Whenever the Board for the Condemnation of Insanitary Buildings is in doubt as to the ownership of any building or part of a building, the condemnation of which is contemplated, because the title thereto is in litigation, said Board may notify all parties to the suit and may report the circumstances to the Mayor of the District of Columbia, who may bring such circumstances to the attention of the court in which such litigation is pending for the purpose of securing such order or decree as will enable said Board to continue such condemnation proceedings, and such court is hereby authorized to make such decrees and orders in such pending suit as may be necessary for that purpose.

(May 1, 1906, 34 Stat. 158, ch. 2073, § 8; Aug. 28, 1954, 68 Stat. 887, ch. 1032.)

1981 Ed., § 5-708.

1973 Ed., § 5-623.

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.