1-Stop Shop: Government Resources

1-STOP SHOP: GOVERNMENT RESOURCES

The DC government is a complicated beast, to be sure, but we’re here to help. Across our new website, we have a number of resources that aim to help you find the government information you need, or, when appropriate, to put you in contact with various government representatives.

For starters, make sure you head over to our quick-hitting explainer on the ins and outs of the DC government. It has information on how the actual system works, who is in charge of what, as well as some agencies and services that would be relevant to REALTORS®, homeowners, renters and others. You can find that guide here.

There are 13 DC Councilmembers — one for each of the city’s eight wards, four at-large Councilmembers that are voted upon by the entirety of the District and the Chairman, who is also elected by the city as opposed to a particular ward or subset — and along with the mayor, they are the primary governmental body for the city. They craft legislation, debate it, amend it, pass it and work to fund it.

If you ever need to get in touch with one of your Councilmembers, whether it be your ward Councilmember or an at-large Councilmember, you can find their contact information here. Sometimes, DCAR will appeal to its members to reach out to their Councilmembers regarding a particular piece of legislation or a specific issue at hand.

Moving away from the governmental bodies, there are many important resources we have on our website that can be useful to you on a day-to-day basis. For example, if you’re looking to purchase a home, our guide of homeownership programs in the District has a great deal of information that you’ll want to peruse. Many of those, such as the Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP), are government-backed programs that would not exist without the work of the Council.

And if you need information on zoning regulations, historic districts and more, our compilation of useful links will be helpful.

If there is anything else you need that you can’t find on our website, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at contact@dcrealtors.org. We’re always willing to help!