* 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.
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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 c...
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