How to Fill Out a District of Columbia Special Warranty Deed Form

A District of Columbia special warranty deed form transfers real property while promising only that the grantor did not create any title problems during their own ownership. To complete and record one, draft the deed with the statutory special warranty language and the property’s square and lot numbers, specify how multiple grantees will hold title, have every grantor sign before a notary, complete Form FP-7/C, and submit the package with the recordation and transfer taxes plus a $30 recording fee to the Recorder of Deeds at 1101 4th Street SW.

What the Grantor Is Actually Promising

Under D.C. Code § 42-605, a special warranty deed obligates the grantor to defend the title against claims arising from the grantor’s own acts or from anyone claiming through the grantor. It does not cover defects created by earlier owners further back in the chain.¹ Knowing where that line sits matters while you draft, because the language you choose is what triggers (or fails to trigger) the covenant.

Information to Gather Before You Draft

Pull these items together before opening the form:

Full legal names of every grantor and grantee, individual or entity.
Current mailing addresses for both sides, plus a “Return to” address for the recorded original.
The property’s Square, Suffix, and Lot numbers assigned by the Office of the Surveyor, and the Assessment and Taxation (A&T) lot number if one exists. A street address alone will not do.
The consideration — the purchase price or value exchanged. If there is no consideration or only a nominal amount, the District applies tax rates to fair market value instead.

D.C. Code § 47-701 establishes the square-and-lot system as the official way to identify parcels in the District, and the Recorder of Deeds expects that format on every deed.² Pull the numbers from the most recent property tax bill or look them up through the Office of the Surveyor. A metes-and-bounds description can be added for clarity, but the square and lot are what the office relies on.

Writing the Special Warranty Clause

D.C. Code § 42-605 recognizes two phrasings that create the special warranty covenant. You can either include a covenant stating the grantor “will warrant specially the property hereby conveyed,” or follow the granting clause with the words “with special warranty.”¹ Either phrasing works. Substituting an approximation can leave the deed open to being read as a different type of conveyance, either widening the grantor’s exposure or stripping the grantee of the protection they bargained for.

Specifying How Multiple Grantees Hold Title

If two or more people are taking title together, the deed has to say how. Under D.C. Code § 42-516, any conveyance to multiple grantees defaults to a tenancy in common unless the deed expressly declares a joint tenancy.³ For joint tenancy with right of survivorship, state that explicitly. Tenancy by the entirety is available to married spouses and domestic partners as defined under D.C. law. The same statute lets a grantor convey property to themselves together with one or more other people.

Silence here is costly. Two buyers who meant to hold as joint tenants with survivorship but got a deed that said nothing end up as tenants in common, so each share passes through the owner’s estate rather than to the surviving co-owner. Fixing it means drafting and recording a new deed.

Signing and Notarization

Every grantor must sign the deed in front of a notary public. The Recorder of Deeds requires that each notarized page carry the notary’s seal, signature, printed name, and commission expiration date.⁴ The acknowledgment itself certifies that the signer appeared voluntarily and is who they say they are. A deed missing any element of the notary block will be rejected.

Completing Form FP-7/C

Every deed submitted for recording in D.C. must come with a completed Real Property Recordation and Transfer Tax Return, Form FP-7/C.⁵ The form asks for the full sales price, the square and lot identifiers, and any exemptions you plan to claim. You can download it from the OTR website or through MyTax.DC.gov.

The consideration on the FP-7/C has to match the consideration in the deed. The Recorder reviews both documents side by side, and any mismatch stalls the filing. Pull the square and lot numbers directly from the most recent property tax bill so the deed, the FP-7/C, and OTR’s records all line up.

Taxes and Fees You’ll Owe

D.C. charges two separate taxes at recording: a recordation tax paid when the deed is filed, and a transfer tax imposed on the transferor. Both are a percentage of consideration.

Standard Rates

The base recordation tax is 1.1% of consideration. On residential property where consideration is $400,000 or more, an additional 0.35% applies, bringing recordation tax to 1.45%.⁶ The transfer tax mirrors that structure: 1.1% base, with the same 0.35% addition for residential property at or above $400,000.⁷

Combined, that works out to:

Residential under $400,000: 2.2% total (1.1% + 1.1%)
Residential $400,000 or more: 2.9% total (1.45% + 1.45%)

By custom the buyer pays the recordation tax and the seller pays the transfer tax, but the parties can split it differently by agreement.

First-Time Homebuyer Reduction

A qualifying first-time D.C. homebuyer pays recordation tax at a reduced 0.725% rate instead of 1.1% or 1.45%. The buyer must never have owned a property that received the District’s homestead deduction as a principal residence, must be a D.C. resident or intend to become one immediately, and must be buying below the price ceiling, which was $753,000 for fiscal year 2025.⁸ A Homestead Deduction Application (Form ASD-100 for houses and condos) must be filed with the deed. The seller’s transfer tax rate is unaffected.

Exempt Transfers

D.C. Code § 47-902 lists transfers that owe no recordation or transfer tax. The categories most often used with special warranty deeds include:⁹

Conveyances without consideration between spouses, domestic partners, parents and children, or grandparents and grandchildren.
Transfers made under a divorce decree, separation agreement, or related court order.
Transfers of bare legal title into a revocable trust where the transferor is the current beneficiary, and transfers to a named trust beneficiary after the grantor’s death.
Confirmation or correction deeds that supplement a recorded transfer without additional consideration.
Deeds by personal representatives transferring real property to a distributee under Title 20 without additional consideration.

When an exemption applies, you still file the FP-7/C, but you claim the exemption on the form rather than paying.

Where to Submit and What to Pay

The Recorder of Deeds sits within the Office of Tax and Revenue and accepts filings three ways:

Walk in to 1101 4th Street SW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20024. Checks must be for the exact amount and payable to the DC Treasurer.¹⁰
Mail the original notarized deed, the completed FP-7/C, and a check for all taxes and fees to the same address.
E-record through an approved vendor: CSC/Ingeo, Simplifile, or ePN. E-recording is the fastest route and typically returns confirmation within days.¹¹

The base recording fee is $30 per deed, separate from the recordation and transfer taxes.¹² Your submission package covers the notarized deed, the FP-7/C, and payment for the taxes plus the recording fee.

Checklist Before You File

The Recorder will reject documents that fall short on formatting or content. Confirm the deed includes all of the following before you send it:⁴

Full legal description with lot, square, subdivision, and Office of the Surveyor reference information
A&T lot number, if the property has one
Printed names and signatures of every grantor and grantee, all signatures notarized
Notary seal, signature, printed name, and commission expiration date on each notarized page
A “Return to” mailing address printed on the deed
A completed FP-7/C traveling with the deed
Clean, legible text throughout

The most common reasons for rejection are incomplete legal descriptions, missing notary information, and mismatched figures between the deed and the FP-7/C. Once the filing is accepted, the office assigns a document number and enters the transfer into the public land records. Walk-in and mail filers usually wait several weeks for the recorded original to come back; e-recording users get confirmation much sooner.

1
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-605 – Special Warranty
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 47-701 – General System to Be Used
3
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-516 – Tenancies in Common, Tenancies by the Entireties, and Joint Tenancies
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Office of Tax and Revenue. General Recording Requirements and Fees
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Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Real Property Recordation and Transfer Tax Form FP-7/C
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 42-1103 – Imposition of Tax; Rate; Return; Contents; Liability for Tax
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 47-903 – Imposition of Tax; Rate; Returns; Liability for Tax
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Office of Tax and Revenue. Reduced Recordation Tax Rate for First-Time Homebuyers FY 2025
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 47-902 – Enumeration of Transfers Exempt from Tax
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Office of Tax and Revenue. Recorder of Deeds
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Office of Tax and Revenue. Electronic Recording
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Office of Tax and Revenue. ROD FAQs