Reflections in Black: Equity in Real Property
My lived experience and research shows that racism in public policy has damaged Black neighborhoods and disproportionately harmed Black residents wherever they may live. The interpersonal violence we see in the community is the direct result of the economic violence perpetrated by the city’s Black codes, Jim Crow, Ordinance 610, restrictive covenants, redlining, urban renewal, contract lending, land use and zoning, disinvestment, tax sale, subprime lending, etc. COVID-19 further exposed these deep wounds’ impact on housing and health outcomes in the Black Butterfly.
In response to these conditions, Mayor Scott ran on and other elected officials espouse a commitment to creating racial equity in the city. But there can be no equity without repairing the damage caused by the long list above. In order to achieve equity, Baltimore must implement laws, policies, regulations and practices that restore Black people and communities. As a part of the Mayor’s Business, Workforce and Neighborhood Development Transition Committee; the big idea I offered for his first term was to begin to dismantle and defund racism in city government and its agencies specifically surrounding real property. These are priority actions to begin that process:
Abolish tax sale of owner-occupied units and enable installment payment plans.
Ramp up the “in rem” foreclosure process — foreclosures that focus on vacant tax sale properties — using a new land bank for equitable distribution
Ensure every property with metered water is receiving an accurate bill and develop a dispute resolution unit
Support an appraisal gap tax credit focused on redlined communities
Advocate for an equitable property tax assessment and assessment process
Create a Baltimore neighborhood Reparations fund and Social Equity Bond
Create participatory funding and payment processes for real estate development
Create program to enable and support Black owned retail, commercial and industrial competent spaces
Create an Independent Condemnations and Demolitions Monitor
Publish a clear and concise set of procedures to apply for and receive city owned properties for equitable and sustainable development
Create program to support Co-Housing, Collaborative Workspace and Cooperative development
Create a Ground Rent Redemption grant and ground rent map
Create and apply a measure to balance non profit property tax exemption against lost property tax revenues
Fully implement state enabled waiver of estate administration fees for low income households
Create a path to ownership for Adopt A Lot licensees (participants) who live in the footprint of the lots
Reform the Side Lot program by streamlining the process and only applying the 10 year building restriction to owners not residing in community
Implement a program to ensure all eligible homeowners are receiving all eligible property tax credits including but not limited too the Homeowner’s Tax Credit and Homestead Tax Credit
Creating racial equity will take fundamental change in the way the city government operates. We have to start with lessons from the past to build a doper future.
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.
Testimony submitted for Baltimore City Council Bill 20-0593 Tax Sales - Properties Exempt from Sale
City Council Bill 20-0593 was introduced by Councilperson McCray to protect vulnerable homeowners from the predatory tax sale. This bill as amended will only provide limited protection for some legacy homeowners. The City’s finance department seems hell bent on protecting this unscrupulous practice of selling tax debt and thus the interest of investors in tax sale certificates. Investors target owner-occupied units because the redemption rates are higher. Evidence suggests that many vulnerable homeowners live in predominantly Black neighborhoods which have been subject to disproportionate property taxes, pushing more owner-occupied units into tax sale. This is in part why the tax sale has been judged to be predatory by advocates.
Continuing this practice is clear evidence that the city has failed to use the tools at its disposal:
- state statute allowing comptroller to remove elderly, disabled and low
income homeowners from tax sale - state statute allowing redemption via payment plan - city law allowing city councilpersons to challenge and have removed properties in their district from tax sale - Homeowner's Tax Credit (which cost the city nothing as the state would pay the city its portion of the taxes on approved applications) to protect vulnerable homeowners in order to make money.
If the intent is to protect vulnerable homeowners this bill should be amended as follows:
1. Remove vulnerable (65 or older, disabled or low income less than $60,000) homeowners from tax sale and put them in a payment plan
a. Enable a 3-5 year deficiency spread to avoid tax sale - charge 5% to cover cost
associated with payment plan
b. Allow all owner-occupied to pay taxes via payment plan - no charge c. Allow non-owner occupied to use payment plan as well -charge 10% to cover costs associated with payment plan
Note: Vulnerable homeowners in this context should include residents of family homes where a grandparent, parent, sibling, aunt, uncle or cousin died intestate and they would become owner of the property at the conclusion of a probate process.
2. Require the City Tax Sale Ombudsman to collect and disseminate a report annually to include but not limited to data and information on:
a. how many tax sale certificates were sold
b. how many properties were removed from tax sale based on the criteria outlined in section 1a
c. how many tax sale foreclosures were filed
d. how many right-to-redeem judgments occurred
e. how many excess funds applications were processed
f. how many properties where removed from tax sale due to city councilpersons
challenge and in what district
g. how many new homeowners tax credit applications were submitted and
approved
h. how many tax sale certificates were offered for vacant and abandoned properties
i. the average amount of the liens for both owner occupied properties and
separately vacant and abandoned properties
j. how many property tax accounts are being paid via payment plan by category (previously delinquent, owner occupied in advance and non owner occupied in advance)
3. In the working sessions for this bill we have heard multiple mentions of potential fraud by residents when using the tax sale exemption. Yet no evidence was presented to indicate that there has been any instance of fraud with the existing credits. In fact the existing credits have been underutilized. But there is evidence that tax certificate purchasers participate in bid-rigging. In fact several were convicted of it. Perhaps the city should focus its ire on fraud and other illegal or unethical actions of tax certificate purchasers by
a. requiring disclosure of when the tax sale certificate purchaser and the lawyer are on in the same
b. requiring law firms to return funds paid to them when there is a subsequent tax sale foreclosure
c. ensuring the return of excess funds when a tax sale foreclosure does occur
d. requiring the Tax Sale Ombudsman to conduct an analysis of the tax sale results to determine if patterns indicative of bid rigging are occurring within the tax sale
Stopping the vicious cycle of tax sale on the most vulnerable homeowners will
- stabilize population loss
- make property upkeep possible
- decrease vacancy
- attract new property owners thus expand the tax base
- enable the city to collect more tax revenue before delinquency occurs
Most importantly these measures will also help build and/or preserve assets for these vulnerable homeowners and their families, thus providing a stepping stone toward wealth creation and retention. This is particularly important for many Black homeowners who have repeatedly had their property rights and values eroded by laws, policies, regulations and practices of Baltimore City, State and Federal Government.
Nneka N’namdi
Bree Jones
Andre Robinson
John Kern/ Tim Chance
Stop Oppressive Seizures Fund
Commentary: The Cost of Civic Sharecropping
When Being the Change Cost You Change
“Be the change you want to see.” - Anonymous Persons
The sentiment of this quote is often echoed through the philosophy that Baltimore residents must become active in making their own neighborhoods better. This is a story of what it actually looks like when residents attempt to “be the change”.
In 2017 Fight Blight Bmore submitted a proposal to the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) for access and use of the Dr. Emerson Julian Center as an operating space for the Hack Hub. The Hack Hub is an innovation and incubation space primarily for youth focusing on technology and entrepreneurship development.
The Dr. Emerson Julian Center is located inside of Heritage Crossing, developed by Enterprise Homes as the result of Thompson vs HUD, a federal housing discrimination case. Ensconced in a community rich in African American history, the center should have become an anchor in Old West Baltimore where there is a need for accessible space. The neighborhood instead suffers from the impacts of racism in community development and urban planning. The failed I-70 extension now called the “Highway to Nowhere” is but one stark example. Many of the beautiful structures in this historic district sit vacant, dilapidated, misused or underutilized (all forms of blight).
The Dr. Emerson Julian Center is in good condition but its utilization is low. The building was rehabilitated during the development of Heritage Crossing in 2002 with Hope VI funds. As such “...funds can be used for the development of community buildings if such facilities are to be used by residents of the revitalized community and surrounding neighborhood. That is, the community building must directly relate to the revitalization of the public housing development and the residents should be the primary beneficiaries. “, according to the HUD NOFA, 2004. Yet, the Dr. Emerson Julian Center isn't being used by the community at large. A third of the building houses a daycare but the rest of it except for two small offices are vacant. The lack of use of this building does not seem to be in alignment with the guidelines laid out by HUD.
The proposal(s) submitted by Fight Blight Bmore to HABC which owns the Dr. Emerson Julian Center can provide culturally authentic, economically viable, sustainable and scalable programming for the community. Instead of being met with open doors, the proposal was ignored, marginalized and shut out. On February 13, 2020 Fight Blight Bmore received the following response to the third version of the proposal, it read as follows:
“Nneka: I apologize for the delay in responding to the proposal you submitted for the use of the community room at Heritage Crossing. HABC has been reassessing the future plans for the community room. The discussions are internal and external input is not requested at this time. Therefore, HABC’s response to your proposal is on hold until further notice. “ (Michelle Cruise, Senior Manager of Private Management)
Fight Blight Bmore’s experience with HABC is a clear example of #CivicSharecropping which is the process by which a municipality or government agency exploits the labor of Black residents to provide:
- services and programming that the municipality or its agencies should be providing i.e. community clean ups,
- activation, care and upkeep of property owned by the municipality or its agencies i.e. community gardens.
HABC now has a well researched plan for how to activate the Dr. Emerson Julian Center in Fight Blight Bmore’s proposals which were submitted at their request.
No less than 320 hours were spent researching, formulating, writing, submitting and following up on the proposals. If the city had hired a consultant to create a plan for using the center they would have paid top dollar for that work.
But they didn't, they instead asked Fight Blight Bmore, a Black woman owned business, to do it for them for free. Who knew that “being the change” would be so costly, lesson learned!
Written Position for City of Baltimore Council Bill 19-0410 Trauma-Responsive Care Act
Written Position for City of Baltimore Council Bill 19-0410
Trauma-Responsive Care Act
Hearing held December 17th, 2019, 10am
Baltimore City Hall DuBurns Council Chamber, 4th Floor
On behalf of Fight Blight Bmore (FBB), we welcome the opportunity to submit written testimony for bill 19-0410 The Trauma-Responsive Care Act. We are writing in support of the bill provided the recommendations listed below are adopted. FBB cannot support the current iteration of this bill. Our recommendations are listed below with a brief justification based on our values, mission, and vision.
Background on Fight Blight Bmore
On Mother’s Day 2016, I witnessed what could have been an awful tragedy about two blocks from the Dr. Emerson Julian Center. A few children were riding their bikes down the sidewalk of Fremont Avenue, crossing Lafayette Street, where four brownstones were being demolished. The demolition site was filled with debris, gaping holes about six feet deep in the ground, and no gate to prevent site access. I witnessed the potential danger associated with these unsafe conditions such as a child falling into the unsecured debris. That day, I began researching, documenting, reporting and tracking environmental hazards created in part by the demolition sites around the city and the structures that preceded them. That day FBB was born as a call to action to address blight and the issues it causes for individuals and communities.
Due to resident flight beginning in the 1960’s to surrounding counties, city neighborhoods lost population, businesses, community institutions and places of employment. These losses and subsequent strategic disinvestment in many city neighborhoods, were fueled in part by racism, resulted in depressed property values and tax revenues. This in combination with factors such as the post-industrial economic downturn of the 1970’s and the epidemic abuse of illicit drugs in the 1980’s resulted in numerous vacant, abandoned, improperly used, unkempt and/or underutilized properties. The resulting blight created or worsened environmental stressors which can be defined as any physical, chemical, or biological factor that can cause an adverse effect on ecosystems or human health. Baltimore’s most blighted neighborhoods Harlem Park- Sandtown Winchester, Upton-Druid Heights, have life expectancies that mirror those in North Korea and Kagazistan (1) . Lowered life expectancies and other poor health outcomes can be tied to the presence of blight in communities. The result of blight is community based trauma.
FBB makes the following recommendations for the current iteration of the bill:
Name of the Bill
That bill be named for a social or community worker whose work focused specifically on addressing community based trauma in Baltimore examples include but are not limited Drs Joanne And Elmer Martin or Lt. Violet Hill Whyte.
Task Force Composition:
It is understood that the task force will comprise impacted individuals, and that there are many Black professionals & individuals involved with its creation and implementation. However, our recommendation addresses the need to confront the white supremacist notions that permeate through the policies and result in the harm of Black communities. It is our recommendation that the task force composition include the following amendments:
There should be a minimum of 4 licensed clinical social workers on the task force. They should represent varied expertise for different types of trauma, and they should have a proven background in working successfully with a racial equity focus.
The youth representatives who are asked to join the task force should be compensated for their time, contributions, and effort. The youth of Baltimore City are often called to lead initiatives and offer direction and insight to the challenges that face this city. However, the youth of Baltimore City did not create the conditions in which they live and should not be expected to work towards solving these issues for free.
The number of formerly incarcerated individuals should increase to a minimum of three.
There should be a minimum of one member of the taskforce with expertise in addressing the physical, social and economic trauma of African-American community displacement using collaborative work, cooperative economic and cultural practice. The relevant community displacement traumas include but are not not limited to segregation, redlining, contract lending, restrictive covenants, exclusionary zoning, Urban Renewal programs, subprime lending, condemnation, demolition and other community and economic development laws, policies, regulations and practices. With Baltimore City, Department of Housing and Community Development, Department of Planning and Department of Public works as an agencies impacted by the bill, this is critically necessary.
Defining Trauma-Informed Care:
It is our recommendation that the definition used in this bill for the purpose of guiding the work of the taskforce and agency staff members be revised to include a historical context. As the bill is currently written, it is implementing the SAMHSA definition and understanding of Trauma Informed Care. According to SAMHSA, an organization is considered informed when it is able to be aware of the impact of trauma, recognize its signs and symptoms, and respond to trauma by integrating language and knowledge about trauma into its policies, procedures, and practices (2). This historical definition should include an understanding of the legal, systemic, cultural, and social methods through which Baltimore city agencies have created the conditions that are the source of and/or contribute to the collective trauma experienced by its Black residents. It is mentioned in the six principles of SAMHSA to have a historical approach; however, it is our recommendation that the historical approach be explicit in the definition of trauma informed care used by the task force.
Trauma-Informed Training:
It is our recommendation that the trauma-informed trainings are developed by local, black-led organizations that specialize in understanding trauma from a holistic, racial equity, strength based approach. The trauma-informed training as identified in this bill is a “Didactic Course in trauma-informed care that is developed by the US Dept. of Health, MD Dept of Health, or Baltimore Dept. of Health” and provided by Baltimore Dept. of Health or its designee in collaboration with Task Force (3). As mentioned in Baltimore Awakes: An Analysis of the Human and Social Service Sector in Baltimore City, the mainstream, white-dominated institutions and research leaders often miss the mark when assessing issues of trauma in the Black community because they operate under a false notion of black pathology and white superiority. These institutions continue to harm the very communities they state they are trying to help (4).
Taskforce Evaluation:
It is our recommendation that a community-based external party be employed to evaluate and assess the impact of the taskforce and the trainings. The Baltimore City Department of Human Resources is responsible for assessing the compliance of the task force in regards to federal, state, and local laws. Government agencies are accountable to the people whom they serve. Therefore, a collective body of community members, or a third party consultant should evaluate the effectiveness of the taskforce rather than an agency affiliate.
City Agency Responsibility and Accountability:
It is our recommendation that the duties of the taskforce and/or agency staff include an analysis of each city agency in regards to their historical involvement in creating these conditions. It is no secret that Baltimore City’s government agencies have a history of being responsible for traumatizing and/or re-traumatizing Baltimore City residents. From the effects of redlining in 1911 to the current state of our most blighted communities, “People living in neighborhoods with blight are not only losing access to home equity, community history and public sector improvements, they are also being exposed to community based trauma resulting in long term stress from fear of unsafe property implosion, toxic exposure, and crime.” (5). While these are just two examples, they speak to the responsibility of the city to assess and acknowledge the ways in which is has contributed to the trauma experienced by Black residents.
With these recommendations, we honor the citizens of this majority Black city by centering the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health of Baltimore’s Black communities. We urge the council to take this opportunity to disrupt the effect of white supremacist, business-as-usual, tactics used to address the challenges of our city. As the bill is currently written, it contributes to the falsehood that Black communities, leaders, and professionals are not capable of leading and being the center of our own healing. It is for this reason foremost, that we do not support the bill without these stated amendments.
It is recommended that the above listed amendments be made to Baltimore city council Bill 19-0410 in order for it to be considered an equitable legislative solution to the effects of trauma on our city.
In solidarity with the Baltimore Baltimore Legacy Chapter, Association of Black Social Workers
Nneka Nnamdi, Founder
Fight Blight Bmore
1 Capital News Service. In West Baltimore, life expectancy the same as North Korea. (February 15, 2016)
2 McArdle, Flannery, Bill Synopsis: 19-0410 The Baltimore City Trauma Responsive Care Act. (2019).
4 https://lbsbaltimore.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/When-Baltimore-Awakes.pdf
#FightBlightBmore Featured in The AFRO
Fight Blight Bmore was featured in The AFRO Baltimore (Afro.com) by editor Sean Yoes. We are appreciative of the support in our efforts to better inform the community and to impact change in Baltimore neighborhoods immensely effected by decades of blight. Check out the full article here.
When you consider the storied histories of both (the righteous and the wretched), they are hallowed grounds. But, the heart and soul of West Baltimore, and East Baltimore are being methodically and thoroughly ripped out by blight. We can somewhat measure the impact of violence, murder and mayhem on our communities, although we can never know the full impact on our psyches and spirits. But, plausible metrics on the impact of blight on Baltimore have been elusive. That is something Nnamdi wants to change.
-Sean Yoes, AFRO Baltimore Editor
Source:https://www.afro.com/blight-rips-at-the-heart-and-soul-of-the-c