After his daughter was killed in 2022, U.S. Department of Energy employee Dana Pleasant took custody of her three youngest children. A housing voucher helped cover the family's roughly $4,800 monthly rent in Washington, D.C., but when that assistance stopped following failed home inspections, they faced eviction.
His family's situation reflects a growing housing crisis in the nation's capital, where completed evictions reached a 12-year high.
Here's what to know
The Office of the Tenant Advocate data, alongside American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop and Street Sense. D.C., recorded 2,420 completed household evictions in fiscal 2025, nearly 30% more than in fiscal 2024, according to The 51st.
That figure surpassed the roughly 1,600 annual evictions typical before the pandemic, The 51st reported. However, landlords initiated 13,051 eviction cases during calendar 2025 — less than 50% of the 2019 total, according to D.C. Superior Court data.
The loss of procedural protections has drawn concern from tenant attorneys, as have cuts to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, known as ERAP. Funding for the program dropped from over $60 million in 2024 to about $7 million under the budget.
The D.C. Council tightened eligibility requirements in 2025 and ended automatic pauses on nonpayment eviction cases while tenants awaited decisions on assistance applications.
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More background
A D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute analysis found that nearly 45% of District renters devote over 30% of their income to rent. A third of those rent-burdened renters have workweeks exceeding 40 hours.
Among those seeking assistance through the D.C.-funded Civil Legal Counsel Projects Program, 82% identified as Black, and nearly two-thirds were women, according to the program's findings. Evictions were concentrated in Southeast D.C., particularly Ward 8.
D.C. Housing Finance Agency data showed that rent arrears at over 100 affordable housing properties increased from $21.5 million in 2024 to about $26.8 million in 2025.
The RENTAL Act shortened the required wait before a first eviction hearing. Tenant attorneys say the change leaves renters with less time to seek assistance, find a lawyer, or negotiate before appearing in court.
What's being done?
Natasha Bennett, managing attorney at the social-services nonprofit Bread for the City, has urged a return to the Housing Stabilization Grant model.
Under the program, participating landlords received city payments covering 80% of rental debt in exchange for forgiving the remaining balance, allowing tenants to stay in their homes.
Sunny Desai, a managing attorney at Legal Counsel for the Elderly, supports efforts to resolve disputes before eviction cases are filed. A bill before the council would establish early mediation, giving landlords and tenants an opportunity to discuss repayment plans, repairs, or other solutions.
Still, Pleasant needed to find another home and secure money for a security deposit and the first month's rent, and he rejected the idea that families facing eviction simply have not tried hard enough.
"God knows the last thing I would want to do is deliberately or intentionally put my family at risk of homelessness," he said.
Where can I learn more?
Debates over rental debt, evictions, and tenant protections extend well beyond D.C. These stories examine rising eviction filings, court procedures, legal assistance, and efforts to limit displacement.
• Nevada tenants face tight eviction deadlines while reform bills keep getting vetoed.
• In New York, Legal Aid's emergency team offers tenants facing eviction a 24-hour lifeline.
• Los Angeles landlords use an eviction loophole to convert apartments into Airbnbs before the 2028 Olympics.
• In Santa Monica, Measure RR would raise the bar for some rent-debt evictions.
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