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Real estate bargain hunters scouring the delinquent-properties list for D.C.’s July 15 tax auction didn’t have far to look: The very first property on the sheet was 2555 M St. NW, which the State of Qatar is renovating for its new embassy. The small Persian Gulf emirate is $67,775.50 in the hole, according to District records. When told by a reporter that the building was on the block, a flummoxed embassy staffer named Pakinam said sternly, “Embassies don’t pay taxes.” But Henry Riley, director of the Real Property Tax Administration, said the District had no record of Qatar’s application for an exemption. Within a few hours, though, Patton Boggs lawyer Dean Dilley, representing the embassy, called to say the entry was “a mistake.” “The entry’s been removed from the list,” he said. “We haven’t gotten fully to the bottom of who’s to blame.” —David Morton