(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 district tax owing as of September 1, including penalties, interest, and costs, as calculated by the Mayor. The term “tax” includes an assessment or charge due at any time to the District and certified to the Mayor for collection under this chapter in the same manner as a real property tax, along with permitted penalties, interest, and costs, as calculated by the Mayor.
(2A) “Tax sale date” or “date of the tax sale” means for purposes of the tax sale held under § 47-1346 the date when the tax sale during which the real property was sold concluded.
(3) “District” means the District of Columbia.
(4) “Expenses” means amounts paid or payable by the purchaser to persons other than the District in connection with the sale of a real property.
(4A) “Premises address” means the address, if any, for the square, suffix, and lot numbers, or parcel and lot numbers, of real property as reflected in the records in the Office of Tax and Revenue.
(5) “Purchaser” shall include the purchaser at the tax sale, the holder of the certificate of sale, the assignee or transferee of the certificate of sale, the plaintiff, or the District, as the context requires.
(6) “Superior Court” means the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
(7) “Surplus” means the portion of the bid at the tax sale that exceeds the taxes, penalties, interest, and costs for which the property was sold.
(8) “Taxing agency” means an agency of the District which may levy a tax, assessment, or charge collectible under this chapter. The term “taxing agency” shall include a business improvement district.
§ 47–1331. Tax is lien on real property; priority; application of payment; lien for deferred tax.
(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 otherwise provided in this chapter, all payments for taxes collected under this chapter shall be applied to each outstanding lien in order of its priority measured by the date that it became, or was converted to, a lien under subsection (a) of this section. The payment shall be applied to the lien in the following order: costs; penalties; interest; and the original amount of the lien.
(d) A lien transferred to a third party by the District under § 47-1303.04, including an assignee or successor in interest, shall enjoy the same priority and preference as if the lien were still held by the District.
(e) A tax or any other unpaid tax, charge, or indebtedness owing to the District and deferred under subchapter VIII of Chapter 35 of Title 42, is a lien on the real property for which the deferral was granted. Payments shall be applied first to the lien having priority and for which the deferral is not granted; provided, that (1) the taxpayer shall make additional payments under the deferral agreement entered into with the Mayor, which payments shall be applied first to the deferred lien having priority until all deferred liens are paid, and (2) payment of taxes not deferred in the agreement and assessed for periods after the latest period deferred in the agreement remains current. The taxpayer may designate a payment to the nondeferred tax if the designation and application of payment shall not cause the District to default on another contractual obligation.
§ 47–1332. Sale of properties by Mayor; exemptions from sale.
(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 if:
(1) A forbearance authorization has been approved in writing by the Mayor for the applicable tax sale;
(2) For improved Class 1A or 1B Property, the tax amount to be sold is less than $2,500; or
(3) The real property is a Class 1A or 1B Property that is receiving a homestead deduction, with respect to which there is an outstanding non-void certificate of sale; provided, that no real property shall be excluded from sale solely pursuant to this paragraph if the non-void certificate of sale has been outstanding for 3 years or more.
(d) The Mayor, in the Mayor’s discretion, may decline to sell any Class 1A or 1B Property or any real property for a delinquency in the payment of a non-real property tax that does not have to be certified.
(e)(1) An application for a forbearance authorization, utilizing the form of application as shall be devised by the Mayor, may be submitted to the Mayor up to 30 days before the first day of the tax sale.
(2) The Mayor shall review and approve or deny the application within 90 days of receipt of the application.
(3)(A) The Mayor shall approve an application if the real property receives a homestead deduction and the tax amount to be sold is less than or equal to $7,500.
(B) The Mayor, in the Mayor’s discretion, may approve an application that does not meet the criteria for demonstrated hardship set forth in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
(4) Upon approving an application for forbearance authorization, the Mayor shall remove the real property from the tax sale to which the forbearance corresponds or, if the tax sale has occurred with respect to the real property, cancel the tax sale pursuant to § 47-1366.
§ 47–1333. Sale not subject to procurement.
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.
§ 47–1334. Interest rate.
(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, shall accrue at the applicable interest rate beginning the first day of the month following the tax sale. No interest shall accrue for surplus, expenses, or the reasonable value of improvements.
(b) The purchaser shall receive simple interest of 1.5% per month or portion thereof on the amount paid for the real property, excluding surplus, beginning on the first day of the month immediately following when the real property was sold or the certificate of sale was assigned by the Mayor until the payment to the Mayor is made as required under § 47-1361(a), by another purchaser under § 47-1382(c), or by the trustee under § 47-1382.01(d)(2), and as provided in § 47-1354(b) for the period when such other taxes were paid. The purchaser shall receive no interest for expenses or the reasonable value of improvements.
§ 47–1335. Issuance of regulations to carry out chapter.
The Mayor may promulgate regulations to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
§ 47–1336. Energy efficiency loan foreclosure.
(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 notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary granting a tax exemption, and the real property formerly described under § 47-895.31(8) shall revert to its description under § 47- 802(1) for purposes of collection under this chapter.
(b)(1) When delinquent on October 1 and for 6 months or more, the Chief Financial Officer may sell for one dollar or without any consideration, at the Chief Financial Officer’s discretion, the real property subject to the special assessment under subchapter IX of Chapter 8 of Title 47, to the applicable energy efficiency lender or servicer of the Energy Efficient Loan, or to a third party and under terms and conditions as the Chief Financial Officer may determine, notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary.
(3) Only interest at the rate set forth in § 47-811(c) shall accrue on any delinquent Special Assessment, notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter.
(c)(1) The sale of the real property shall be evidenced by a sealed certificate of the Chief Financial Officer or the Chief Financial Officer’s duly authorized representative.
(2) The sealed certificate shall be deemed a certificate of sale.
(3) The certificate of sale shall be recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds by the transferee.
(4) Evidence of subsequent assignments or notice of succession in interest shall also be recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds by the assignee or successor in interest, and the assignee or successor in interest shall also notify the Chief Financial Officer of the subsequent assignment or succession, including the assignee or successor’s legal name, contact information, and other information that the Chief Financial Officer may require.
(5) The holder of a sealed certificate shall have filed a business tax registration with the Office of Tax and Revenue.
(d) The transferee of a sealed certificate and an assignee or successor in interest of the transferee shall have and possess the same rights, powers, lien status, and priority of payment at law or in equity as the District would have possessed if the real property had not been sold. Subject to the foregoing, the transferee or assignee shall have the same rights to enforce all tax liens as the District, including the right to foreclose upon the tax lien and cause the issuance of a deed in fee simple absolute by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
(e)(1) Notwithstanding a provision of this chapter to the contrary, provisions in this section excepted, a complaint for foreclosure of the right of redemption may be filed by the transferee and an assignee or successor in interest pursuant to § 47-1370 at any time.
(2) The transferee, or an assignee or successor in interest of the transferee, shall provide notice via both certified mail and first class mail to the property’s record owner at the mailing address provided in § 47-895.33(b-1) at least 60 days before a complaint for foreclosure of the right of redemption is filed. The notice shall state at a minimum that:
(A) A foreclosure action shall be commenced in no sooner than 60 days of the date of the notice;
(B) To avoid the lawsuit the outstanding liens shall be paid to the District and in what amount;
(C) If the owner does not redeem the property the owner may lose title to the property;
(D) Once the complaint is filed, expenses under § 47-1377 shall be owed; and
(E) The real property described under § 47-895.31(8) and billed as such (with account number) for purposes of Subchapter IX of Chapter 8 of this title and the correlating description under § 47-802(1) (with square, suffix, and lot numbers, or parcel and lot numbers, as applicable) is under which the complaint shall be filed.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no expenses shall be owed to redeem the property before the complaint is filed under this section. Once the complaint is filed and the owner has not redeemed the property, expenses allowable under § 47-1377 shall become owed in order to redeem.
(f) In a cause of action in respect of a sealed certificate, the production of an instrument executed by the Chief Financial Officer or the Chief Financial Officer’s duly authorized representative shall be presumptive evidence that the real property proposed to be sold by the instrument was subject to a valid and enforceable tax lien and it was duly sold to the transferee.
