The District of Columbia Superior Court Rules Committee has issued proposed amendments to DC Landlord and Tenant Branch Rule 15 and L&T Form 6 (Trans Lux Form).

Written comments are due May 12, 2014.

The biggest proposed change involves the treatment of the Writ of Restitution filing fee.  In the past, as soon as the Writ was filed, a landlord was entitled to charge the entire $213 filing fee to the tenant as part of the redemption amount.  When the court recently changed its procedure and began refunding Writ fees in cases where the eviction never occurred, an ambiguity arose as to when a landlord had to provide a corresponding credit to a tenant who had paid the Writ fee.  The proposed amendment would only allow the landlord to pass along the nonrefundable $18 charge to the tenant at the time the Writ is filed. The landlord would only be allowed to pass along the remaining $195 charge to the tenant if the US Marshals arrive on the premises to conduct the eviction.

The proposed amendments can be found here: Notice of Proposed Amendments to Superior Court Rule of Procedure.