More than 5,000 D.C. property owners, including a powerful Washington lobbyist, a developer and a nightclub owner, failed to pay their 2008 real estate taxes and now face the prospect of losing their holdings to hungry bidders during the city’s annual tax auction.

The number of liens listed in the Office of Tax and Revenue’s annual pretax sale advertisement soared from roughly 3,400 last year to more than 5,200 this year, an increase of about 65 percent. The total amount of taxes owed tops $27.25 million.

Recommended Stories

Downtown will face stiff competition from redeveloped ‘burbs

Auditor finds shortcomings in District’s taxation system

D.C. to enact $2 cigarette tax