Replacing leaky sink garbage disposal against code?

[Zee Ayezain]

Hi there, one of my properties in Washington DC has a leaky garbage disposal. I told the plumber to go check it out and if he can fix it great but if he has to replace it then to just remove it all together and not replace it because I don't want to continue to deal with leaky garbage disposals in the future. It just costs me to send someone everytime. He responded saying he can't do that since it's against code. Is that true? What are my options?

thanks!