The District’s building code enforcement agency is taking a more aggressive approach with vacant properties, boarding them up immediately and billing the owner for the related cost.

Under a new D.C. law, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs is now allowed to immediately close up a vacant building without notifying the owner. Prior to the bill’s enactment, DCRA would spend upward of three weeks simply notifying an owner that a building must be enclosed. The wait grew longer if the proprietor failed to act.