments 8 See supra note 4. 9 Id. Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Janeese Lewis George Councilmember Brooke Pinto Councilmember Trayon White Councilmember Matthew Frumin Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA To amend the District of Columbia Public Works Act of 1954 to require that the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority establish an amnesty program through which participating customers can have a portion of their outstanding balance for water and sewer services waived by the Authority, to modify the process by which tenants of a rental property or owner-occupants of a multi-unit property can receive water and sewer service from the Authority in their own name, including in cases where the property is master- metered and individual residents’ water usage cannot be determined, to establish a process for the Authority to continue or resume water and sewer service to a property after a tenant or owner-occupant has agreed to receive service in their name, to require the Authority to establish customer incentive programs through which the Authority offers customers a discount for enrolling in an automatic payment program or establishing a third-party guarantor, to clarify the rules for petitioning for and administering a receivership for properties with delinquent water and sewer service charges, to clarify the process for initiating a lien proceeding against real property with delinquent water and sewer service charges, to establish a timeline for the Authority to issue bills to customers and determine when customers’ accounts are past due or delinquent, to require that the Authority provide notice to District agencies and customers when an account becomes delinquent, to require that an account be delinquent for a certain period of time before the Authority is authorized to terminate service to a property, to prohibit water disconnections during forecasts of extreme temperature, and to require specific data to be reported to the Council on a monthly basis; to amend the Water and Sewer Authority Establishment and Department of Public Works Reorganization Act of 1996 to authorize the Authority to impose additional charges and penalties for the late payment of bills, to clarify the bill dispute process and timeframes; and to empower the Director of the Department of Energy and Environment to provide to grants to nonprofit organizations or private entities providing free legal services to ratepayers related to water and sewer service and to require that the Authority make conforming amendments to the applicable regulations

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Charles Allen (D)*,  Matt Frumin (D)*,  Janeese George (D)*,  Brianne Nadeau (D)*,  Brooke Pinto (D)*,  Robert White (D)*,  Trayon White (D)*, 

Public Hearing (on 03/26/2026)

Official Document