2026-09-09 · District of Columbia · Legislation · Pending — not yet law

A District of Columbia bill would require the company that manages a condominium, not merely the individual who does the work, to hold a licence. Bill 26-156, the Licensing for Accountability of Management of Properties Amendment Act of 2025 — the LAMP Act — is pending and has not moved.¹

Councilmember Anita Bonds introduced it on February 27, 2025, co-introduced by Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. It was referred to the Committee on Public Works and Operations on March 4, 2025, and a Notice of Intent to Act was published on March 7, 2025. Its legislative history ends there: no hearing, no markup, no committee report in more than eighteen months.

What it would do

The bill adds a new § 47-2853.183a to the District's licensing law, headed “Licensure of property management firms.”

No firm, franchise, partnership, association or corporation providing property management services — including a licensed property manager who employs another property manager — could operate in the District without a property management firm licence. To obtain one:

• The firm must itself be licensed under applicable District and federal law.
• Every member, partner, trustee or officer engaged in property management must individually hold a property manager licence.
• The firm must designate a lead property manager for each property it manages.
• Every employee rendering professional services must hold a licence or certificate from the Real Estate Commission.

The gap it is aimed at

The District already licenses individual property managers under § 47-2853.183. It does not license the companies.

Councilmember Bonds's transmittal letter builds the case on a federal prosecution: a property manager convicted of embezzling more than $380,000 from clients over a decade, harming small property owners including housing cooperatives. Without entity-level licensure, there was no regulatory mechanism to reach the company.

This is a repeat, and the first attempt did better

The same measure was Bill 25-639 in the previous Council Period. Introduced December 21, 2023 by Councilmember Bonds with Councilmember Gray, referred in January 2024, it received two public hearings, on July 2 and July 3, 2024 — and then died without a markup at the end of Council Period 25.

Bill 26-156 has so far done worse than the version that failed.

1. Bill 26-156, the Licensing for Accountability of Management of Properties (LAMP) Amendment Act of 2025 — legislative record ↩
2. Bill 26-156 as introduced — text and transmittal letter (PDF) ↩
3. D.C. Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Legislative Affairs and Policy ↩