Title 47 — Taxation, Licensing, Permits, Assessments, and Fees. [Enacted title]

For purposes of this chapter, the term: (1) “Costs” means amounts paid or payable by the purchaser to the District in connection with the sale of a real property. (2) “Tax” means unpaid real property tax and vault rent owing as of October 1, and unpaid business improvement distri…

(a) A tax shall automatically become a lien on the real property on the date the tax was due and unpaid or converted to a real property tax under § 47-1340. (b) The lien for a tax shall be a prior and preferred claim over all other liens and shall be perpetual. (c) Unless otherwi…

(a) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of this section or as provided in other law, the Mayor shall sell all real property on which the tax is in arrears. (b) The Mayor shall designate a single agency to conduct tax sales. (c) The Mayor shall not sell any real property…

Notwithstanding any other law, sale or assignment under this chapter or in furtherance thereof shall not be subject to subchapter I of Chapter 3 of Title 2.

(a) The rate of simple interest on all amounts due, owing, or paid for the taxes sold or bid off to the District under this chapter shall be 1.5% per month or portion thereof until paid, excluding surplus; provided, that interest on the amount sold at tax sale, excluding surplus,…

The Mayor may promulgate regulations to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

(a) A special assessment pursuant to an energy efficiency loan agreement under subchapter IX of Chapter 8 of Title 47, shall be deemed an additional real property tax, and shall be deemed a tax under § 47-1330(2). The special assessment shall be collectible under this chapter not…

(a) At least 60 days before the mailing of the notices required by § 47-1341, the Mayor shall notify all taxing agencies (other than the agency to whom the Mayor has delegated his authority under § 47-1332) of the Mayor’s intention to hold a tax sale and shall state the time and …

(a)(1) On or before May 1, the Mayor shall send a notice of tax delinquency by first class mail, postage prepaid, bearing a postmark from the United States Postal Service, to the person who last appears as the owner of the real property on the tax roll, at the last mailing addres…

(a) At any time after 30 days from the mailing of the notice of delinquency required by § 47-1341(a), the Mayor shall, simultaneously: (1) Cause to be advertised, at least once in not less than 2 newspapers of general circulation in the District that are published at least once e…

Whenever payment by check or other instrument on behalf of a real property is received prior to the tax sale, and the payment is refused by the drawee or the funds are not collected by the District, and, due to the tender of payment, the real property is not presented at the tax …

Subject to § 47-1345, each real property for sale shall be sold in its entirety, which shall be the parcel of real property as assessed in the assessment records under § 47- 802(1) or as described under § 47-895.31(8) as related to a sale under § 47-1336.

The power to sell real property for taxes shall not be affected by personal property of the owner on the real property to be sold.

(a) Whether or not any real property subject to sale under this chapter is subject to an estate for life, or a lease or ground rent for a term (with renewals) that is at least 30 years, the Mayor shall sell the entire fee simple estate; provided, that after the judgment of forecl…

(a)(1)(A) The sale shall be held by the Mayor on the date and at the place stated in the public notice. (B) If the sale cannot be completed on the date stated in the notice, the Mayor shall continue the sale, as determined by the Mayor and announced to the potential purchasers at…

The payment of the purchase price shall be on the terms established by the Mayor. A purchaser shall pay the full amount of his bid, including surplus and costs, within 5 business days after the last day of the sale. If the payment is not received within the time prescribed, 20% o…

(a) The Mayor shall deliver to the purchaser a certificate of sale under the Mayor’s hand and seal or authorized facsimile signature (or a delegate’s hand and seal). The certificate shall set forth: (1) The date of the certificate; (2) That the real property described in it was s…

(a) A certificate of sale executed and delivered by the Mayor to the purchaser is assignable and an assignment of the certificate of sale vests in the assignee, or the legal representative of the assignee, all the right, title, and interest of the original purchaser. (b) The assi…

The purchaser may record the certificate of sale and the assignee may record the assignment of the certificate of sale in the Recorder of Deeds.

The certificate of sale or assignment of the certificate of sale is presumptive evidence in all judicial proceedings by and against the purchaser, and the purchaser’s representatives, heirs and assigns, of the: (1) Truth of the statements in the certificate of sale or assignment …

(a) If the highest bid at a public auction is not sufficient to pay the taxes or if a certificate of sale shall become void, the real property shall be bid off to and purchased by the Mayor in the name of the District. Real property bid off to the District shall not be exempt fro…

(a) If a real property has been bid off in the name of the District, the Mayor may: (1) Sell the real property and: (A) If a certificate of sale has been issued for the real property, assign to the purchaser the certificate of sale upon payment of the amount for which the real pr…

(a) Within 30 days after the date of the tax sale, the Mayor shall send notice of the sale by first class mail, postage prepaid, bearing a postmark from the United States Postal Service to the last known address of the owner. If the premises address is different from the address …

(a) After the 6-month waiting period set forth in § 47-1370, as may be reduced under § 47-1353, has expired, the purchaser may pay other taxes, interest, and penalties owing on the real property for any period for which the real property has not been validly sold. (b) Upon paymen…

(a) Except as otherwise provided, a certificate of sale shall be void if: (1) An action to foreclose the right of redemption is not brought within one year from the date of the certificate of sale; (2) Repealed; (3) An action to foreclose the right of redemption is dismissed for …

Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, an owner or other person who has an interest in the real property sold by the Mayor may redeem the real property at any time until the foreclosure of the right of redemption is final.

(a) To redeem the real property, the person redeeming shall pay to the Mayor, except as set forth in paragraph (6A) of this subsection, for deposit into the General Fund of the District (notwithstanding any other law), the following: (1) If the real property was sold at tax sale …

(a) If there is a dispute regarding redemption after an action to foreclose the right of redemption is filed, the person redeeming may apply to the Superior Court for an order fixing the amount necessary for redemption in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. (b) Except…

(a) The owner of a real property sold under this chapter shall have the right, during the period of redemption, to continue in possession of, and to exercise all rights of ownership over, the real property until the right of redemption has been finally foreclosed under the provis…

Until a judgment is entered that forecloses the right of redemption in a real property sold by the Mayor and a deed is executed by the Mayor, the real property shall continue to be assessed as though no sale had been made. When the judgment is entered and the deed executed, the r…

A tenant or person with less than a fee simple interest from whom payment is obtained (“payor”), by distress or otherwise, of taxes due from an owner or other person under whom the payor holds shall receive a credit for the payment against the rents that the payor owes, except wh…

(a) The Mayor, in the Mayor’s discretion, may cancel a sale before the issuance of a final order by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia foreclosing the right of redemption to prevent an injustice to the owner or person with an interest in the real property. (b) The May…

(a) At any time after the expiration of a 6-month waiting period following the date of the tax sale, a purchaser may file a complaint to foreclose the right of redemption of the real property to which the certificate of sale corresponds. (b) In a suit to foreclose the right of re…

(a) The plaintiff in an action to foreclose the right of redemption shall be the purchaser. (b)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the defendants in an action to foreclose the right of redemption shall be: (A) The record title holder of the real property; (B) The…

(a)(1) The plaintiff shall send written notice of the action to: (A) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 47-1371(b)(4), all persons having a recorded interest, recorded claim, or recorded lien, including a recorded judgment, who have not been made a defendant in the action and, i…

(a) If the identity of an owner cannot be ascertained as provided in § 47-1371, the unknown owner of the real property may be included as a defendant by the designation: “Unknown owner of real property (insert a description of the real property in substantially the same form as t…

(a) The plaintiff shall set forth in the caption of the complaint the last address known to the plaintiff or to the attorney filing the complaint of each defendant, as obtained from: (1) Any records examined as part of the title examination; (2) The Recorder of Deeds; and (3) Any…

At the time the summons (or initial summons) is issued, the plaintiff shall obtain an order of publication directed to all defendants, naming them as provided by this chapter. The real property shall be described in the order of publication as the real property is described on th…

In an action to foreclose the right of redemption, the plaintiff shall not be required to plead or prove the various steps, procedure, and notices for the assessment and imposition of the taxes for which the real property was sold or the proceedings taken by the Mayor to sell the…

(a)(1) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, upon redemption, a purchaser is entitled to be reimbursed by the redeeming person for the following expenses incurred in an action, or in preparation for an action, to foreclose the right of redemption: (A) If an action…

Upon the occurrence of the last event specified in § 47-1374(e), a plaintiff may be entitled to judgment foreclosing the right of redemption. An interlocutory order shall not be required. The judgment shall be final and conclusive on the defendants, their heirs, devisees, and per…

The Superior Court shall not open a judgment rendered in an action for foreclosure of the right of redemption, except on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction or fraud in the conduct of the action to foreclose; provided, that the reopening of a judgment on the ground of constructiv…

(a) If the Superior Court shall set aside a sale, the amount required to redeem is: (A) the amount required by this chapter, as may be adjusted by the court, and (B) the reasonable value, on the date the judgment is set aside, of all reasonable improvements made on the real prope…

If a plaintiff who files a complaint to foreclose the right of redemption describes the real property in the complaint in a manner other than that contained in the certificate of sale or states an incorrect street address, and the description in the judgment, the description in t…

(a) Except as provided in § 47-1382.01, a final judgment foreclosing the right of redemption shall direct the Mayor to execute and deliver a deed to the purchaser in fee simple on payment to the Mayor of the amount required under this section. No deed shall be executed before suc…

(a) This section shall apply to any Class 1 property with 5 or fewer units in which a record owner (or a person with an interest in the property as heir or beneficiary of the record owner, if deceased), was occupying as his or her principal residence when the complaint to foreclo…

Subject to the rights of tenants under residential leases described in § 47-1382(a), a person who acquires a deed to real property under this chapter is entitled to issuance of a writ of possession of the real property as if the person had obtained a judgment awarding possession …

Notwithstanding any other law, if a court determines that any provision of this chapter is ambiguous, the provision shall be liberally construed as remedial legislation to encourage the foreclosure of the right of redemption by suits in the Superior Court and for the decreeing of…

Chapter 13 [of this title] shall apply to any tax sale made or instituted, and any agreement executed between the District and any third party with respect to such sale, before January 1, 2001. This chapter shall apply to any tax sale made or instituted (or which could have been …