Opinion ID: 2324034
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The District's Authority Was Limited to Cancelling the Sale in Light of Its Administrative Error

Text: Because the District did not have the authority to declare the Tax Certificate void ab initio, the only other remedy available to the District to retract the sale in light of its administrative error was to cancel the sale. This remedy has its statutory basis in D.C.Code § 47-1366 (emphasis added): The Mayor may cancel a sale before the issuance of a final order by the Superior Court to prevent an injustice to the owner or person with an interest in the real property. In the event of such cancellation, the Mayor shall pay to the purchaser the amount which the purchaser would have received if the real property had been redeemed[.] There is no question that the owner will suffer an injustice if the tax sale is not cancelled. The District acknowledges that it had no authority to sell the property in the first instance in light of D.C.Code § 47-1341 (c), precluding `the real property from being offered at the tax sale' after Ms. Banks paid the applicable taxes. Thus, the cancellation provisions directly encompass the present situation. Prior to the Superior Court's order foreclosing the right of redemption, the District learned that the sale would result in an injustice to the owner, who paid the taxes as directed in the Notice. More than a year elapsed before the District declared the Tax Certificate void ab initio. As a possible redeeming party, Ms. Banks was subject to liability for the costs associated with the present litigation and the possible reimbursement of Rupsha's legal fees and expenses. The proper course of action for the District in these circumstances was to cancel the sale under D.C.Code § 47-1366 and pay to the purchaser the amount which the purchaser would have received if the real property had been redeemed. The District should have stepped into the shoes of the redeeming party and paid Rupsha not just the purchase price, but all the fees that the redeeming party would have paid, including statutory interest, any taxes the purchaser paid on the Property, legal expenses, and attorney's fees. [17] See D.C.Code § 47-1366; see also id. §§ 47-1361(a)-(d), -1377(b).