1. (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.
2. (b) The Mayor shall designate a single agency to conduct tax sales.

3. (c) The Mayor shall not sell any real property if:

   1. (1) A forbearance authorization has been approved in writing by the Mayor for the applicable tax sale;
   2. (2) For improved Class 1A or 1B Property, the tax amount to be sold is less than $2,500; or
   3. (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.
4. (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.

5. (e)

   1. (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. (2) The Mayor shall review and approve or deny the application within 90 days of receipt of the application.

   3. (3)

      1. (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.
      2. (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. (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.

History

June 9, 2001, D.C. Law 13-305, § 507(a)(2), 48 DCR 334

Dec. 4, 2014, D.C. Law 20-141, § 101(c)(3), 61 DCR 7763

Feb. 26, 2015, D.C. Law 20-155, §§ 7102(c)(3), 7104, 61 DCR 9990

Sept. 18, 2024, D.C. Law 25-217, § 7243(d)(2)(A)

Oct. 1, 2025, D.C. Law 26-41, § 303(c)

Editor's Notes

D.C. Law 20-141 became effective on Dec. 4, 2014, but was repealed prior to its effective date by emergency D.C. Act 20-377, § 7114, eff. July 14, 2014, 61 DCR 7598, by emergency D.C. Act 20-449, § 7104, eff. October 10, 2014, 61 DCR 10915, by emergency D.C. Act 20-566, § 7104, eff. January 9, 2015, 62 DCR 884, and by D.C. Law 20-155, § 7104, 61 DCR 9990.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, as amended by D.C. Law 20-155, § 7102(c), see the first § 2(q) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Clarification Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-587, January 13, 2015, 62 DCR 1294, 21 STAT 758).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7102(c)(3) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Second Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-566, January 9, 2015, 62 DCR 884, 21 STAT 541).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, as amended by D.C. Law 20-155, § 7102(c), see the first § 2(q) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Clarification Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-461, November 6, 2014, 61 DCR 11784, 20 STAT 4368).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7102(c)(3) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-449, October 10, 2014, 61 DCR 10915, 20 STAT 4188).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7112(c)(3) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-377, July 14, 2014, 61 DCR 7598, 20 STAT 3696).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(c)(3) of the Residential Real Property Equity and Transparency Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-409, Aug. 1, 2014, 61 DCR 8281).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(c)(3) of the Residential Real Property Equity and Transparency Emergency Amendment Act of 2014, (D.C. Act 20-342, May 28, 2014, 61 DCR 5691).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(a) of the District Real Property Tax Sale Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-179, October 4, 2013, ).

For temporary (90 day) addition of section, see § 7 of Real Property Tax Clarity and Litter Control Administration Emergency Act of 2001 (D.C. Act 14-22, March 16, 2001, ).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of Real Property Tax Sale COVID-19 Equitable Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Act 23-383, Aug. 13, 2020, 67 DCR 9868).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of Real Property Tax Sale COVID-19 Equitable Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-112, July 12, 2021, 68 DCR 006936).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7243(d)(2)(A) of Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2024 (D.C. Act 25-506, July 15, 2024, 71 DCR 8406).

Temporary Legislation

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(a) of the District Real Property Tax Sale Temporary Act of 2013 (D.C. Law 20-55, December 13, 2013, 60 DCR 15163).

For temporary (225 day) addition of section, see § 7 of Real Property Tax Clarity and Litter Control Administration Temporary Amendment Act of 2001 (D.C. Law 14-8, June 13, 2001, law notification 48 DCR 5916).

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(b) of Real Property Tax Sale COVID-19 Equitable Temporary Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Law 24-27, Sept. 22, 2021, 68 DCR 007337).

Effect of Amendments

The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-155 rewrote this section.

The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-141, repealed before its effective date, would have, in (a), added the exception at the beginning and made related changes, and deleted “unless otherwise provided by law” at the end; deleted “in the District” at the end of (b); and added (e) through (f).

Section References

This section is referenced in § 47-1340.

Applicability

Applicability of D.C. Law 26-41: § 401(a) of D.C. Law 26-41 provided that the amendment to this section by § 303(c) of D.C. Law 26-41 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.