2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 47 - Taxation, Licensing, Permits, Assessments, and Fees. [Enacted title] › Chapter 13A - Revised Real Property Tax Sales › Subchapter II - Sale › § 47–1348. Certificate of sale — in general

§ 47–1348. Certificate of sale — in general.
(a) The Mayor shall deliver to the purchaser a certificate of sale under the Mayor’s hand and seal or authorized facsimile signature (or a delegate’s hand and seal). The certificate shall set forth:
(1) The date of the certificate;
(2) That the real property described in it was sold by the Mayor to the purchaser;
(3) The date of the tax sale to which the certificate corresponds;
(4) The date of the sale to the purchaser, which shall be the same date as in paragraph (3) of this subsection, if the purchaser purchased the real property at the tax sale held under § 47-1346;
(5) The amount of taxes for which the real property was offered for sale at the original tax sale;
(6) The total amount of taxes owing at the time of sale to the purchaser;
(7) The purchase price;
(8) The amount of surplus;
(9) A description of the real property in substantially the same form as the description appearing on the Mayor’s tax roll;
(10) A statement that the rate of simple interest, upon redemption, shall be 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 the date of the tax sale or the date when the certificate of sale was assigned by the Mayor.
(11) The date when an action to foreclose the right of redemption may be filed; and
(12) That the certificate shall be void unless diligent proceedings to foreclose the right of redemption are brought within one year from the date of the certificate, and that if the certificate shall become void, all monies paid for the real property by the purchaser shall be forfeited to the District.
(b) Repealed.
(c) The certificate of sale shall be similar to the following form:
“I, ___________, acting under authority of the Mayor of the District of Columbia, certify that on _______, 20__, the real property described as square __________, suffix _________, lot _________ and assessed to _________, was offered at public tax sale for the sum of _________ Dollars and _______ Cents, for the periods and amounts of taxes and costs, to wit:
“I further certify that on _________, 20__, with the amounts specified above totaling _________, I sold to ___________ the said real property for the sum of _________ Dollars and _______ Cents, plus surplus in the amount of _________ Dollars and _______ Cents. The real property described in this certificate is subject to redemption.
“Upon payment to the Mayor as specified in § 47-1361(a) or, if payment to the Mayor is made by another purchaser under § 47-1382(c), the purchaser shall be refunded the sums paid on account of the purchase price, together with simple interest thereon at the rate 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 the date of the tax sale or the date when the certificate of sale was assigned by the Mayor until the payment to the Mayor is made as required under § 47-1361(a) or § 47-1382(c); provided, that the purchaser shall not receive interest on any surplus. On redemption, the purchaser shall also receive expenses permitted by Chapter 13A of Title 47 of the D.C. Code that may have been collected by the Mayor. Before a deed can be delivered to the purchaser, all taxes as defined in Chapter 13A with interest thereon, and including taxes with interest thereon for years for which the District or a third party purchased the real property at any tax sale and expenses reimbursable under Chapter 13A, shall be paid to the D.C. Treasurer except as provided in D.C. Code § 47-1361(b).
“After _________, 20__, an action can be brought to foreclose the right of redemption in the real property. This certificate will be void unless such an action is brought and diligently pursued within one year from the date of this certificate. If this certificate becomes void as provided in D.C. Code § 47-1355, all monies paid for the real property will be forfeited to the District. An assignee of this certificate shall notify the Mayor within 30 days of the assignment and provide the Mayor with the assignee’s name, address, and telephone number. If notice is not provided within 30 days of the assignment, the certificate shall be voidable at the discretion of the Mayor.
“Witness my hand and seal, this __________ day of _________, 20__
“_______________
“For the Mayor”
(June 9, 2001, D.C. Law 13-305, § 507(a)(2), 48 DCR 334; Apr. 4, 2003, D.C. Law 14-282, § 11(ff), 50 DCR 896; Dec. 4, 2014, D.C. Law 20-141, § 101(c)(12), 61 DCR 7763; Feb. 26, 2015, D.C. Law 20-155, §§ 7102(c)(12), 7104, 61 DCR 9990; Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, §§ 7037(e), 7132(b), 62 DCR 10905.)
Section References
This section is referenced in § 47-1342 and § 47-1353.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 14-282, in subsec. (c), substituted “similar to” for “in substantially”, and deleted “(To be followed by acknowledgment)” from the end of the form.
The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-141, repealed before its effective date, would have, substituted “date of the tax sale” for “date of the original public tax sale” in (a)(3); substituted “purchaser, which shall be the same date as in paragraph (3) of this subsection, if the purchaser purchased the real property at the tax sale held under § 47-1346” for “purchaser” in (a)(4); rewrote (a)(10); repealed (b); and in the form in (c), rewrote the first sentence of the third paragraph and added the present last sentence of the fourth paragraph.
The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-155 substituted “date of the tax sale” for “date of the original tax public sale” in (a)(3); added “which shall be the same date as in paragraph (3) of this subsection, if the purchaser purchased the real property at the tax sale held under Section 47-1346” in (a)(4); rewrote (a)(10); repealed (b); and rewrote (c).
The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 21-36 rewrote (a)(10); and rewrote the first sentence of the third paragraph of the form in (c).
Emergency Legislation
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, 48 DCR 2706).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 12(oo) of Tax Clarity and Recorder of Deeds Emergency Act of 2002 (D.C. Act 14-381, June 6, 2002, 49 DCR 5674).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 12(pp) of Tax Clarity and Related Amendments Emergency Act of 2002 (D.C. Act 14-456, July 23, 2002, 49 DCR 8107).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 12(pp) of Tax Clarity and Related Amendments Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2002 (D.C. Act 14-510, October 23, 2002, 49 DCR 10247).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(c)(13) 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 § 101(c)(13) 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 § 7112(c)(12) 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 § 7102(c)(12) 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, 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)(12) 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, see §§ 2(b) and 3(c)(2) of the Market-based Sourcing Inter Alia Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-585, January 13, 2015, 62 DCR 1288, 21 STAT 752).
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 § 2(b) of the Market-based Sourcing Inter Alia Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-11, Mar. 26, 2015, 62 DCR 3835, 21 DCSTAT 836).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 7016(v)(9), 7016(y)(2), and 7102(b) of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).
Temporary Legislation
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 12(kk) of Tax Clarity and Recorder of Deeds Temporary Act of 2002 (D.C. Law 14-191, October 5, 2002, law notification 49 DCR 9549).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 12(kk) of Tax Clarity and Related Amendments Temporary Act of 2003 (D.C. Law 14-228, March 23, 2003, law notification 50 DCR 2741).
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(r)(10) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Law 20-179, March 7, 2015, 62 DCR 424).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(b) of the Market-based Sourcing Inter Alia Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Law 20-259, Apr. 30, 2015, 62 DCR 2270).
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.
Applicability of D.C. Law 21-36: Section 7048(b) of D.C. Law 21-36 provided that §§ 7027, 7031, 7036, and 7037 of the act shall apply as of October 1, 2014.
Applicability of D.C. Law 21-36: Section 7132(e)(1) of D.C. Law 21-36 provided that § 7132(a),(b), and (c) of the act shall apply as of October 1, 2015.