14 DCMR § 14-3801

3801.1 All pleadings, motions, and other documents that a person wishes to submit to the Commission shall be filed by delivering them in person or by U.S. mail to the Commission’s staff at One Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street, N.W., Suite 1140B North, Washington, D.C. 20001, by email attachment if authorized by the Clerk pursuant to § 3801.10, or as otherwise directed by the Clerk or by order of the Commission.

3801.2 All pleadings, motions, or other documents shall be deemed filed when received by the Commission’s staff during its regular business hours.

3801.3 All pleadings, motions, and other documents filed with the Commission shall be promptly date-stamped by the Commission’s staff and entered into the Commission’s daily log.

3801.4 The Commission’s daily log shall be available for public inspection.

3801.5 The Clerk may reject a filing that does not comply with this section. The receipt of a pleading, motion, or other document by the Commission’s staff that is not timely or that does not comply with the filing requirements of this chapter shall not constitute a waiver of those requirements, and any such pleading or document may be rejected later by the Commission.

3801.6 Unless otherwise required by rule or by order of the Commission, only one (1) copy of a pleading, motion, or other document shall be required when filing with the Commission. A filing party may provide an additional copy to be date-stamped and returned to the filing party; provided, that if the filing is made by mail, the party shall include a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope for the return copy.

3801.7 All pleadings, motions, and other documents filed by a party shall be served on the opposing party or parties prior to or at the same time as filed with the Commission and shall contain proof of service as required by § 3803.7.

3801.8 No fees shall be charged for the filing of any papers with the Commission.

3801.9 Any forms that are designed to be filed by parties with the Commission and that may be provided at the Commission’s offices or on its website are only for illustration purposes for style and basic content; use of a form is not required and does not guarantee that a filing will be found legally sufficient by the Commission.

3801.10 Pleadings, motions, or other documents may be filed by email attachment as follows:

(a) All email attachments shall be in Portable Document Format (“.pdf” file type) or Microsoft Word format (“.doc” or “.docx” file types) and, without modification, shall comply with the formatting requirements in § 3801.12 when printed;

(b) A party may file by email attachment without prior authorization; provided, that the Clerk may, in his or her discretion, revoke permission of any person to file by email attachment with three (3) business days’ notice to the person, by U.S. mail or email;

(c) Any party that files a pleading, motion, or other document by email attachment shall be deemed to consent to electronic service from the Commission and any other party for the purposes of § 3803.3(c);

(d) For the purpose of documenting receipt, the Clerk shall make a copy of the email to which the filing is attached as part of the record of the case for which it is filed, but nothing in the body of the email shall be considered part of the filing;

(e) An email received outside the Commission’s regular business hours shall be deemed filed at the start of the next day that the Commission is open for public business;

(f) A party filing by email accepts the risk that an email or attachment may be delayed or disrupted by technical failure or defect and may not be properly filed; and

(g) All filings by email attachment shall be sent to rhc.clerk@dc.gov.

3801.11 No pleadings, motions, or other documents may be filed by fax.

3801.12 All pleadings, motions, and other documents shall be formatted as follows:

(a) Typed or printed in black ink, with a font size of twelve (12) points, with no less than one-inch (1”) margins, on eight and one half-inch (8.5”) by eleven-inch (11”) inch white paper;

(b) No longer than forty (40) pages, excluding relevant supporting exhibits;

(c) Supporting exhibits, if filed, shall be provided in the original format but shall be reproduced on eight and one half-inch (8.5”) by eleven-inch (11”) inch white paper; and

(d) On request of the filing party or on its own initiative, the Commission may, in its discretion, waive the requirements of this subsection.

3801.13 All pleadings, motions, and other documents shall contain the following:

(a) The name, address, and telephone number of the party filing the pleading, motion, or other document, District of Columbia Bar number, if applicable, and the party’s email address if the party has consented to service by email in accordance with § 3803.3(c);

(b) The Rental Accommodations Division, Office of Administrative Hearings, or Commission case numbers;

(c) The signature of the party, the party’s attorney, or the other person authorized to represent the party, which may be by conformed signature (“/s/”) in an email attachment if the person signing retains a signed copy and makes the signed copy available to the Commission or any other party upon request;

(d) The signatory’s address, telephone number, and email address (if the party has consented to email service in accordance with § 3803.3(c)); and

(e) Proof of service as required by § 3803.7.

3801.14 Any changes in the name, address, email address, or telephone number of the parties or their representatives shall be filed with the Commission within ten (10) days of the change. Opposing parties must be served with notice of the change in the manner prescribed in § 3803.7.

3801.15 By signing a pleading, motion, or other document filed with the Commission, a person certifies that, to the best of the person’s knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances:

(a) The pleading, motion, or other document is not being filed for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation;

(b) Any factual assertions therein are true; and

(c) The legal contentions therein are warranted by existing law or by a non-frivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law.