In addition to any other power, duty, or responsibility assigned in this Chapter, the Director has the following duties:
(a) The Director may initiate investigations and conciliations of any alleged or apparent violation of this Chapter. In connection with this authority, all landlords must make available to the Director for inspection at reasonable times all rental housing and records necessary to enforce this Chapter or resolve any complaints filed under it.
(b) The Director must encourage landlords to meet with bona fide tenant associations or organizations upon a good faith request by an association or organization.
(c) In addition to any other duties, the Director must assist the Commission in carrying out its duties and implementing Commission regulations adopted under Section 29-10.
(d) In the case of condominium and cooperative rental units, the Director must encourage complaining parties to contact the council of unit owners or its designated agent or the board of directors of the condominium or cooperative, when appropriate, to attempt to resolve the dispute before filing a complaint under Article V.
(e) The Director may issue a subpoena to compel a landlord or tenant to produce relevant documents, papers, books, records or other evidence when a complaint has been filed under this Chapter.
(f) The Director must publish and maintain on the County website a model lease, drafted in clear language understandable to persons without legal training. The Director must make the model lease available in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other languages, as determined necessary by the Director.
(g) The Director must publish and maintain on the County website, in a printable format, a Landlord-Tenant Handbook to serve as a practical guide for landlords and tenants summarizing their respective rights and responsibilities. The Director must make the Landlord-Tenant Handbook available in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other languages, as determined necessary by the Director. The Director must review the handbook at least biennially and revise it as necessary.
(h) The Director must report on rental housing inspections to the Executive and the Council, by September 1 of each year. The report must include:
(1) the address of each property inspected during the prior fiscal year;
(2) the address of each property that has been inspected or is scheduled to be inspected on an annual or triennial basis during the current fiscal year;
(3) for each property inspected:
(A) a summary of violations by:
(i) number found;
(ii) number corrected; and
(iii) type of violation; and
(B) the status of any incomplete inspections.
(4) for each property required to have a corrective action plan under Section 29-22 in the prior fiscal year or during the current fiscal year, a list of:
(A) violations found;
(B) violations corrected; and
(C) the status of the corrective action plan;
(5) the number of citations issued to each landlord during the prior and current fiscal years;
(6) the amount of fines collected from each landlord during the prior and current fiscal years; and
(7) the number of calls to the County concerning rental housing complaints, by language of the caller.
(i) The Director must provide advocacy services and assistance to tenants in relation to their rights under this Chapter. (1972 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 11, § 2; 1983 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 3; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 30, § 2; 1985 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1; 1995 L.M.C., ch. 17, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 39, §1; 2017 L.M.C., ch. 12, §1; 2017 L.M.C., ch. 17, §1.)
Editor's note—1983 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 13, provides in part as follows: "The amendments to chapter 29 approved by this act shall be repealed and of no force or effect on or after March 8, 1985." This sentence was deleted by 1985 L.M.C., ch. 40, §1, thus giving the law permanent status.