District Of Columbia Warranty Deed (Two Grantors)

A District of Columbia deed conveys only what its signers hold, so when record title stands in two names, both owners join in the same instrument. This District of Columbia Warranty Deed is configured for exactly that pattern: two grantors who together convey the whole title, backed by the general warranty covenant of D.C. Code section 42-604, the strongest title promise a District deed can carry.

Two grantors, one covenant

The form recites two record owners, each in a separate grantor block. Both sign the deed, each beside a printed [Seal], because District law has every grantor sign and seal a conveyance under section 42-306(b), and the deed adopts the printed seal for each signer. Two acknowledgment certificates follow, one per grantor, each worded on the District's statutory short form; the certificates stand apart so the co-owners may acknowledge on different dates, before different notaries, or in different jurisdictions, a routine occurrence when one owner no longer lives near the property. Two heirs holding inherited undivided shares as tenants in common, joint tenants selling a shared rowhouse, and spouses or registered domestic partners holding as tenants by the entirety, an estate neither can convey alone, all present the two-grantor pattern this general warranty deed recites. The form is not set up as a sole-owner conveyance, a deed by three or more owners, or an entity conveyance; it recites two individuals holding record title together.

The promise both owners make

District covenants are opt-in, so the covenant class of a deed turns on the express phrase that rides with the granting words. This form places with general warranty in the granting clause and adds the express covenant that the grantors will warrant generally the property conveyed, giving the conveyance the full section 42-604 effect: a joint undertaking by both grantors to defend the title against the claims and demands of all persons whomsoever, whenever the defect arose. The deed's subject-to section states the exceptions, so recorded easements, covenants running with the land, and any listed deed of trust sit outside the covenant.

What the grantee clause decides

The receiving side of a District deed deserves the same attention as the granting side. Under section 42-516(a), a deed to two or more grantees, spouses included, creates a tenancy in common unless the deed expressly declares another form, so survivorship never arises by silence in the District. The grantee entry accepts express vesting words, and the completed example shows a married couple taking as tenants by the entirety, the designation following their names in the grantee section. The guide walks through every co-ownership form District law recognizes, from the tenancy in common default to the entireties estate available to spouses and registered domestic partners.

From execution to the land records

Every District deed records at one office, the Recorder of Deeds within the Office of Tax and Revenue, and the form carries dedicated blanks for the square, suffix, lot, and Assessment and Taxation lot ahead of the full legal description, the property identity the recorded copy carries under section 47-1431(a). Form FP-7/C, the recordation and transfer tax return, rides with the deed, signed under oath by the parties. The recordation tax and the transfer tax each run 1.1 percent of the consideration below $400,000 and 1.45 percent at or above it, family and trust exemptions are claimed on the same return, and a no-consideration transfer outside the exempt relationships is taxed on fair market value. Section 47-1431 then gives the transferees 30 days from execution to record, section 47-1433 backs that deadline with monetary penalties, and the office turns a deed away while District taxes or charges remain owing on the property.

The package delivers the two-grantor warranty deed as a fillable PDF, a completed example showing the form filled in for the sale of a Capitol Hill rowhouse by two co-owners, and a plain-language guide covering each section of the form, the grantee vesting menu, signing and notarization, and the tax return that accompanies every recorded deed. The materials describe District law generally, are informational only, and are not legal advice.