Today is Tax Sale deadline day.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2021
CONTACT:
Allison Harris, Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland: 443-703-3050 or aharris@probonomd.org
Margaret Henn, Maryland Volunteer Lawyer Service: 443-451-4067 or mhenn@mvlslaw.org
NEARLY 2,000 BALTIMORE CITY HOMEOWNERS REMAIN
AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR HOMES TO TAX SALE
Today is the deadline for Baltimore City homeowners and other property owners facing tax sale to pay off their delinquent lien balances or find themselves in the tax sale auction currently scheduled for May 17. In a year that has brought sudden and unexpected economic hardship upon so many residents of our city, people should not have to fear the loss of their homes for overdue property taxes – particularly when it is within the power of Baltimore City’s leadership to prevent that from happening.
The Baltimore Tax Sale Work Group, formed in 2013, is a group of advocates who have been working for several months to halt or postpone the 2021 tax sale. As it became clear to us that Mayor Brandon Scott and Director of the Department of Finance Henry Raymond would not announce a reprieve for homeowners in advance of today’s payment deadline, we are working feverishly to get as many desperate homeowners as we can removed from this year’s tax sale list. We have managed to help many of our fellow Baltimoreans reduce their bills to below the threshold to end up in the auction – $750 for owner-occupied properties – but, as of today, more than 2,000 homeowners remain on the auction list.
The Baltimore Tax Sale Work Group sent a letter in February to Mayor Scott and Director Raymond setting forth the problematic issues we believe would be inherent in holding this year’s tax sale as planned and calling for the postponement or cancellation of the tax sale. At the very least, we urged the Mayor to remove homeowners from this year’s auction. At his State of the City address on March 19, Mayor Scott said “In order to support our most vulnerable legacy homeowners, I am directing the Department of Finance to use every tool and resource available to us to make sure no one loses their home to tax sale in the midst of this pandemic.” However, unfortunately, no action has been taken to carry out this directive. Since the list of those facing tax sale was published in mid-March, our group of advocates has been reaching wide and deep into our communities to help.
The Pro Bono Resource Center (PBRC) and Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) provided direct legal advice to homeowners through their remote pro bono legal clinics, assisting 28 homeowners in this year’s tax sale. PBRC sent 18 of those clients to the Stop Oppressive Seizures (SOS) Fund, which was created last year by a group of community advocates as a fund to pay down tax bills of homeowners at risk of tax sale. Over the last few weeks, the SOS Fund has paid the property tax bills of 40 homeowners at a cost of over $71,000.00. And a small neighborhood-based nonprofit, the Better Waverly Mutual Aid Fund, raised $20,000 and paid the tax bills of 20 people on the list. The majority of donations to these efforts came from Baltimore residents concerned about their elderly neighbors losing their homes. Councilperson Odette Ramos has been knocking on doors in District 14 to make contact with those on the list and to connect them with available resources.
Those we have helped on the tax sale list are among the most vulnerable among us. PBRC’s client demographics are telling: The average client age is 68; the average yearly income is $19,4189; 82% identify as Black; 75% are women; and the average length of homeownership is 27 years.
During the course of our work with homeowners, several serious issues have come to light that are concerning, including but not limited to the following:
Incorrect tax bills were sent to residents by the City.
The mailing list notifying homeowners of their delinquencies contained many erroneous ZIP codes, rendering those notices undeliverable.
Residents who have previously relied on the Homeowner’s Tax Credit to afford their property tax bills found that their 2020 applications had not been received or processed by SDAT.
Homes were incorrectly classified as non-owner occupied.
Heirs of property were unable to obtain proper title to the home, and therefore lacking information or notice about the property taxes and/or access to credits to make them affordable.
Information about those in tax sale continues to be difficult to access for advocates because the City terminated its contract with the prior vendor hosting the tax sale auction website and related data, and was delayed in establishing a new site, which was not active until April 14, 2021.
Properties with incorrect use and occupancy permits.
In addition to the efforts on behalf of homeowners facing tax sale in May, the Tax Sale Workgroup is working for systemic change. The current predatory system of allowing private investors to purchase homeowners’ lien certificates and to foreclose on their homes is problematic for Baltimore homeowners. The Workgroup has devised and proposed to the Mayor a new system in which a property that is vacant and owned by a defunct corporation is handled differently than a property occupied by an 80-year-old great grandmother, raising her great grandchildren. In this plan, residents will be given an opportunity to enter payment plans and get the tax credits that will enable them to keep their home for generations. At that same time, private investors will not be siphoning off what is owed to the City, and vacant properties will be quickly disposed of to a land bank that can return them to productive use. Our Tax Sale Policy Paper lays out these proposed reforms and a new system for delinquent tax collection in Baltimore: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aSGVFmIgG6IOw3G91PPZH84f-ViADXQS/view.
The Baltimore Tax Sale Work Group has brought together homeowner advocates, community developers, City government, and foundations from over thirty agencies to prevent vulnerable, low-income homeowners from losing their homes in tax sale through direct client services, community outreach, and advocacy. But at the end of the day, protecting vulnerable, long-time Baltimore City homeowners from tax sale – preserving their homes and passing on their generational wealth – is something that only the Mayor and the Department of Finance have the power to accomplish on a wide scale.
Councilmember Odette Ramos
Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland
Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service
Fight Blight Bmore - The SOS FUND
Community Law Center
Community Development Network of Maryland