Washington, D.C. Eviction Process: Notice Periods, Timeline, and Costs

D.C. Code § 42-3505.01 now requires a housing provider to serve notice of intent to file for possession at least 10 calendar days before filing, reduced from 30 days by the RENTAL Amendment Act of 2025 (D.C. Law 26-80) effective December 31, 2025. You may not serve the notice at all unless the tenant owes at least $600 in rent. The notice must state the total amount of rent owed and attach a ledger showing the dates of rent charges and payments across the delinquency period, and a missing or inaccurate ledger is a live defense. The Rental Housing Commission published proposed rules on eviction-notice service in April 2026, so confirm current service mechanics before you serve.

For violating an obligation of the tenancy other than nonpayment, § 42-3505.01(b) gives the tenant 30 days after notice to correct the problem before you can file. Illegal activity is handled separately and without a cure right: a 30-day notice to vacate for illegal acts generally, and — new under the RENTAL Act — a 10-day notice to vacate where the act is a dangerous crime or crime of violence not committed in self-defense, with the court required to hold an expedited hearing within 20 days of filing.

The District does not permit no-cause eviction. Under D.C. Code § 42-3505.01 a tenant cannot be removed just because the lease term ended or you want the unit back; you must fit one of the enumerated statutory grounds. The nearest no-fault paths are a 90-day notice for personal use and occupancy by the owner or a contract purchaser, a 120-day notice for substantial rehabilitation or alterations, and a 180-day notice for demolition or discontinuance of housing use, each carrying its own conditions and, in several cases, relocation obligations.

Every residential eviction is filed in the Landlord and Tenant Branch of the Civil Division of D.C. Superior Court at 510 4th Street NW, using Form 1A, 1B, or 1C depending on the grounds, plus Form 1S summons. The complaint filing fee is $15, which is deceptively cheap — process service, the writ of restitution, and U.S. Marshals scheduling are the real costs.

The District is unusual in that the tenant generally does not have to file a written answer at all — the tenant simply appears at an initial hearing, which the court schedules within 45 days of filing, and may file an answer before, at, or after that hearing. Service must be completed at least 30 days before the initial hearing date and proof of service filed at least 21 days before it, so blowing the service deadline means your hearing date is lost.

Even a clean, uncontested nonpayment case usually runs three to four months: the 10-day notice, filing, an initial hearing set within 45 days, then a writ of restitution that the U.S. Marshals Service must schedule and supervise, which by itself often adds several weeks. Mediation, a tenant represented through the District's right-to-counsel programs, protective-order payment disputes, and weather-related eviction blackouts routinely push cases past six months.

Self-help eviction is illegal in the District in every form — changing locks, removing doors, shutting off heat, water, or electricity, or setting a tenant's belongings outside — and it remains illegal even when you have a valid ground to evict and even after you have won a judgment. The only lawful removal is a writ of restitution executed and supervised by the U.S. Marshals Service. A locked-out tenant can file an emergency motion for restoration of possession (Form LT-28) and be put back in within days, and you are exposed to money damages for the unlawful eviction, the tenant's property losses, and attorney's fees.

The RENTAL Amendment Act of 2025 (D.C. Law 26-80), effective December 31, 2025, cut the pre-filing nonpayment notice from 30 days to 10, created an expedited track for dangerous crimes and crimes of violence with a 10-day notice to vacate and a hearing within 20 days of filing, and codified protective-order and court-registry payment procedures. Most online guides still publish the old 30-day nonpayment figure, and the Rental Housing Commission issued proposed rules on eviction-notice service in April 2026 that were still being finalized.

Two licensing failures get District cases dismissed before a judge ever looks at the rent ledger: filing without a current Housing Basic Business License, and failing to register the unit with the Rental Accommodations Division (or to have an approved RAD exemption on file). Both are affirmative defenses, and dismissal means fixing the license and starting the whole process over. Rent control under the Rental Housing Act reaches most buildings built before 1976 unless you hold a recorded RAD exemption, which also caps what rent you can lawfully demand in the notice. The District funds tenant right-to-counsel programs, so expect the tenant to appear with a lawyer, and expect mediation to be part of the process rather than an optional detour.

• D.C. Code § 42-3505.01
• D.C. Law 26-80 (RENTAL Amendment Act of 2025)