Steps for making your basement apartment legal in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Just physically throw them out of the house.

You will just end up in jail. Not a smart idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really appreciate this forum.

For someone who just wants to rent the extra room in the single family home they live in (OR be prepared to rent the house if they were ever to move away and not want to sell):

It seems steps are
1) Form a DC business: Do people just put this in their own name? form a business with the building address name? What do you do if you and your spouse own the home together?
2) Get a DC Residential Business license as described here: https://dcra.dc.gov/page/rental-housing-business
3) Get an inspection of the house
4) Apply for a certificate of occupancy.

Is this correct? What is the standard way of opening a business to be able to rent in your home?

You have to be crazy to want to rent one room in your own house. Way too dangerous in DC. If you can't afford the mortgage or rent, it is much better and safer to downsize. The risk of getting caught with a dishonest and non paying tenant can make your life a living hell. Call up a few landlord tenant attorneys and listen to their horror stories. They are far more common than people will have you believe.

[Anonymous]

Those rules in DC are INSANE in the BRAIN! Tons of people rent out a room or their basement in VA and don't have issues. Though you are in a legal grey area if your basement renovations include a kitchen. Sometimes it is best to just fly under the radar, but not so sure that approach makes sense in DC.

[Anonymous]

Architect here.
Yes, you can rent a room in your house and it's 100% legal. DC is really roommate-friendly. This means that your house is ONE unit and you are renting a PORTION of it to another individual.
Additional Dwelling Units are subdivisions of a single unit and there are technical requirements for that.
Feel free to reach out if you have questions about how to make sure you comply with regulations with an ADU or a roommate-type design.
all the best,
ileana schinder

[Anonymous]

We live in the U Street/Logan area and have been renting out our basement illegally for years. We were warned when we bought the place that the whole process of making it legal is corrupt and that once you start there's no going back -- so you don't want to get stuck in the system.

We have everything up to and exceeding code, and we declare all of the income to the IRS. We even have a DC business licence. We just don't have a C of O and aren't going to get one.

Our main issues is that the electrical panel for the upstairs (where we live) is in the basement apartment. So, on the rare occasions where we've needed access to it, we've have to go into the basement apartment. If the tenant doesn't care, what's the problem? I totally understand how it might be a problem if it were the other way around -- that is, if they needed access to our part of the house for their electric -- but they don't.

[Anonymous]

Good fking luck with the red tape around here. You should prob just rent it out like the thousands of other folks and worry about the fines later. I’m liberal, but the red tape and kakistocracy surrounding the entire process of making an apartment legally rentable makes me want to move to a hands off red state. It’s insane. Layers and layers of inspections and red tape, as if they don’t really want to help the housing supply at all. Fk it. Fk bureaucracy in the butt.

I would like to note this so not legal advice and I am kidding.

[Anonymous]

When you rent illegally the rules are clear, person pays cash, no kids, no spouse, no GF/BF, single only, no mail to address, no cars registered address, rent furnished.

I sublet my place and those were rules.

[Anonymous]

I currently have a rowhome with an unfinished basement that I'm considering getting finished to code (although very pricey!) to create a legal ADU with a C of O. But if I move out of the upstairs in a few years, can I then rent both the main dwelling and the basement/ADU separately?

[Anonymous]

Hi Architect here. I do a lot of basement conversions into apartments.
The quick answer is "we are working on it". Right now, zoning does not allow to have 2 CofOs and has a requirement that the property owner has to reside in the property.
I have the gut feeling that this requirement will change at some point and you will be able to rent both.
Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss your particular project, I'm always happy to share tips and ideas.

ileana schinder
www.ileanaschinder.com

[Anonymous]

You can go to Rentjiffy and they can also help you out (a lot!!!)

[Anonymous]

Don't get permits it's a waste of time.

[Anonymous]

What about all the mice and bugs....