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Adam Meister
Baltimore Politics ExaminerAdam Meister's scribe spreads his innate enthusiasm for all things Baltimore--and, in particular, the political inner workings of his beloved hometown.
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Baltimore Politics Examiner
Showing entries for Category: Ground-Rents
Ground Rents Are Worthless
Adam Meister - Baltimore Politics Examiner
Did that headline get your attention? You probably have not had it explained to you like that yet, but it is true.In 2007 (after the Baltimore Sun did a series about ground rents) the Maryland general assembly abolished the use of ejectment if ground rents were not paid. People can no longer be kicked out of their homes for forgetting to pay $60 or whatever their ground rent may be. No new ground rents can be created. It sounds fair but the story does not end there.
Ground rent owners can still try and collect up to three years of past unpaid ground rents. No legal costs can be assessed to the home owner now. So let's say a home owner has not paid his yearly ground rent of $120 for three years. The ground rent owner can try and collect the $360 owed to them but the legal fees to do so will most likely cost $500 or more and make it completely not worth it. Most ground rents are $120 or less.
So because of an article in the Baltimore Sun the general assembly destroyed the rights of ground rent owners (I am not saying that is a bad thing). From what I have heard a lot of home owners are catching on to this and are not paying ground rents. Ground rent owners (many of whom are senior citizens) are infuriated at the Governor and are feeling quite helpless since their retirement income producing assets are now basically worthless. It is amazing what one article in a newspaper can bring about. I think our politicians should learn a lesson from all this.
There is a lawsuit to get the state of Maryland to compensate ground rent owners and buy back the ground rents. I do not have a lot of information on this case. The last I heard the case had been remanded from federal court back to state court
Topics: Martin O'Malley , Ground Rents
