Bernstein Management Corp. v. District of Columbia Rental Housing Commission, 952 A.2d 190 (2008)

Citation: Bernstein Management Corp. v. District of Columbia Rental Housing Commission, 952 A.2d 190 (2008)
Parent Document: Bernstein Management Corp. v. District of Columbia Rental Housing Commission, 952 A.2d 190 (2008)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 2008-07-10
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/5143675/bernstein-management-corp-v-dis... ↗

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*199A fortiori, the evidence was sufficient to find that the rent increases were made “willfully.” Willfulness has been variously defined. In Quality Mgmt., Inc. v. D.C. Rental Housing Comm’n, 505 A.2d 73 (D.C.1986), we quoted a legislative colloquy to the effect that willfulness “goes to intent to violate the law” and “demands a more culpable mental state,” than the word “knowingly,” which “is simply that you know what you are doing.” Id. at 75-76 n. 6. Alternatively, we noted in Parreco v. D.C. Rental Housing Comm’n, 885 A.2d 327 (D.C.2005), that the RHC has defined willfulness to mean that “the person intended to do the action that constitutes the violation, not necessarily that the person was conscious of the fact that it was a violation.” Id. at 337-38 n. 15. Here, the Rent Administrator appears to have used the stricter standard, finding that petitioner continued to increase a rent that it “knew was illegal.”11 The record supported that finding because, as noted, petitioner filed a registration form with the RACD reflecting that, as of October 1, 1996, the rent ceiling for Ms. Sheppard’s unit was $772, and petitioner in turn informed Ms. Sheppard of that rent ceiling. It subsequently misinformed RACD and Ms. Sheppard that the rent ceiling had been increased without any basis for doing so. Thus, the record supports that petitioner was “well aware” of the maximum that it was legally entitled to charge, and “had no excuse” for increasing Ms. Sheppard’s rent above that legal limit.

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