* 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 Henry
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Request for State Legislation - Prompt Recordation of Bank Foreclosure Deeds
FOR the purpose of requesting the Honorable Chair and Members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the Maryland General Assembly to introduce legislation to require that banks promptly record the deeds to properties purchased at foreclosure auctions.
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Recitals
In the current trying economy, foreclosure auctions have become an all too common occurrence. Many times, when banks force these auctions they find that the slow housing market means that there are no competitive bidders for the foreclosed properties. Banks often will then purchase the properties themselves and leave them to sit vacant hoping that they will have more value at a later date.
When banks have essentially purchased these properties from themselves, with no immediate plans to make use of them in any way, a strong temptation exists to avoid the payment of recordation taxes by refusing to formally record the deed to the property until a sale of the property seems likely. This inordinate delay in recording the deeds makes an already difficult situation for the community at large even worse than it otherwise would be. State and local governments are robbed of revenue through precisely the period when an additional vacant structure is imposing a he...
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