Baltimore Sun coverage: Small unpaid bills can cost Baltimore residents their homes

Michael A. McNeil (left), a disabled former mattress assembler, said he didn't know he owed the city $298.77 for water use at his Belair-Edison home, or that the debt had been sold at a May 2006 tax sale. His court case is being defended by attorney Kathleen S. Skullney (right) of the Legal Aid Bureau. (Baltimore Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron / March 22, 2007)

June 12, 2008

Investor admits rigging tax sale bids

A veteran Baltimore real estate investor could serve up to 18 months in prison for conspiring to rig bids at Maryland tax sale auctions under a plea deal that obligates him to cooperate with a continuing criminal investigation of the auctions.

April 13, 2008

SUN FOLLOW-UP

Deadline looms on city bills

More than 20,000 Baltimore property owners who have fallen behind on real estate taxes or services such as water bills must pay up by the end of the month or face possible foreclosure.

September 7, 2007

SUN EXCLUSIVE

Probe targets tax-lien sales

Federal agents have raided two Baltimore County real estate businesses and seized a wide range of records as part of a criminal investigation into municipal auctions of property tax liens.

March 27, 2007

SUN FOLLOW-UP

Water bill revisited

Two-thirds of Baltimore's City Council agreed last night to sponsor hastily resurrected legislation to prevent homeowners from losing their homes over unpaid water bills, all but assuring its swift passage.

March 25, 2007

SUN EXCLUSIVE

Small unpaid bills put residents at risk

Homeowners who owe just a few hundred dollars in municipal debts - including Baltimore City water bills - often are hit with thousands of dollars in fees from private debt collectors and can lose their homes if they don't pay up.

December 10, 2006

SUN INVESTIGATION

On shaky ground

Baltimore's arcane system of ground rents, widely viewed as a harmless vestige of colonial law, is increasingly being used by some investors to seize homes or extract large fees from people who often are ignorant of the loosely regulated process, an investigation by The Sun has found.

December 11, 2006

SUN INVESTIGATION