Nonprofits in Baltimore, Philadelphia and other cities with high percentages of low-income homeowners have helped thousands at risk of losing their homes due to unpaid property taxes.
Legal nonprofits help homeowners by providing free legal assistance, helping them get tax credits to lower their taxes and working to reduce taxes on properties that are assessed higher than they’re valued. Working with advocacy groups and governments, the legal groups also push for legislative and systemic changes to address a growing problem made worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without the legal assistance, many low-income homeowners could lose their houses.
Baltimore didn’t keep foreclosure data before 2020, according to the lawyers, but based on the cases the nonprofit was handling, nonpayment of property taxes led to many foreclosures. By 2020, 1,015 homeowners in Baltimore faced foreclosure due to unpaid property taxes, according to a Maryland tax office 2021 report.
Much of the foreclosure work that Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service did in 2020 and 2021 was funded by grants of $367,000 from the state Department of Housing and Community Development, Henn said. The nonprofit also used $105,000 from the legal corporation for its work to help families in foreclosure.
Legal nonprofits and advocates are working to develop new ways to keep people in their homes. For instance, some homeowners may be eligible for tax credits to reduce their property taxes. The legal service helps owners apply to the state for property tax credits, which sets a limit on the amount of property taxes homeowners pay based on their income.
Nagel said approximately 90% of the group’s clients are people of color, which matches the demographic of residents who live in the neighborhoods affected most by gentrification. In 2017, the Philadelphia legal nonprofit pushed for the Court of Common Pleas to create a tax-foreclosure prevention program. Before the program, homeowners received notice of a property-tax foreclosure by mail and by a posting on their property. If the homeowner didn’t file a written response to the notice within 15 days, the court would allow the city to list the property for tax sale without a hearing, Sgro said.
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