§ 42–1218. Authority of Mayor to adjust fees; computation of rates; exception.

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of §§ 42-1210, 50-1212, and 50-1213, or any other act of Congress, the Mayor of the District of Columbia may, from time to time, increase or decrease the fees authorized to be charged for filing, recording, and indexing or for making a certified copy of any instrument; for searching records; for taking acknowledgments; for recording plats; for filing affidavits; for filing certificates of incorporation and amendments of certificates; for recording liens, assignments of liens, or releases of liens on motor vehicles or trailers; or for any other service rendered by the Office of the Recorder of Deeds.

(b) The fees for services rendered by the Office of the Recorder of Deeds shall be fixed at such rates, computed on such bases and in such manner, as may, in the judgment of the Mayor, be necessary to defray the approximate cost of operating the Office of the Recorder of Deeds.

(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the Mayor to modify any provision of Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Title 29.

(Aug. 3, 1954, 68 Stat. 650, ch. 653, § 1; July 2, 2011, D.C. Law 18-378, § 3(ff), 58 DCR 1720.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 45-915.

1973 Ed., § 45-714.

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 18-378, in subsec. (c), substituted “Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Title 29” for “Chapter 1 of Title 29”.

Change in Government

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.