District of Columbia Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowers is trying to make it easier to evict residents past due on their rent – saying the situation is crushing landlords and jeopardizing the capital city's efforts to provide affordable house for all. 

“We are at risk of losing affordable units because too many people aren’t paying their rent,” Bowers said at a press conference Wednesday when introducing the related legislation.   

Past due renters were largely protected from eviction as part of a COVID-19 pandemic moratorium. The city lifted the moratorium in 2021, but policies remained strict and require property owners to go through a lengthy legal process to evict tenants.  

The city currently has a backlog of eviction cases and lengthy wait times for new cases being filed.  A media specialist for the DC Court System told Just The News that the backlog is currently made up of 2,249 cases.  The specialist also confirmed that it currently takes longer to resolve eviction cases than it did before covid.  

The legislation, if passed by the city's Democrat-controlled City Council, would restructure the court process for landlords to evict tenants who have not been paying rent and prioritize the eviction of tenants with violent criminal records.

Landlords at the press conference with Bowser expressed support for the bill and made statements about how policies allowing tenants to avoid paying rent have made it difficult for them to maintaining adequate living conditions on their properties.

Opposition from tenant advocacy groups is expected.  

Bowser clashed with President Trump during his first term and Trump has called the conditions in the city including violent crime "horrible," but they have come together in efforts to improve the city. A major part of their plan is to require federal employees to return to their offices to save the city's commercial real estate, sandwich shops and other retailers that serve workers in the city.