Comer Sounds Alarm on D.C. Plan to Use AI Surveillance to Target District Property Owners
WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is continuing the Committee’s oversight of the District of Columbia’s housing policies and investigating a new initiative to use vehicles equipped with panoramic cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify vacant properties and external property maintenance violations. In a letter to District of Columbia Department of Buildings (D.C. DOB) Director Brian J. Hanlon, Chairman Comer raises concerns that the initiative could subject District property owners to excessive fines, mounting tax debt, and potential foreclosure and requests a briefing and information about the agency’s plan to implement the technology.
“The Committee has seen reports that the D.C. Department of Buildings (D.C. DOB) is working with the D.C. Department of Transportation and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer to utilize vehicles with mounted panoramic cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to surveil homes to determine if they are vacant and subject to external property maintenance violations. Specifically, the Committee is concerned about the potential of this initiative to ensnare District property owners in a regime of excessive fees, external property maintenance violations, and unpayable tax debt, putting them on a path towards foreclosure. The Committee therefore seeks a briefing and information from D.C. DOB regarding this initiative and supporting technologies,” said Congressman Comer.
In June, the Committee raised concerns with D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson about the District’s unconstitutional practice of seizing homeowners’ equity beyond what is owed in tax foreclosure proceedings. Many who have lost their property and home equity from the District’s unconstitutional takings are elderly or ill and minorities. Council Chairman Mendelson informed the Committee that the Council now intends to pass legislation ending these unjust property seizures. The Committee has also advanced legislation seeking to address the District’s use of cameras, particularly traffic cameras, as punitive revenue-generating mechanisms.
“Washington, D.C. has one of the highest vacant property taxes in the U.S. Many residents who lost their entire home equity in foreclosure after the District sold their tax lien to third party investors fell behind on their property taxes because the District imposes punitive penalties on properties it declares vacant or blighted. D.C. also levies steep fines for external property maintenance infractions, which start in the hundreds of dollars and escalate to thousands of dollars. Given this history, the Committee is concerned that D.C. DOB’s new initiative could be utilized to put more property owners on the path to foreclosure for the ultimate purpose of raising revenue by declaring a property vacant or levying excessive external property maintenance violation infractions,” concluded Chairman Comer.
Read the letter to D.C. DOB here.
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