Dayhoff Westminster Soundtrack: Md high court finds ground-rent law unconstitutional By Timothy B. Wheeler and Jamie Smith Hopkins Baltimore Sun Feb 26, 2014

Thursday, March 06, 2014

Md high court finds ground-rent law unconstitutional By Timothy B. Wheeler and Jamie Smith Hopkins Baltimore Sun Feb 26, 2014

Md. high court finds ground-rent law unconstitutional

State can't take away ability to seize and sell homes over unpaid ground rents, court rules

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2014/03/md-high-court-finds-ground-rent-law.html

By Timothy B. Wheeler and Jamie Smith Hopkins, The Baltimore Sun February 26, 2014 http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-ground-rent-court-decision-20140226,0,2243306.story

Maryland's highest court tossed out Wednesday the heart of an ambitious legislative effort to stop homeowners from losing their property over unpaid rent on the ground beneath their houses.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the law violated the rights of "ground-rent" owners by taking away their ability to seize and sell the homes of tenants who don't pay, then keep the proceeds. Allowing owners to bring foreclosure proceedings instead was not a reasonable substitute, the court said.

The decision throws into doubt sweeping 2007 changes to a Colonial-era system under which many homes in Baltimore and around the state sit on ground that is owned by a leaseholder. Homeowners on those properties are legally required to pay rent, usually twice a year, to the holder of the ground rent.

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2014/03/md-high-court-finds-ground-rent-law.html