Senate bill would shield heirs’ occupied homes in Baltimore from tax sale, create registry
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Summary
Testimony before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee urged passage of Senate Bill 7-24 to protect occupied heirs’ properties in Baltimore City from tax sale and establish a citywide registry to help heirs claim and preserve generational homes.
Senate Bill 7-24 would require Baltimore City to withhold occupied heirs’ properties from tax sale when they meet criteria specified in the bill and to create a citywide registry so heirs can designate properties for protection, supporters told the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
The bill’s proponents told the committee the measure is intended to prevent families who inherit homes from losing them over unpaid taxes and to preserve intergenerational wealth. "This bill provides necessary safeguards to prevent unnecessary foreclosures and keep generational homes within families," Jacques Thompson, an intern for Senator Cory B. McCray, said during the public hearing.
The bill would direct the State Department of Assessments and Taxation to assist in implementing and maintaining the registry, supporters said. Nicole Hart of the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development said “tangled titles significantly disrupt generational wealth by preventing heirs from assessing a home's value and legal ownership.”
Witnesses from local nonprofits asked the committee to adopt technical amendments to strengthen the measure. Nika Nambi, executive director of the SOS Fund and founder of FightLight Bmore, said her group’s suggested changes would let the city’s tax sale ombudsman compel the Bureau of Revenue Collections to remove properties from a tax sale where a property has been misclassified, where notice or billing errors occurred, or where payments were misapplied. Nambi said the organization’s research identified about 7,700 heirs properties in Baltimore City that are vulnerable to tax sale.
John Kern of the SOS Fund and Steven Coppin of Maryland Volunteer Lawyer Service described how tangled-title issues block access to homeowners insurance, local assistance and financing that could pay for deferred maintenance. Kern cited an estimate that roughly $42,000,000,000 in home equity nationwide is locked in heirs property and said a registry would help heirs access city programs and financing.
Senator Fencing asked what the phrase "under certain provisions of law" in the bill meant; a panelist replied that the bill as written refers to existing statutes that authorize the mayor to withhold properties from tax sale. No vote was recorded during the hearing on the bill.
Supporters asked the committee to issue a favorable report and to adopt the written amendments filed with the committee.
