§ 47–1366. Cancellation of sale by Mayor.

(a) The Mayor, in the Mayor’s discretion, may cancel a sale before the issuance of a final order by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia foreclosing the right of redemption to prevent an injustice to the owner or person with an interest in the real property.

(b) The Mayor shall cancel a sale before the issuance of a final order by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia foreclosing the right of redemption where:

(1) The record owner or other interested party timely pays the amount set forth in the notice of delinquency to avoid the tax sale as required under § 47-1341(a) or otherwise pays the outstanding taxes before the tax sale;

(2) The real property meets the qualifications to be exempt from sale under § 47-1332(c);

(3) In a sale involving Class 1A or 1B Property with 5 or fewer units that a record owner (or a person with an interest in the property as heir or beneficiary of the record owner, if the record owner is deceased) occupies as his or her principal residence, the record owner or other interested person proves:

(A) A failure of the Mayor to mail any of the notices required by §§ 47-1341(a), 47-1341(b), or 47-1353.01; or

(B) That the mailing address of the person who last appears as the record owner of the real property on the tax roll, as properly updated by the record owner by the filing of a change of address with the Office of Tax and Revenue in accordance with § 42-405, was not correctly or substantively updated by the Office of Tax and Revenue notwithstanding proper filing; or

(4) A properly filed application for a forbearance authorization was filed at least 30 days before the sale and was approved within 60 days after the sale.

(c) Subject to the limitations set forth in § 47-1377(b), (c), (d), and (e), if the Mayor cancels a sale pursuant to this section, the Mayor shall pay to the purchaser the amount that the purchaser would have received if the real property had been redeemed, but no part of the amount shall be considered a payment of tax on behalf of the real property. A certificate of redemption, if necessary, shall be executed and filed by the Mayor with the Recorder of Deeds for no fee.

(June 9, 2001, D.C. Law 13-305, § 507(a)(2), 48 DCR 334; Dec. 4, 2014, D.C. Law 20-141, § 101(c)(22), 61 DCR 7763; Feb. 26, 2015, D.C. Law 20-155, §§ 7102(c)(22), 7104, 61 DCR 9990; Sept. 18, 2024, D.C. Law 25-217, § 7243(d)(2)(B), 71 DCR 9990.)

Effect of Amendments

The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-141, repealed before its effective date, would have rewritten the section.

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

Emergency Legislation

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

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)(23) 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 § 7112(c)(22) 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)(23) 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 § 7102(c)(22) 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)(22) 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).

Temporary Legislation

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).

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.