How Do I Change My Name on a Business License and/or a Certificate of Occupancy?

If you own a property in your personal name, and your name is not current on your legal documents because of marriage, divorce, or a legal name change, this article is for you. If your property has changed hands (for example, it moved to a Trust or a business entity), refer to our support article How Can I Obtain a Change of Ownership for a Certificate of Occupancy?.

Changing the name on your license has a few parts to it. While it may look like a simple process, remember that obtaining a license to rent property involves Business Tax Registration, a Basic Business License, and a Rent Control Registration or  Exemption. In addition, if your property is a 2-Unit or an Apartment House, it has a Certificate of Occupancy. All of these filings must be updated to reflect your new name. Since different offices and agencies administer their own part of the name change process, who-does-what can be confusing. Below is a synopsis of what is required. Actions that RentJiffy can assist with are noted.

Business Tax Registration:

To get your tax account updated with your correct name, call the Office of Tax and Revenue, 202-727-4829, and ask to speak with the Business Tax Division. You will probably be asked to give them an updated copy of your Social Security card and an ID reflecting the name change as well as a letter explaining the reason for the name change.

Note: While you are on the phone, if you have personal tax accounts with DC, you may want to ask them to transfer you to the individual tax division so you can initiate the change on your personal tax account as well

Deed:

To update your Deed to reflect your new name, contact the Real Property Tax Division of the Office of Tax and Revenue, 202-727-4829, for detailed instructions on how to do this. You could also try reaching out to the title company that   assisted with the settlement of the property – they should be able to help you with this.

Certificate of Occupancy:

To revise your Certificate of Occupancy, you will have to supply a copy of the deed reflecting your new name and a letter explaining the reason for the name change.

To have RentJiffy assist with this, email support@rentjiffy.com.

Basic Business License:

To update your license, you will have to supply a copy of your updated Deed reflecting the name change, a copy of your updated Social Security card, an updated driver's license, and a letter explaining the reason for the name change. 

To have RentJiffy assist with this, email support@rentjiffy.com.

Rent Control Registration/Exemption:

Once the license has been updated, you will have to file an Amended Housing Providers Registration form along with a copy of your updated license.

To have RentJiffy assist with this, email support@rentjiffy.com.

Registered Agent Account

If you have paid for RentJiffy to act as your Registered Agent, after all of these steps are done, we can update our records to the new name on your Registered Agent account.

To give us the go-ahead to make these changes, please email support@rentjiffy.com. Make sure to include copies of your updated license, RAD Registration/Claim of Exemption, and, if applicable, Certificate of Occupancy. 

Note: If you’ve engaged us to handle the update of your license, Rent Control Registration/Exemption, and Certificate of Occupancy, we will do the update of your Registered Agent account automatically.

Leases

You should contact your attorney to advise you on updating your lease and any other legal documents concerning your property.

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