More people are donating their vacant homes to Baltimore

Baltimore is trying to reduce the number of vacant homes in the city by enticing owners to hand them over.

It’s charitable giving, but with a twist: Property owners who have accumulated municipal taxes and liens can donate those buildings and plots of land to the city in exchange for being cleared of those cost burdens, as well as legal liabilities and maintenance charges.

It might seem paradoxical, but the city wants to own as many vacant properties and lots as it can. That way, private owners have less sway over the city’s future.

City officials eased the property transfer rules in January and since then, officials have seen the number of donor applications double. There were 16 in the six months before the program’s overhaul and 34 in the months after, according to city data presented at Monday’s Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Council meeting.

City Hall hopes to expand the program as city and state government leaders work to tackle the scourge of vacant properties with renewed vigor.

The sheer volume of vacant homes, plus the projected cost of what it will take to revive or demolish them — around $8 billion — means city government and its partners have been forced to get creative.

They’ve created new financial tools, taken steps to make existing vacant homes safer and worked with the judiciary system to speed up the time it takes to seize a vacant building from a negligent owner.

The donation program adds what could be another important step to “opening clogged arteries” in the city’s acquisition process, Maryland housing secretary Jake Day said at Monday’s Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Council meeting.

“Even if it’s a just little bit each month,” Day said, “that’s helpful to see, and all of it adds to better flow.”

The city includes about 11,625 buildings on its vacant housing list, which are those deemed by the city as “unlivable.” There are many more that don’t meet the threshold but are nonetheless empty and abandoned. Still more are eligible to be slapped with a “vacant building notice,” but city officials have acknowledged Baltimore has a shortfall of home inspectors available to make those calls.

The overwhelming majority of properties are privately owned; The city owns about 9%.

There are also thousands of vacant lots, which acting housing commissioner Tim Keane noted at the last vacants council meeting have been overlooked in favor of the buildings.

Presenting to the council on Monday, Keane said any sound vacants strategy must be sure to also plan for amenities such as parks, playgrounds and businesses that make neighborhoods easier to choose and harder to leave.

But first, as Keane and others have said, Baltimore must wrest control of the thousands more properties and lots from their owners so that city officials and partner organizations can step in.

Donors can submit an application to give away their properties so long as they have title, or with the permission of everyone named on a deed.

Properties with non-municipal liens, such as state or federal tax liens, aren’t eligible for donation.

A building must also be designated as a vacant building, though City Administrator Faith Leach suggested Monday that the city should revise that rule.

About half the properties submitted for consideration in the last year have been buildings, and the other half have been lots, according to city data. Almost all are concentrated in the priority areas tapped first for reinvestment.

So far, it’s taken 8 to 12 months for a donation process to be completed, according to the city. Council members acknowledged the city needs to find ways to shorten that timeline.