The District government is suing 23 landlords with long histories of violating the city’s housing laws and providing miserable living conditions to vulnerable tenants, D.C. officials said Friday.

The District will ask the D.C. Superior Court to appoint receivers to collect rent from the owners of the most blighted and neglected properties and use the money to repair the housing-code violations. If the rent money is not enough to cover the cost of the repairs, the District will ask the court to order the landlord to fix the problems or face prison or fines.