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DC Office of Tax and Revenue to Hold 2014 Tax Sale Beginning July 14

Thursday, June 19, 2014

The District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) will hold its annual public Tax Sale beginning Monday, July 14, from 8:30 am until 12 noon and from 1 pm until 4 pm, or until all properties advertised are sold. The sale will be held at 1101 4th Street, SW, 2nd Floor, Room 250, Washington, DC 20024.

A list of all properties by parcel, square, suffix, and lot number, with the name of the owner of record and the unpaid tax amount, is available on OTR’s website, as well as today’s Washington Times and Washington Informer. It will also be advertised in the Current newspapers on June 25.

Highlight of Tax Sale Changes for 2014:

Beginning this year, a number of changes that affect property owners and tax sale purchasers have been instituted as a result of the District Real Property Tax Sale Temporary Act of 2013 (DC Law 20-55) and the Residential Real Property Equity and Transparency Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (DC Act 20-342). The most important of these changes include:

  1. A potential purchaser delinquent in the payment of real property taxes to the District, or who has been convicted of a felony involving fraud or anti-competitive behavior, may not bid at the tax sale.  
     
  2. The tax sale threshold is $2,000. Therefore, no property will be sold for less than $2,000 in delinquent taxes.
     
  3. Properties sold within the past four years, which are the subject of an active foreclosure case, will be removed from the tax sale.
     
  4. If the property owner properly pays taxes and expenses to within $100 of the outstanding amount due, the taxes are deemed paid for purposes of redemption.
     
  5. The post-tax sale notice mailed by OTR after the July 2014 tax sale must be posted to the property by the tax sale purchaser at least 45 days before a complaint is filed. This notice cannot be posted until at least 4 months from the date of the tax sale.  This notice will be posted to OTR’s Web site for download purposes.
     
  6. Interest paid to tax sale purchasers from the July 2014 tax sales and prior will continue to be 1.5%/month.  The interest rate for delinquent property owners is expected to decrease to 1%/month, beginning October 1, 2014.
     
  7. For homestead properties or properties occupied by heirs and beneficiaries as principal residences that are not redeemed, the court will order a sale of the property by a trustee.  After allowed expenses, the purchaser shall be entitled, to the extent available, to the lesser of 10% or $20,000 of the remainder.
     
  8. Legal fees are capped at $1,500, subject to allowances for protracted litigation.  Additionally, the following most common fees are allowed: title search of up to $300; recording the certificate of sale; post-tax sale posting of $50 and other posting; court filing; service of process; second  title search of $75; newspaper publication; and , postage.  Other fees are allowed as specified in the statute.
     
  9. Low-income seniors may defer any delinquent taxes, but legal fees are still owed to tax sale purchasers. 

To see the tax sale list and legislation in its entirety, view the below:

Public Seminars:

OTR will conduct four public seminars to explain the Tax Sale procedures to prospective bidders. The seminars will be conducted at 1101 4th Street, SW, 2nd Floor, Room 250, Washington, DC 20024, on the following dates:

  • June 25:  9:30 am to 12 Noon and 2 pm to 4:30 pm
  • June 26:  9:30 am to 12 Noon and 2 pm to 4:30 pm

To register for a seminar, please visit the Customer Service Administration’s Walk-In Center, located at 1101 4th Street, SW, 2nd Floor, Room 270, Washington, DC 20024.

Registration:

Mandatory registration for the sale begins Monday, July 7, and continues until the final day of the sale. To register, prospective bidders must make a deposit of at least 20 percent of their total bids. A $200 Tax Sale fee will be added to each property at the time of the sale. Purchasers are also required to complete Form FR-500, Combined Business Tax Registration Application, prior to registering.

For more information on the Tax Sale process, call (202) 727-4TAX (4829) or visit OTR’s Customer Service Center at 1101 4th Street, SW, Room 270.

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