Owner-occupied homes being removed from Baltimore City tax sale list

Owner-occupied homes will be removed from the city's tax sale list following approval from the Board of Estimates.

"Removing owner-occupied homes from the tax sale list is simply the right thing to do, and I'm proud to take this step for the fourth year in a row. It is impossible to overstate how important this is for the impacted families. This year's action will benefit homeowners in 221 neighborhoods and continue to advance our vision for equitable neighborhood development," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "I want to thank all of the advocates and elected officials who care deeply about this issue for making their voices heard and standing alongside my administration to protect owner-occupied homes and the families who live in them."

This year, like 2023, Scott said he is specifically targeting the removal of owner-occupied homes assessed under $250,000, which covers the vast majority of impacted properties. 

Approximately 221 of Baltimore's 279 neighborhoods will have properties removed including Belair-Edison, Allendale, Brooklyn, Coldstream Homestead Montebello, Frankford, Glen, Howard Park and Sandtown-Winchester. 

The 3,464 properties removed from the tax sale process include single-family dwelling, condo, and multifamily dwelling units where the owner permanently lives. 

More than 160 of the properties removed have been owned by the same person for over 50 years, 64 have been owned by the same person for over 60 years, 41 have been owned by the same person for over 65 years, and 23 have been owned by the same person for over 70 years. 

Additionally, as part of Scott's government modernization efforts, the administration is working to implement a more efficient cloud-based tax payment system over the next few years. The new system is expected to automate payments that are currently handled manually and significantly improve service delivery to taxpayers.

This announcement builds on a series of steps the Scott Administration has taken to keep more Baltimoreans housed while ensuring economic security for city residents including:

• In 2021, creating a Tax Sale Work Group composed of housing advocates, legal aid professionals, and tax sale experts focused on comprehensively reforming the tax sale process. The work group seeks to identify current gaps in the system and finds solutions to make the process more equitable 
• Launching a middle neighborhoods strategy to boost Black homeownership and the largest-ever investment in equitable development with $100 million dollars towards addressing blight throughout Baltimore's communities

The 2024 tax sale is scheduled for May 20, 2024.