D.C. launches database for rent-controlled units

• Plus, with more data on these units, lawmakers, activists and the District can make better decisions, enforce rules and push for change.

State of play: RentRegistry, which launches June 2, will require all housing providers to file information about their properties by Aug. 31.

• The rent-controlled properties will be labeled, making it easier for people to identify them, a spokesperson tells Axios.

Catch up quick: Back in 2015, the D.C. Council said a database of rent-controlled properties needed to be created within a year. But the project was held up by intra-agency tussles, Washington City Paper reported in 2022.

• Until now, rent-controlled documentation has been filed on paper, making it difficult to gather data on these types of units.

Context: Most buildings with five or more units that were built before 1976 are subject to rent control rules, writes Axios' Paige Hopkins.