Another Baltimore Tax Lien Racket Horror Story; City Screw-Up Leaves Homeowner Behind 8-Ball As Unpaid $435 Tax Bill Skyrockets To $43K

In Baltimore, Maryland, Investigative Voice reports:

• Standing in the yard of her Northwest Baltimore home, Sarita Murray stares at a “No Trespassing” sign nailed to a tree overlooking a swimming pool she built in 2005 to keep her four children busy during hot summer days. Not meant to ward off loiterers or stave off burglars, the notice is instead aimed at keeping Murray and her children out of the pool she spent $25,000 to build.

• “A man came to our home last summer and nailed it to this tree and told my kids to get out of the pool,” said Murray. “It’s horrible.”

• In fact, a company called Per Suit LLC — which bought the rights to the pool and property that Murray used to own for $435 in unpaid taxes at auction in 2006 — has put locks on the gate and threatened to fill the pool with cement if she doesn’t fork over $43,000.

• The demand is perfectly legal, as Per Suit bought the rights to the parcel of land adjacent to Murray’s home after the city mistakenly forgot to consolidate the two lots that comprise her Upper Park Heights home when she obtained a permit to build the pool, Murray says.

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• Murray’s story seems to exemplify the peril of tax lien sales which have recently come under investigation by federal authorities. For small amounts, savvy investors can pick up the rights to foreclose upon valuable real estate for a fraction of the property’s value. Then, tacking on interest and legal fees, the lien holders can pressure a homeowner to pay up or lose the property.

• In Murray’s case, the tax lien which court records said was obtained for $1600 netted the firm the right to foreclose on a piece of property assessed at $13,000 and a pool built for $25,000. More importantly, the lien holders have Murray over a barrel, forcing her to pay up or lose her investment in the Spanish-style villa she bought 14 years ago.

For more, see LIEN RUNNETH OVER — How a $435 tax debt turned into a $43,000 headache for a Northwest Baltimore woman.