How much property tax does a vacant building pay in D.C.?
A building that appears as vacant on the city's list is taxed as Class 3 property, at $5 for each $100 of assessed value.
For comparison, Class 1A, which covers improved residential property used as nontransient homes apart from Class 1B, is taxed at $0.85 for each $100.
At least once a week, the city sends the Office of Tax and Revenue a list of buildings registered or designated as vacant, or designated as blighted vacant.
Does D.C. require owners to register a vacant building?
Unless an exemption applies, the owner of a vacant building in D.C. must register it and pay the registration fee within 90 days after it becomes vacant. The city inspects the building when it is registered or renewed, and an approved registration lasts one year.
The registration has to name a person based in D.C. who is responsible for securing and maintaining the property, if that isn't the owner, and include a signed maintenance plan.
If an owner fails to register, the city can still register the property as vacant. The city may post a sign on a vacant building that has to be registered, naming its owner.
How does D.C. decide a building is vacant or blighted?
When the city decides whether a building is vacant, the law tells it to consider neighbor complaints, a certification from the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, and piled-up mail, fliers or newspapers.
Other signs on that list include past-due or shut-off utilities, overgrown plants, no furniture or personal things inside, and a building left open to trespassers.
To decide whether a vacant building is also blighted, the city looks at things like illegal activity documented in police reports and whether the building faces a condemnation case. Missing or boarded-up windows and doors, and collapsing or deteriorating walls, roofs, stairs or porches, also count toward a blight finding.
When the city designates a building vacant or blighted, a courtesy copy of the notice goes to the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, and the status is posted on a public Department of Buildings website.
What upkeep does D.C. law require of an empty building's owner?
The owner of a vacant building must meet a list of upkeep rules, starting with keeping the outside free of graffiti and the walls free of holes and rot.
- The inside of the building and the lot must be kept free of debris, rubbish and garbage.
- Doors and windows on a vacant building must be weather-tight and secured against birds, pests and trespassers, and broken or missing ones must be covered with half-inch plywood painted to match the building.
- The lot can't be overgrown, and it must be free of safety, health and fire hazards, including places where rats can nest.
Can the D.C. government board up, repair or tear down a neglected building?
If the owner of a vacant building leaves doors, windows or other openings unsecured, the city can board it up right away and notify the owner afterward. The city can correct a code violation on a property itself and charge the higher of the actual cost or the fair market value of the work as a tax against the property.
When a building is reported to the D.C. government as unsafe, the city must examine it. If public safety calls for immediate action, the city can enter without notice or delay to shore up, take down or otherwise secure the structure.
When the Board for the Condemnation of Insanitary Buildings condemns a building, the owner must make the repairs that fix the conditions, or have it demolished, within the time the board sets. If the owner doesn't, the repairs or the demolition can be done under the board's direction.
The D.C. Code has a section on receivership for vacant and blighted buildings, but it depends on funding in an approved budget, and the code says it has not been put into effect.
What happens when property taxes go unpaid on a D.C. building?
D.C. law directs the city to sell real property whose taxes are in arrears, with some exceptions. Six months after the tax sale, the buyer can go to court to foreclose the owner's right to redeem the property.
The right to redeem lasts until a judgment foreclosing it becomes final. In that case, the Superior Court can give the buyer full title, or it can set the sale aside and decide what it takes to redeem.
One carve-out: improved Class 1A or 1B property isn't sold when the tax amount is under $2,500, while a building on the vacant list is Class 3.
Own a vacant place in the District and falling behind on the loan as well? Read how D.C. foreclosure works.
How do you report a vacant or blighted building in D.C.?
The Department of Buildings responds to public complaints about vacant and blighted properties. Its Vacant and Blighted Buildings page has a Report Vacant/Blighted Property link for reporting one.
The Department of Buildings must keep a public online database or list of vacant buildings, starting with each building's address. That list also shows the number of months a building has been registered or designated vacant or blighted.
The Office of Tax and Revenue points people to the Department of Buildings' public Vacant Properties Map to check whether a property is classified as vacant or blighted.
You can also tell me where it is. I'll find out who owns it and reach out about buying it and fixing it up.