D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 9, r. 9-352

Current through Register Vol. 71, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Rule 9-352 - SUBDIVISION OR COMBINATION OF LOTS

352.1

The creation of tax lots shall not, in and of itself, result in a reclassification of the real property.

Example: An individual owns one lot that is Class 5 unimproved. The owner requests the property be divided into two (2) tax lots for taxation purposes. Both lots will continue to be treated as Class 5 unimproved property. The owner may be able to obtain a reclassification if the owner can show, for instance, that the property has been subdivided into record lots under the zoning regulations such that the lots are no longer buildable lots and are therefore exempt from Class 5.

352.2

If the Deputy Chief Financial Officer determines that a combination of lots results in the use of the property falling into more than one class, he or she shall apportion the property into the appropriate classes of real property.

Example: An individual owns a commercial building that abuts an unimproved lot. The commercial building is Class 3 property and the unimproved lot is Class 5. If the owner combines the two (2) lots, and the unimproved portion of the new lot continues to meet the requirements for Class 5, the property will be treated as mixed use property, with the portion of the lot on which. the building is located placed in Class 3, and the remainder of the lot placed in Class 5.

352.3

(a) Whenever a division of lots application is filed with OTR, (i) pertaining to and following a record lot subdivision with the DC Surveyor in which multiple property owners joined in and subjected their respective real properties to one or more record lots, and (ii) which record lot(s) subdivision resulted or shall result (pursuant to OTR's operating system) in OTR's ownership records treating the multiple property owners as tenants in common of all of the newly created record lot(s), then following the designation by OTR of theoretical assessment and taxation lots (collectively, the "A&T Lots" and individually, an "A&T Lot") that were requested in the division of lots application, one or more confirmatory deed(s) shall be executed and all such deeds shall be recorded contemporaneously in the land records of the District of Columbia.

(b) Such confirmatory deed(s) shall (i) be executed by the owners of the real properties that had subjected their real properties to the record lot(s) subdivision and (ii) affirmatively recite that each lot owner that owned its respective real property immediately prior to the record lot(s) subdivision remained, as of the date of OTR's designation of the theoretical A&T Lots, exactly the same legal owner of the corresponding new theoretical A&T Lot(s) resulting from the division of lots application, and with respect to each such owner, in the same aggregate square footage and with the same legal boundaries dividing the ownership of each such owner as the boundaries dividing the ownership of such owner's corresponding predecessor lot(s) that existed of record immediately prior to the record lot(s) subdivision filed with the DC Surveyor.

(c) The application for division of lots shall be submitted to OTR (i) by all owners of the record lot(s) from which the requested A&T Lots are to be derived, and (ii) with (A) a detailed drawing(s) of the existing lot(s) and the proposed A&T Lots, with bearings and dimensions labeled on each line (or if necessary to accommodate space limitations on the drawings, a line table), (B) the legal description (metes and bounds) of each of the proposed A&T Lots, (C) a letter of agent authorization (when applicable), and (D) any other relevant documents OTR shall require in order to designate the requested A&T Lots. The drawing(s) of the existing lot(s) and of the proposed A&T Lots shall be legible, be to scale, include accurate square footage, and depict the bearings and distances of the perimeter of each existing record lot(s) and proposed A&T Lots. The detailed drawings for division of lots applications creating air right lots shall also include cross sections noting upper and lower elevation limits of each proposed lot.

(d) After receipt and processing of all required documents for the division of lots application, theoretical A&T Lot numbers shall be issued along with the disclaimer document to the applicant(s) that submitted such division of lots application that the designated A&T Lots are theoretical for separate assessment and taxation purposes until the first day of the half of the tax year commencing after the filing of such application (i.e., either October 1st or April 1st).

(e) The confirmatory deed(s) shall be recorded with the Recorder of Deeds expeditiously following issuance of the theoretical A&T Lot numbers or the A&T Lot numbers, whichever occurs first; provided that if there are two or more confirmatory deeds to be recorded, they shall be recorded contemporaneously as referenced in Section 352.3(a) above. If the owners fail to record the confirmatory deed(s), OTR's ownership records for assessment and billing purposes shall continue to reflect tenant in common ownership by all such owners (owning any portion of the superseded record lot subdivision(s)) for all in rem tax purposes.

(f) Upon recordation of the confirmatory deed(s), the record ownership of the newly designated A&T Lots shall be updated and reflected in the assessment roll as of the time that the theoretical lot(s) are added to the assessment roll (i.e., either October 1st or April 1st).

(g) A Division of Lot(s) Application shall result in two or more proposed assessment and taxation lots and the detailed drawing(s) and dimensions shall match the underlying original lots as they existed immediately prior to the subdivision with the DC Surveyor, provided that an owner of one or more lots that were submitted and became part of the new record lot or lots, may request and obtain any number of A&T Lots provided that the requested A&T Lots with respect to each such owner results in the same aggregate square footage and with the same legal boundaries dividing the ownership of each such owner as the boundaries dividing the ownership of such owner's corresponding predecessor lot(s) that existed of record immediately prior to the record lot(s) subdivision filed with the DC Surveyor.

(h) The information required above for the application of division of lots represents the minimum requirements for submittal, and OTR may request such additional information as it deems necessary to evaluate and issue the requested A&T Lots.

(i) Applicants may submit any additional information relevant to the application.

(j) If OTR determines that the information submitted is not complete, action on the application shall not be taken until OTR shall have received all requested or required information, and the application may be denied on the basis of incompleteness or inaccuracies which are not resolved, at the discretion of OTR.

D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 9, r. 9-352

Final Rulemaking published at 37 DCR 5128, 5130 (August 3, 1990); Amended by Final Rulemaking published at 69 DCR 9021 (7/22/2022)