Leaking Pipes to the Edge of Homelessness - A Baltimore Tax Sale Story
Ama Tubman is a Baltimore native and resident in her family home. She lives in Park Heights with her husband and children. She is a local entrepreneur.
In 2016, her family home was sold in tax sale for a $4000 water bill, which was the result of a hidden leak. Ms. Tubman got the leak repaired however she was unaware that using a repair person who was not licensed by the state would result in her being ineligible to receive a water bill adjustment from the Department of Public Works.
2020 Tax Certificates Schedule for Sale
Due to a lack of clear communication between the attorney representing the certificate purchaser and Baltimore City Ms.Tubman was unable to pay the taxes due. As a result the bills piled up and in 2019 the house went back into tax sale. She called the city department that handles tax sales and was told there were now two liens on the house and that she would have to satisfy them both.
Letter from 2019 Certificate Purchaser's Lawyer
Letter from 2019 Certificate Purchaser's Lawyer
In August 2020, Ms. Tubman called the lawyer representing the 2019 tax certificate purchaser. The lawyer informed her she would need to first pay his fee (shown below) and after that she would have two weeks to pay the city $7100 representing the taxes owed and fees in order to redeem the property and avoid tax sale foreclosure. On December 1, 2020, Ms. Tubman went to the Abel Wolman Building to try to resolve this issue and they were closed due to COVID-19.
She tried to go to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on Calvert Street for help and they too were closed due to COVID-19. A security guard at the Abel Wolman building gave her a number to call (410-639-3556) for assistance with this problem. She called it and a staff member Eleanor answered and she explained everything to her. Staff person Eleanor again stated that there were two liens on the property. Ms. Tubman emphatically explained to her that the 2016 lien had been released.
Staff person Eleanor put Ms. Tubman on hold to dig a little deeper. One minute later she returned to the phone and said “...as I look further, I see that the first lien was satisfied”. Ms. Tubman asked, “Now what? You are admitting that had someone else simply looked further, I would not be in this position.” Ms. Eleanor asked Ms. Tubman to hold yet again. Upon her return Ms. Tubman was told, “My supervisor has agreed to give you till the end of December to pay everything due to the error. In the meantime, pay the lawyer and tell him to put the end of the month on the release letter.”
Exasperated, Ms. Tubman reached out to the Stop Oppressive Seizures (SOS) Fund* for help. The SOS Fund contacted Tax Sale Ombudsman Michael O’Leary on December 4th, 2020. As the Tax Sale Ombudsman does not have research to resolution power he asked the Bureau of Revenue Collections (BRC) to investigate. The BRC investigated the issue. Their position is that the tax certificate purchaser's lawyer did not provide the release to the city until November 2020 so the city was not in error. Despite the fact the tax certificate purchaser had directed his lawyer to provide the release more than a year before that the city claims it wasn't received until late last year. It is possible that the release was lost in the Ransomware attack of 2019 or that the attorney for the certificate purchaser failed to send the release to the city. We asked the BRC to provide Ms Tubman and the SOS Fund a copy of the release but to date that has not been provided. In the end BRC said all they would do was give Ms. Tubman till January 31st 2021 to pay the city the outstanding debt after paying the 2019 tax sale purchasers attorney.
COVID-19 Cases and Housing Insecurity
COVID-19 Cases and Housing Insecurity
A run of the mill leaky pipe, exacerbated by the Department of Public Works’ lack of an equitable dispute/adjustment process for water bills, plunged Ms Tubman into the onerous, complex and opaque tax sale redemption process. Now Ama Tubman and her family find themselves at the edge of homelesness, saddled with a large debt that would not have existed otherwise. Ms. Tubman doesn’t have the nearly $10,000 necessary to clear the debt. Ama Tubman and her family are facing homelessness in the middle of a global health pandemic, COVID-19. This story perfectly illustrates the impact of the problematic and predatory practices that are woven through the city's tax sale process.
The tax sale should be abolished completely for owner occupied properties. Installment payments should be made available for current and past due taxes without onerous fees (see City Council Bills 21-0002/21-0016). The Tax Sale Ombudsman should be given the power to force the fair and equitable resolution of issues with tax sale certificates. And, the BRC should be required to publish an annual report on the performance of the property tax collections, tax sale, assignment, bulk tax sale and any tax sale foreclosures.
Ana Tubman is a pseudonym - her name was changed to protect her privacy. This issue has caused her to experience anxiety and a profound sense of shame. Despite the trauma of this situation and the city's less than empathic response to it, Ms Tubman and family have amassed roughly $4000 toward the debt. The SOS FUND has pledged $2000 in funds towards Ms.Tubman's debt. Help us raise the rest in 30 days as the foreclosure process has begun, click here to donate via PayPal. Checks or Money Orders can be made and mailed to Fusion Partnerships, Inc. FBO Fight Blight Bmore at 1601 Guilford Ave, 2 South Baltimore, MD 21202-2877. Please include Save Ama Tubman's House in the memo.