Housing

Historic investment of at least $7.5 billion, to be spent over time, is needed to solve Baltimore’s crisis of vacant and abandoned houses, Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development (BUILD) says. The organization of clergy, neighborhood and educational leaders says the large-scale redevelopment needed for some city neighborhoods would require that level of investment.

MV Realty’s practice of enticing homeowners to sign away the exclusive right to list their homes for sale for 40 years in exchange for small cash offers drew the attention of lawmakers and regulators.

The bill would require inspections of “priority buildings” with 20 units or more with a documented history of poor conditions twice per year until conditions improve.

When police officers demonstrate a lack of empathetic humanity, incidents such as the killing of Tyre Nichols occur, a reader says. A physician says Marylanders will benefit from full implementation of the state’s family and medical leave law. Any plan for Lutherville-Timonium redevelopment must rely on the area’s history and facts about issues such as zoning, the Lutherville Community Association’s president says.

Westminster Management, the family real estate company of Jared Kushner, agreed to pay millions to settle allegations of maintenance horrors and excess fees in its Maryland rental apartments.

The complaint alleges that the city has violated the Fair Housing Act repeatedly since 1975, when Baltimore officials first adopted a plan to redevelop Poppleton.

$6 million is sitting unclaimed in city coffers, a Baltimore Banner review shows.

The finance department has called the city’s menu of tax credits “highly inequitable” and singled out the historic preservation incentive as especially in need of reforms.

Judge had found that a city ordinance “increased the risk that tenants would be erroneously deprived of their personal property.”

A Lutherville-Timonium redevelopment and transit spur plan offers benefits for the entire Baltimore region, two readers said. A reader raises financial, safety and environmental concerns about parklets provided for outdoor dining in Baltimore.

The Appellate Court of Maryland has sided with tenants who claim fees imposed on renters by a company co-owned by Jared Kushner were charged illegally.

The city has nearly exhausted its rental assistance funds, as eviction rates tick back up to pre-pandemic levels.

Some 41,000 properties have gone through the city’s tax sale since 2016, a Baltimore Banner investigation found, threatening home ownership and prolonging vacancies in majority-Black neighborhoods.

How has Baltimore’s tax sale system affected you? Help us tell the story by sharing your own.

The state’s $750 million allotment of federal emergency rental assistance, which helped prevent thousands of evictions across Maryland during the pandemic, is set to be fully spent by March or April, according to the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Some 41,000 properties have gone through the tax sale since 2016, leading to high bills for homeowners, hefty profits for lien holders and prolonged housing vacancies.

This illustrated guide explains how a Baltimore City homeowner may lose their property in a tax sale.

After nearly three years of pandemic protections and assistance, there are few guardrails in place to prevent evictions from climbing back to pre-pandemic norms.

The Baltimore County executive’s office is also considering whether to seek County Council approval establish a land banking authority.