D.C. residents are facing rapid gentrification, low access to affordable housing, and rising displacement from communities they have known their whole lives. For communities across the District, especially people with disabilities, low-income families, and long-time black and brown residents, the struggle to remain in their homes is growing more urgent by the day. This isn’t just a housing issue; it’s a public health issue. Stable, accessible housing is a cornerstone of mental and physical well-being, yet policy shifts are undermining that foundation and putting more communities at risk. Changes to the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) and the passing of the OBBBA bill are weakening tenant protections and affordable housing. As the city makes plans to grow and modernize, too many vulnerable residents are being left behind with devastating consequences for health, equity, and community stability.

TOPA gives tenants the right to buy their building or assign that right to a responsible buyer, allowing them to influence repairs, affordability, and ownership transitions. The RENTAL Act would weaken TOPA by removing these rights from tenants in affordable housing, excluding newer buildings, and creating vague loopholes for landlords and investors. These changes create a ripple effect on housing and the health and safety of tenants who, if without TOPA rights, can’t advocate for change that is affordable and health conscious to meeting the needs of the community. It would silence tenants’ voices, reduce housing stability, and increase the risk of unsafe or unaffordable living conditions.

As part of the D.C. Council’s approved budget, the RENTAL Act introduces changes that weaken tenant protections and reshape how affordable housing is governed. One change allows faster evictions in cases involving accusations of violent crime. Under this policy, tenants or their family members can be evicted based solely on an arrest. A judge only needs to find enough evidence, even before formal charges are filed. This not only undermines due process, but increases housing instability for vulnerable residents like many who are racially profiled by law enforcement. Another change exempts new buildings constructed within the last 15 years from TOPA, which traditionally gave tenants the right to buy their buildings or transfer that right to a responsible buyer. Without these protections, tenants lose power to influence repairs, affordability, and ownership. The RENTAL Act also allows some landlords to bypass TOPA if they agree to keep more than half of the building’s units affordable for at least 20 years. Although meant to protect affordability, this option reduces tenant control and limits the role of residents in shaping their housing future.

Housing access in D.C. is being further destabilized by recent legislative changes, disproportionately impacting already vulnerable communities. To understand the full scope of this crisis, it is important to connect how housing policy and the presence of federal police in DC is deeply connected to carceral logic. This logic refers to using physical restrictions like imprisonment, monitoring methods such as electronic ankle bracelets, or even violence to maintain order (Lopez, 2022). This is exactly what is happening through the Trump administration’s efforts to deploy federal police forces into the District, falsely claiming that crime in DC is up. Layered on top of the already aggressive tactics of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), it doesn’t just target crime, it shapes everyday life, especially for youth and marginalized communities, by increasing surveillance in public spaces, public housing, and even social service delivery. Carceral logic shows up in public assistance programs, where eligibility requirements, inspections, and reporting often function as forms of policing, monitoring whether residents are “deserving” enough to keep their benefits. This is in connection to the OBBBA act creating stricter guidelines to access public benefits. 

When the national government starts trying to increase federal policing and militarized presence, it is not new, they are often targeting marginalized communities, hiding behind badges and uniforms to use law enforcement as a tool to suppress justice movements, such as housing and the displacement of black and brown people. The growth of the police and prison-industrial complex not only perpetuates the criminalization of poverty but also employs militarized strategies to weaponize law enforcement in dismantling activist movements. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, marginalized communities in Washington, DC, especially Black and low-income residents, faced severe health risks and growing housing insecurity. Instead of addressing these urgent needs, the government expanded federal police presence in urban neighborhoods, often suppressing protests and community advocacy efforts.

Housing policy is health policy. If we truly want a healthier DC, we must dismantle the surveillance-driven, punitive systems that criminalize poverty and replace them with policies rooted in dignity, equity, and care.