We bought an affordable housing unit in a two-unit condo building near H St NE a few years ago, as did the other unit owner. We share an entrance, porch, and yard, and while we’ve generally co-existed pleasantly, he recently decided to buy another house with his girlfriend and rent out his condo unit on Airbnb.
The DC short term rental regulations require attestation that the condo rules don’t prohibit short term rentals and/or written permission from the board to get a short term-rental license; our rules prohibit it and we’ve never given permission, so not sure how he got a license. But he got one, and judging from the constant stream of tourists he’s raking in that sweet Airbnb cash.
While of course we’re sick of the noise and strangers smoking on our porch, it really doesn’t sit right with us that this is an affordable unit/building with affordability covenants on title that’s being used for personal profit when affordable housing is in short supply. It’s a 3br/2bath unit in a quiet but central location, intended for families with annual incomes at 50% AMI or less. The covenants on title are clear that each unit has to be used as a primary personal residence and that a unit can only be rented out for a maximum of two years to qualifying tenants approved by DHCD. Perhaps we’re naïve, but if we moved out we’d list the unit through DC’s affordable housing portal so another family can benefit the way we have.
We’ve reached out to the DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, which issued the short term rental license— they’ve been “looking into it” for a couple of months now. We also reached out to DHCD, the administrator of the affordability program, who shuffled us around for a bit before going radio silent. Tried complaining to Airbnb with no result, and the attorney we consulted said that a suit would take a good 2-3 years to work its way through the court.