* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Conaway
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Request for State Legislation - Withholding Properties from Tax Lien Sales
FOR the purpose of requesting the Honorable Chair and Members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the 2011 Session of the Maryland General Assembly to introduce legislation to prevent unnecessary evictions by altering the procedures for collecting government liens to allow municipalities to withhold liens for water bills and debts under $750 from inclusion in tax lien sales.
body
Recitals
Tax lien sales are an important tool in Maryland that allow local governments to collect millions of dollars in obligations that would otherwise go unpaid. They also can be used to encourage the reclamation and rehabilitation of privately owned vacant properties. In the overwhelming majority of cases these sales do not result in the eviction of a homeowner from an occupied home.
However, because of the State law requirement that local governments must offer all liens over $250 up for sale after a certain period of time, private investors are sometimes given the right to foreclose on an occupied home for what began as a relatively small debt owed to the City. Because Maryland law requires that liens resulting from any municipal charges - whether for taxes, utilities, or other purposes - be treated the same, there have been extreme cases where homeowners have ultimately been evicted for something as simple as failure to pay a water bill.
This is never the result sought by the City. Turning an owner occupied home into another vacant structure in exchange for a few hundred dollars more in the City's accounts is simply not in Baltimore's long term interests. Unfortunately, under current State law the City lacks options that would allow it to weigh whether or not selling a particular lien to a private investor is really the most appropriate way to deal with a small, but difficult to collect, debt owed by a homeowner.
If Maryland law were changed to give Baltimore some discretion in deciding whether or not to include liens for debts under $750, or arising from unpaid water bills, in its annual tax sale the City would be able to deal with these small debts in a more individualized way that could prevent counterproductive evictions, while still retaining a valuable tool to be used against seriously delinquent property owners and vacant properties.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Honorable Chair and Members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the 2011 Session of the Maryland General Assembly are urged to introduce legislation to prevent unnecessary evictions by altering the procedures for collecting government liens to allow municipalities to withhold liens for water bills and debts under $750 from inclusion in tax lien sales.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Honorable Chair and Members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the 2011 Maryland General Assembly, the Governor, the Mayor, the Mayor's Office of Intergovernmental Relations, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
dlr 10-2049~intro/16Jun10
ccres/WaterTaxSale/tw
dlr 10-2049~intro/16Jun10
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ccres/WaterTaxSale/tw