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Nonprofits to help homeowners avoid losing a house to Baltimore tax sales
Daily Record Staff//March 27, 2023
Nonprofits to help homeowners avoid losing a house to Baltimore tax sales
//March 27, 2023
With Baltimore’s tax sale date set for May 15, homeowners who owe at least $750 in property taxes or citations, or a combination of both, are at risk of losing their home to tax sale.
To help families hold onto their homes, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) in partnership with the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland and Stop Oppressive Seizures (SOS) Fund, will host three free tax sale prevention clinics to help struggling homeowners.
The first event is scheduled for April 3 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Community Engagement Center, 16 South Poppleton St.; the second will be April 15 from noon to 3 p.m. at the Collington Square Recreation Center, 1410 North Patterson Park Ave.; and the third is April 19 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the C.C. Jackson Recreation Center, 4910 Park Heights Ave.
Homeowners will meet one-on-one with a pro bono attorney and get legal advice about their options and the tax sale process. Homeowners also will get connected to resources such as the Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit Program. After the clinic, if homeowners need ongoing assistance and representation, MVLS will place them with a pro bono attorney.
MVLS is a nonprofit that mobilizes volunteers to provide free civil legal help. The organization serves thousands of people each year who otherwise would be unable to afford representation, focusing on six issues that have a big impact on peoples’ everyday lives – family law, housing, finance, tax, criminal record relief and estate planning and administration.
PBRC is Maryland’s hub for pro bono civil legal assistance provided by volunteers. Equal access to justice is a core value of our nation, yet hundreds of thousands of our state’s residents cannot afford the legal help they desperately need and have no legal guarantee of a lawyer. As the pro bono arm of the Maryland State Bar Association, PBRC plays a role as the training, support, innovation and advocacy center for pro bono and also offers remote consultations via telephone.
The SOS Fund aims to disrupt then dismantle predatory systems that erode ownership within Black, Indigenous and communities of color, while decolonizing our understanding of property to support models of collective land stewardship.
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