Yesterday, the D.C. Department of Consumer Regulatory Affairs mailed letters to over 125 Georgetown University-area landlords it believes are renting properties without a valid business license. The letters issue an ultimatum: apply for a business license and have their properties inspected within 10 days, or DCRA will take “enforcement action.”

The DCRA has intensified its focus on policing university-area property owners since it launched the Collegiate Off-Campus Housing Initiative last Fall. When the school year began in 2009, it launched a website for student renters in the District, ThisShouldBeIllegal.com, a Twitter feed, and a Facebook page all aimed at helping students determine whether their landlords were properly licensed to rent to them.

Voice News will have more information on Thursday.

Photo from the Collegiate Off-Campus Housing Initiative’s Facebook.