Any deed conveying real property in the District, or interest therein, or declaring or limiting any use or trust thereof, executed and acknowledged and certified as provided in §§ 42-602 and 42-306, and Chapter 12A of Title 1, and delivered to the person in whose favor the same is executed shall be held to take effect from the date of the delivery; except, that as to creditors and subsequent bona fide purchasers and mortgagees without notice of said deed, and others interested in the property, it shall only take effect from the time of its delivery to the Recorder of Deeds for record.
§ 42–402. Defective grants recorded before April 27, 1994.
(a) Any instrument recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds before April 27, 1994, shall be effective notwithstanding the existence of 1 or more of the failures in the formal requisites listed in § 42-404, unless the failure was challenged in a judicial proceeding commenced within 6 months from April 27, 1994.
(b) Nothing in this section shall affect the validity of instruments recorded before April 27, 1994, which have been validated by prior law.
§ 42–403. Defective grants recorded on or after the effective date of the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts Amendment Act of 2022.
Any instrument recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds on or after September 21, 2022 shall be effective notwithstanding the existence of any failures in the formal requisites listed in § 42-404.
§ 42–404. Failures in formal requisites of an instrument.
(a) The failures in the formal requisites of an instrument that may be cured by this act are:
(1) An omission of an acknowledgment, defective or improper acknowledgment, or any failure to meet a requirement in the taking of an acknowledgment;
(2) A failure to attach a clerk’s certificate;
(3) An omission of a notary seal or other seal; or
(4) An omission of an attestation.
(b) Nothing in this act shall be construed to eliminate the requirement that a deed be under seal. Any deed accepted for recordation without a seal but made effective by operation of this act shall be deemed a sealed instrument.
(c) Nothing in this act shall be construed to validate any instrument with respect to which there was any misrepresentation, fraudulent act, or illegal provision in connection with its execution or acknowledgment.
(d) Any person convicted of a fraudulent act, in connection with the validation of any instrument under §§ 42-402, 42-403, and 42-602 shall be subject to the penalties set forth in § 22-3222.
§ 42–405. Notice of address and name change.
(a) Any owner, as defined under § 47-802(5), of real property entitled to receive notices under Chapter 8 of Title 47 shall notify the Office of Tax and Revenue of a name change or address change within 30 days.
(b) Any name change shall be evidenced by the recording of a confirmatory deed with the Recorder of Deeds and submission of supporting documents with and as required by the Recorder of Deeds relating to the applicable property.
(c) Any address change shall be filed with the Office of Tax and Revenue on the form and in the manner as may be prescribed.
(d) The Chief Financial Officer may issue rules to implement the provisions of this section.
§ 42–406. First recorded deed preferred.
When 2 or more deeds of the same property are made to bona fide purchasers for value without notice, the deed or deeds which are first recorded according to law shall be preferred.
§ 42–407. Instrument not properly executed or acknowledged not recordable.
The Recorder of Deeds shall not:
(1) Accept for recordation any instrument unless the instrument is executed and acknowledged according to law by the person granting or contracting his or her right, title, or interest in the real property;
(2) Accept for recordation any deed, as defined in § 42-1101(3), concerning real property in connection with which taxes, assessments, or charges are owing under chapter 11 of this title, under chapters 9 and 14 of Title 47, or to a taxing agency as defined in § 47-1330(8); provided, that this paragraph shall not:
(A) Act to bar collection of the delinquent taxes, assessments, or charges; and
(B) Apply to real property acquired by the District, receiving assistance under the Distressed Properties Improvement Program established pursuant to § 42-3508.04, or encumbered by an instrument securing payment of a promissory note executed under § 47-1353(a)(3); or
(3) Require liens filed by a taxing agency as defined in § 47-1330(8), or liens filed under § 47-4421, to be acknowledged; provided, that when a lien is delivered to the Recorder of Deeds via an electronic medium or first accessible via the Internet, the lien shall be deemed filed and recorded, notwithstanding any other law.
§ 42–408. Record of conveyance by infant or infant trustee as evidence.
The record or a copy thereof of any deed recorded shall be evidence thereof, in the same manner and shall have the same effect as if such deed had been originally executed, acknowledged, and recorded according to law.
§ 42–409. Bonds and contracts relating to land recordable.
Any title bond or other written contract in relation to land may be acknowledged, certified, and recorded in the same manner and with like effect as to notice as deeds for the conveyance of land.
§ 42–410. Map or plat of subdivisions not recordable.
It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to record any map or plat of the subdivision of land in the District of Columbia in the office of the Recorder of Deeds for said District, whether such map or plat be attached to a deed or other document or is offered separately for record.
