By: Michael McKeefery and Kevin Hildebeidel

On October 9, 2020, the District of Columbia officially codified a local moratorium regarding the institution and maintenance of residential foreclosure actions. It is important to note that, even though the applicable District of Columbia law was not codified until October 9, 2020, the moratorium was effective as of the first date of the declaration of a public health emergency in the District of Columbia. The Mayor of the District of Columbia first declared a public health emergency on March 11, 2020; and, thus, the foreclosure moratorium was effective as of that date. See Mayor’s Order 2020-045.
DC Code § 42-815.05 (a) provides that “during a period of time for which the Mayor has declared a public health emergency …, and for 6o days thereafter, no residential foreclosure … [m]ay be initiated or conducted …; or … [s]ale may be conducted ….” (emphasis added). Therefore, firms are precluded from instituting or proceeding with residential foreclosure actions in the District of Columbia, regardless of whether the loans are federally backed or not. However, there is an exception made for non-owner-occupied properties. DC Code § 42-815.05 (b) provides that the moratorium “shall not apply to a residential property at which neither a record owner nor a person with an interest in the property as heir or beneficiary of a record owner, if deceased, has resided for at least 275 total days during the previous 12 months, as of the first day of the public health emergency.” As long as there is evidence establishing that someone other than the record owner of the property or an heir of the record owner currently occupies the subject property, then a foreclosure action may proceed.
Recently, on December 18, 2020, the Mayor of the District of Columbia once again extended the public health emergency (which was set to expire on December 31, 2020) to March 31, 2021. See Mayor’s Order 2020-127, ¶ V. As a result, the District of Columbia’s foreclosure moratorium is currently set to lift on May 30, 2021, pursuant to DC Code § 42-815.05 (a). However, the public health emergency and the moratorium could certainly be extended yet again by the Mayor.