Title 42 — Real Property.
57 chapters · 1,018 sections in this title.
D.C. Code § 42-2001 Short title
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This subchapter, including its table of contents, may be cited as the “Horizontal Property Act of the District of Columbia.”
D.C. Code § 42-2002 Definitions
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Unless it is plainly evident from the context that a different meaning is intended, as used herein: (1) “Unit” or “condominium unit” means an enclosed space, consisting of 1 or more rooms, occupying all or part of 1 or more floors in buildings of 1 or more floors or stories regar…
D.C. Code § 42-2003 Establishment by subdivision
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Whenever the owners or the co-owners of any square or lot shall subdivide the same into a condominium project in conformity with § 42-2009 with a plat of condominium subdivision there shall be established a horizontal property regime.
D.C. Code § 42-2004 Transfer of individual units; incidents of real property; recordation
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Once the property is subdivided into the horizontal property regime, a condominium unit in the project may be individually conveyed, leased, and encumbered and may be inherited or devised by will, as if it were sole and entirely independent of the other condominium units in the p…
D.C. Code § 42-2005 Joint tenancies, tenancies in common, tenancies by the entirety
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Any condominium unit may be held and owned by more than 1 person as joint tenants, as tenants in common, as tenants by the entirety (in the case of husband and wife), or in any other real property tenancy relationship recognized under the laws of the District of Columbia.
D.C. Code § 42-2006 Units held in fee; common elements held in undivided shares; recordation of declaration of ownership percentages; market values of units and shares not fixed; voting on basis; unit deeds
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(a) A condominium unit owner shall have the exclusive fee simple ownership of his unit and shall have a common right to a share, with the other co-owners, of an undivided fee simple interest in the common elements of the property, equivalent to the percentage representing the val…
D.C. Code § 42-2007 Indivisibility of common elements; limitation upon partition; exception thereto
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(a) The common elements, both general and limited, shall remain undivided. No unit owner, or any other person, shall bring any action for partition or division of the co-ownership permitted under § 93, and related provisions, of the Act of March 3, 1901 (31 Stat. 1203), as amende…
D.C. Code § 42-2008 Use of elements held in common; right to enter units for certain repairs
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(a) Each co-owner may use the elements held in common in accordance with the purposes for which they are intended, without hindering or encroaching upon the lawful rights of the other co-owners. (b) The manager, board of directors or of administration, as the case may be, shall h…
D.C. Code § 42-2009 Plat of condominium subdivision — Contents thereof; certification and recordation
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(a) Whenever the owner or the co-owners of any square or lot duly subdivided in conformity with § 1-1320 or other applicable laws of the District of Columbia shall deem it necessary to subdivide the same into a condominium project of convenient condominium units for sale and occu…
D.C. Code § 42-2010 Plat of condominium subdivision — Reference thereto for description; conveyance of unit includes share in common elements
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When a plat of a condominium project and subdivision shall be so certified, examined, and recorded, the purchaser of any condominium unit thereof or any person interested therein may refer to the plat and record for description in the same manner as to squares and lots divided be…
D.C. Code § 42-2011 Termination and waiver of regime; certification upon plat; judicial termination; ownership after termination; condominium restrictions not applicable after termination or partition
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(a) All the co-owners or the sole owner of a project constituted into a horizontal property regime may terminate and waive this regime and regroup or merge the individual and several condominium units with the principal property; such termination and waiver shall be by certificat…
D.C. Code § 42-2012 Merger no bar to reconstitution
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The merger provided for in the preceding section shall in no way bar the subsequent constitution of the property into another horizontal property regime whenever so desired and upon observance of the provisions of this subchapter.
D.C. Code § 42-2013 Bylaws — Availability for examination; made part of declaration; amendment; compliance mandatory
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(a) The administration of every project constituted into a horizontal property regime shall be governed by the bylaws as the council of co-owners may from time to time adopt, which said bylaws together with the declaration, including recorded attachments thereto, referred to in §…
D.C. Code § 42-2014 Plat of condominium subdivision — Necessary; modification of administration
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(a) The bylaws must necessarily provide for at least the following: (1) Form of administration, indicating whether this shall be in charge of an administrator, manager, or of a board of directors, or of administration, or otherwise, and specifying the powers, manner of removal, a…
D.C. Code § 42-2015 Books of receipts and expenditures; availability for examination; annual audit
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The manager, administrator, or the board of directors, or of administration, or other form of administration specified in the bylaws, shall keep books with detailed accounts in chronological order, of the receipts and of the expenditures affecting the project and its administrati…
D.C. Code § 42-2016 Common profits and expenses; taxation; proportional contributions for administration and maintenance mandatory; determination of amount due and assessment of lien
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(a) The common profits of the property shall be distributed among and the common expenses shall be charged to the unit owners according to the percentages established by § 42-2006; provided, that for purposes of the application of subchapter II of Chapter 18 of Title 47, the coun…
D.C. Code § 42-2017 Priority of liens; unpaid assessments upon sale or conveyance
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(a) The lien determined, levied and assessed in accordance with § 42-2016 shall have preference over any other assessments, liens, judgments, or charges of whatever nature, except the following: (1) Real estate taxes, other taxes arising out of or resulting from the ownership, us…
D.C. Code § 42-2018 Joint and several liability of purchaser and seller of unit for amounts owing under § 42-2016; purchaser’s right of indemnity; right to statement of amount of unpaid assessments
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The purchaser of a condominium unit in a voluntary sale shall be jointly and severally liable with the seller for the amounts owing by the latter under § 42-2016 upon his interest in the condominium unit up to the time of conveyance; without prejudice to the purchaser’s right to …
D.C. Code § 42-2019 Supplemental method of enforcement of lien; rights and duties of subsequent purchaser; priority of lien, bond and trust; written statement of payments due under lien
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(a) In addition to proceedings available at law or equity for the enforcement of the lien established by § 42-2016, all the owners of property constituted into a horizontal property regime may execute bonds conditioned upon the faithful performance and payment of the installments…
D.C. Code § 42-2020 Authority to obtain hazard insurance; held in trust; no effect on right to insure individual unit
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The manager or the board of directors, if required by the bylaws or by a majority of the co-owners, or at the request of a mortgagee having a first mortgage of record covering a unit, shall have the authority to, and shall, obtain insurance for the property against loss or damage…
D.C. Code § 42-2021 Application of insurance proceeds to reconstruction; pro rata distribution in certain cases according to bylaws or decision of council
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(a) In case of fire or other disaster the insurance indemnity shall, except as provided in the next succeeding subsection of this section, be applied to reconstruct the project. (b) Reconstruction shall not be compulsory where destruction comprises the whole or more than two-thir…
D.C. Code § 42-2022 Sharing of reconstruction cost where project not insured or insurance indemnity insufficient
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Where the project is not insured or where the insurance indemnity is insufficient to cover the cost of reconstruction the new project costs shall be paid by all the co-owners in the same proportion as their proportionate ownership of the common elements of the condominium project…
D.C. Code § 42-2023 Unit identification; taxation of unit and proportionate share of common area; effect of forfeiture or tax sale of other units
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(a) For the purposes of assessment and taxation of property constituted into a horizontal property regime and to conform to the system of numbering squares, lots, blocks, and parcels for taxation purposes in effect in the District of Columbia, each condominium unit duly situate u…
D.C. Code § 42-2024 Actions relating to common elements; service of process; removal of lien on proportionate share of common areas following judgment against other unit owners
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(a) Without limiting the right of any co-owner, actions may be brought on behalf of 2 or more of the unit owners, as their respective interests may appear, by the manager, or board of directors, or of administration with respect to any cause of action relating to the common eleme…
D.C. Code § 42-2025 Liens available only against individual units; consent necessary for mechanics’ or materialmen’s liens; removal of lien on unit and proportionate share of common area following judgment against other unit owners
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(a) Subsequent to establishment of a horizontal property regime as provided in this subchapter, and while the property remains subject to this subchapter, no lien shall thereafter arise or be effective against the property. During such period liens or encumbrances shall arise or …
D.C. Code § 42-2026 Rule against perpetuities and rule against unreasonable restraints on alienation not applicable to horizontal property regimes; exception for individual units
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The rule of property known as the rule against perpetuities, and the rule of property known as the rule restricting unreasonable restraints on alienation, §§ 42-302 and 42-304 [repealed], shall not be applied to defeat any of the provisions of this subchapter, or of any declarati…
D.C. Code § 42-2027 Subchapter supplements existing code provisions; exception where conflict arises
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The provisions of the subchapter shall be in addition to and supplemental to all other provisions of law of the District of Columbia and wheresoever there appears in the provisions the words “square”, “lot”, “land”, “ground”, “parcel”, “property”, “block”, or other designation de…
D.C. Code § 42-2028 Regulations of Council and Zoning Commission; enforcement thereof
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In order to bring horizontal property regimes into compliance with the laws and regulations in effect in the District of Columbia, the Council of the District of Columbia and the Zoning Commission of the District of Columbia are each hereby authorized to adopt such regulations as…
D.C. Code § 42-2029 Subchapter interpreted to require compliance with all applicable laws; owners’ responsibilities for taxes; methods of collection; no effect on eminent domain
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(a) This subchapter shall be interpreted in such a manner as to require each condominium unit and each horizontal property regime to be in compliance with all District of Columbia laws and regulations relating to property of like type, whether it be designed for residence, for of…
D.C. Code § 42-2030 Right to individual water meters; common water service authorized; billing and collection
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(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this subchapter, the developer or co-owners of any horizontal property regime shall have the right to have installed for each and every individual unit a separately metered water service. Such installations shall be subject to all laws and reg…
D.C. Code § 42-2031 Authority vested in Board of Commissioners unaffected; delegation of functions
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Nothing in this subchapter or in any amendments made by this subchapter shall be construed so as to affect the authority vested in the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia by Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1952 (66 Stat. 824). The performance of any function vested by…
D.C. Code § 42-2051 Council authorized to prohibit conversions to condominiums
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In addition to other authority delegated to it, and in accordance with § 406 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967, the Council of the District of Columbia is authorized, by regulation, to prohibit the establishment, after the effective date of such regulation, of any horizontal p…