Full 2026 budget sheet and timeline for getting a DC rental license — BBL endorsement fees, RAD, Clean Hands, Certificate of Occupancy, inspections, and renewal.
For a single-family rental it is $159, and that is the whole DC bill for the two-year term. Clean Hands costs nothing, the first Housing Code inspection costs nothing, and no Certificate of Occupancy is required for a one-family rental. A two-family is $219; apartments run $249 at three units to $599 at ten. The only common extra is a $90 re-inspection if the unit fails.
DLCP charges one fee per license, not a stack of them: $99 for a Short-Term or Vacation Rental, $159 for a One-Family Rental, $219 for a Two-Family, and $249 to $599 for an Apartment license depending on unit count. Clean Hands adds nothing — it is free and instant from MyTax.DC.gov.
A complete, well-prepared filing typically clears in 30 to 60 days. The Housing Code inspection scheduling window is the bottleneck — most wards run 2–5 weeks. Filings missing Clean Hands, RAD, or the Certificate of Occupancy can stretch past 90 days.
A Short-Term or Vacation Rental license is the cheapest at $99, but it carries host-occupancy rules that make it impractical for most investors. For a conventional rental the One-Family license at $159 is the lowest, then Two-Family at $219.
RAD registration and DC FR-500 tax registration carry no filing fee. Both are still mandatory and missing either is the most common cause of BBL rejection.
Standard licensing starts at $549 and includes preparing every required filing, submitting to DLCP, RAD, and OTR, scheduling the inspection, and following every reply until the BBL is issued. DC’s own license fee is inside that price — $159 for a one-family over the full two-year term — so there is nothing further to pay the city on a standard filing. Two units are $749, then $100 per additional unit. C of O corrections, permitting and short-term rental renewals are quoted separately.
Yes. Filing Clean Hands, RAD, and the BBL together — instead of sequentially — saves 1–2 weeks. Pre-staging your unit against the Housing Code checklist before scheduling the inspection avoids re-inspection delays. That alone moves most landlords from 60 days to 30–45.
See what your DC rental license requires — free 60-second check · Done-for-you DC rental licensing
Questions? Call (202) 883-8275, Mon–Fri 9–6 ET · support@rentreadydc.com