You must file a motion in the Landlord and Tenant Clerk's Office at 510 4th Street, NW, Bldg. B, Room 110, Washington, DC 20001. The clerk's office has a standard motion form. The cost is $10

You must use court process to evict the tenant. To do this, you must wait at least forty-eight hours after entry of a judgment or a default before you return to the Landlord and Tenant Clerk's Office to file a writ of restitution, which orders the eviction of the tenant. If you have a "default," you must turn the "default" into a "judgment" by filing a Servicemembers affidavit with the court certifying that the tenant is not on active duty with the military or other government service. The filing fee for the writ is $213 (clerk's fee is $10, US Marshals Service fee is $195 and the US Marshals Administrative Fee is $8). If you received a judgment (rather than a default), you are not required to file the Soldiers and Sailors affidavit.

If a landlord fails to make repairs after a tenant notifies the landlord about the need for repairs, the tenant has several options. A tenant may sue their landlord for DC Housing Code violations by filing a complaint and summons with the Civil Actions Branch Clerk's Office, Moultrie Courthouse, Room 5000. Tenants may have other legal options in the District of Columbia Superior Court, such as filing a lawsuit in another branch of the court (such as the Civil Actions Branch or Small Claims) requesting a court order for repairs to be made or seeking damages against the landlord for not making repairs. If the landlord has sued the tenant for unpaid rent in the Landlord and Tenant Court, the tenant may raise these repairs as a defense to the lawsuit by telling the judge about these problems. The tenant could also include repairs in an agreement that settles a Landlord and Tenant lawsuit. Depending on your circumstances, you may have other options that are not listed here. If you are not sure what the best option is, you should seek legal advice from a private lawyer, Law Students in Court, the Landlord and Tenant Resource Center or another organization in order to protect your legal rights.

You must submit a written request to the Executive Office at 500 Indiana Avenue, NW; Room 1500; Washington, DC or by facsimile to (202) 879-1802. The request must include the case name, case number, date of the proceeding, name of judicial officer, courtroom, the name of the person bringing the equipment, type of equipment, and a contact number, including facsimile number.

If your landlord has sued you in Landlord and Tenant Court, you can ask the court to allow you to pay your rent into the registry of the court until the case is over or as part of an agreement settling the case. The Court's Registry is a court-monitored bank account set aside for tenants to make rental payments (called protective order payments). If you do not have a case in Landlord and Tenant Court, you cannot pay your rent into the court registry.

You can ask the court to stop the eviction by filing an Application to Stay Execution of the Writ of Restitution in the Landlord and Tenant Clerk's Office. If the reason the landlord sued you is because you owe rent, you can avoid eviction by paying the landlord all of the rent and court costs that you owe as of the day the you make the payment. (This includes the rent that has come due since the time the landlord filed the lawsuit.) If you bring your account current with the landlord, the landlord cannot evict you unless he or she brings a new lawsuit.

If you do not believe that you should be evicted, you can come to court immediately and file an Application to Stay Execution of the Writ of Restitution in the Landlord and Tenant Clerk's Office. You may also want to file a motion to ask the court to vacate the judgment so that you can present defenses you have to the case. The cost for the motion is $10.

If you are already involved in a non-payment of rent case in Landlord and Tenant, you can file a counterclaim, recoupment, or setoff to collect money from your landlord for part or all of the rent that you paid in the past when the apartment or house was in need of repair. You can also collect money to reimburse you for the costs of repairs that you have personally made to the apartment or house. Other suits for damages for personal injuries or damage to a tenant's personal property must be filed in the Small Claims and Conciliation Branch, 510 4th Street, NW, Building B, Room 120 if the amount is $5,000 or less. Suits for damages more than $5,000 must be filed in the Civil Actions Branch, Room 5000 in the Moultrie Courthouse.

"If you are the losing party because the Court issued a default or default judgment, you may file a motion to vacate the default or default judgment. The Court issues a default judgment when you do not show up at your court date. If your wages and/or bank accounts or other properties have been “attached,” (seized or taken because of a court order) and you want to get back your property, you may file a motion to quash the writ of attachment. This motion can be added to the motion to vacate the default judgment. Any party can file a motion for a new trial or a motion to alter or amend the judgment. These motions must be filed ten business days after the judge’s order, which is called an “entry of the judgment.” See SCR-Civ. 59. A hearing on the motion will be scheduled within 21 to 30 days of filing where you will argue in favor of your motion. The losing party can file a motion to stay execution of a judgment (to prevent further action by the winning party to collect the judgment) while a motion for judicial review, motion for a new trial or motion to alter or amend a judgment is waiting to be heard by the judge. These motions should be filed with the Small Claims Clerk; there is a $10.00 fee, unless your costs have been waived by the Court. See page 6 for more details about fee waivers. Either party may appeal a judge’s decision. To “appeal a judge’s decision” means to have the judge’s decision looked at by another judge, usually a panel of judges from a higher court. If you wish to appeal a Magistrate Judge’s decision, you must file a motion for judicial review in the Small Claims Clerk’s Office within ten business days from the date that the judgment is entered into the Court’s official docket. The motion for judicial review of the Magistrate Judge’s decision will be reviewed by an Associate Judge. You cannot submit any new evidence when filing a motion for judicial review. Clerk’s Office and pay a $10.00 fee, unless your costs have been waived by the Court. See page 6 for more details about fee waivers."

Any party can make a request to have their case heard by a jury. The request must be in writing and signed. The written request must be filed with the Small Claims Clerk’s Office before the first court date. The Court may extend the time to file the request for a jury demand upon request by the party. If the defendant wants to request a jury trial, a verified answer requesting the case to be heard by a jury must be filed on or before the first court date. A “verified answer” is an answer that the defendant has sworn to in front of a clerk or notary public. After a jury demand is made, the case will no longer be heard in the Small Claims Branch. The case will be assigned to an Associate Judge in the Civil Division of Superior Court. In jury demand cases, however, all documents must be filed with the Small Claims Clerk’s Office. The case type will change when a jury demand is filed. For example, case number 01 SC2 0003 will change to 01 SCJ 0003. There is a $75 fee for filing a jury demand, unless the fee is waived by the judge.