Lien

Columbia Association wants legislation passed that will reclassify itself as a nonprofit community services corporation and remove all of its lien-payers from the protection of all Homeowners Association laws. CA recognizes only the 10 members of the Columbia Council as members of CA, excluding 100,000 residents on 37,000 lien-paying residential and commercial properties. The president of CA is not elected by lien-payers. My guess is that CA is probably the largest organization in the country where people are forced to pay an annual fee, are not considered members and can't vote for their executive.

Add the Internal Revenue Service to the list of Berger cookies' woes. The IRS filed a notice of a nearly $109,000 tax lien against DeBaufre Bakeries - which makes the Baltimore treat - with the Baltimore City Circuit Court in February. Most of that amount was due in 2010, with smaller amounts due in 2009 and 2011, according to the court document. The IRS also filed notices of an approximately $14,000 lien in September and a lien of about $26,000 in October, for tax periods in 2006, 2011 and 2012.

Key to the Columbia Association's wholesale revision of its "People's Plan" for Symphony Woods - i.e., the plan developed collaboratively by renowned architects, residents and CA Board and staff   - is a proposed "Symphony Woods Trust. " At CA's meeting on Jan. 31, I was surprised to learn that this entity would not actually be a "Trust. "  Rather, it would be a non-stock corporation, which will apply for IRS designation as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. In 1984, CA's application to the IRS for 501(c)

Key to the Columbia Association's wholesale revision of its "People's Plan" for Symphony Woods - i.e., the plan developed collaboratively by renowned architects, residents and CA Board and staff   - is a proposed "Symphony Woods Trust. " At CA's meeting on Jan. 31, I was surprised to learn that this entity would not actually be a "Trust. "  Rather, it would be a non-stock corporation, which will apply for IRS designation as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. In 1984, CA's application to the IRS for 501(c)

Federal prosecutors are looking for what could be hundreds of victims in an alleged scheme to rig bids at Maryland tax lien auctions, according to court filings. They've already identified two dozen corporate and municipal victims - including the city of Baltimore, and Anne Arundel, Prince George's and Baltimore counties. And they believe there could be many more injured individuals, people who lost their liened property to the defendants: Harvey M. Nusbaum and Jack W. Stollof. The men, both in their 70s, were indicted last month on one count apiece of violating the Sherman Act. From 2002 through 2007, the indictment alleges, they conspired to stifle competition in the tax lien bidding process, guaranteeing that they won a disproportionate number of liens, which allowed them to charge property owners large fees or to take their holdings if they couldn't pay. An FBI surveillance team allegedly saw the men meeting in Baltimore County shortly before dropping off bid envelopes in Montgomery County and using signals to communicate during another auction, according to an affidavit.

Dear Mr. Azrael:Entity-wise, can a levy be placed on real property in a living trust name if a court order is directed at the trustee's personal name and not under his name as trustee? Can you cite the applicable Maryland rule? M. Baratta, BaltimoreDear Mr. Baratta:Many laypersons -- and even some lawyers -- are confused by terms such as "levy" or "lien" on real property.A "lien" means a charge or liability binding on property for the payment of a debt or legal obligation.Creditors usually prefer to have their debts secured by a "lien" on the debtor's property.

Q: I'm a home improvement contractor. Could you please explain Maryland's mechanic's lien law and how it affects remodeling work and home improvements?Rod Stroup,Loch Raven VillageA: A mechanic's lien is a claim against the property or RTC homeowner for work performed or materials furnished for or about the home. Maryland enacted the first mechanic's lien law in the United States in 1791. Interestingly, it was enacted to encourage building in and construction of the District of Columbia.Maryland's mechanic's lien law has a long history of legislative revision and judicial interpretation culminating in the complete overhaul and restating of the law in Maryland in 1976.

The Internal Revenue Service has hit the publisher of the Afro-American newspaper with a tax lien of more than $245,000, contending that John J. Oliver Jr. is liable for back withholding taxes and Social Security tax deducted from workers' paychecks but not passed on to the government.The IRS filed the lien in Baltimore Circuit Court Aug. 16, following up on three liens it had filed against the paper's parent company in 1988 and 1989. Domenic J. LaPonzina, an IRS spokesman, said he couldn't discuss specific taxpayers, but added that the law allows the IRS to try to collect delinquent taxes from personalassets of corporate officials responsible for paying a company's tax bills.

A Nation of Islam-affiliated security company that patrols high-rise public housing developments in Baltimore has not paid $58,846 in income taxes withheld from employees, the Internal Revenue Service says.The IRS has filed a federal tax lien against NOI Security Control Services Inc., saying the company did not pay withholding taxes for three quarterly reporting periods betweem Sept. 30, 1993 and March 31, 1994.The lien was filed in Baltimore Circuit Court Feb. 22. NOI Security can appeal the action.

An increasing number of homeowners are facing the risk of losing their homes because of a problem they didn't know existed.The recording of a piece of paper called a mechanic's lien can create a serious title problem and can lead to foreclosure of the property.Here's an example:"Now you can buy the ultimate water treatment device for your home. It will extend your life and prevent deadly diseases. It can be purchased for the bargain price of just $7,000."This was the pitch promoting a water filtering and softening device, by a California company, said Greg Brose, supervisor of consumer protection for a district attorney's office.

The IRS may be coming for the Maryland unemployment office's offices. The federal tax collection agency filed a legal claim called a tax lien last month against the unemployment office's property. The Internal Revenue Service claims that the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation's Office of Unemployment Insurance owes the federal government about $850,000 in unpaid taxes, according to court records. The tax lien was filed in order to encourage the debt to be paid - even though DLLR filed an appeal of its tax assessment in August and claims it does not owe the money the IRS has billed, said Dennis Morton, the unemployment office's director of contributions.

Wake up, Columbia. Have you heard that CA wants legislation to change from a homeowners association to a nonprofit community service corporation? Nonprofit? There seems to be a lot of profit at CA. The salary of the president of CA is reported to be $250,000, in contrast with Maryland's governor and Baltimore's mayor, who earn about $150,000. CA claims it is not a governmental or quasi-governmental entity. However, CA provides services usually expected of city government that aren't covered by county government.

Columbia Association wants legislation passed that will reclassify itself as a nonprofit community services corporation and remove all of its lien-payers from the protection of all Homeowners Association laws. CA recognizes only the 10 members of the Columbia Council as members of CA, excluding 100,000 residents on 37,000 lien-paying residential and commercial properties. The president of CA is not elected by lien-payers. My guess is that CA is probably the largest organization in the country where people are forced to pay an annual fee, are not considered members and can't vote for their executive.

In less than five minutes, Tom Kiefaber said, he was left with nothing. "They've taken my home, my principal residence. They've taken my job," Kiefaber, the one-time owner and operator of Baltimore's storied Senator Theatre , lamented Thursday morning. He was standing feet from the steps of the Baltimore County courthouse, where minutes earlier his home and 8 acres on York Road in Sparks had been auctioned off. "My mission at this point is to retrieve my home from this corrupt nonsense," he said.

Nearly 27,000 city properties in March were in danger of going to tax sale, but ultimately about 10,600 had liens included in the auction Monday. Investors bought 6,545 of the lien certificates , which raised $20 million for the city, according to the Finance Department. It's not unusual for property owners to pay up in April, just before the annual spring tax sale. But one of the narrowest misses this year was a case in which the homeowner paid last month -- after she learned that the state had retroactively reduced a tax credit on her property -- and the city lost the check.

Kristina Suson's home wasn't part of the city's tax sale Monday, but it was a close call. Baltimore places liens on properties for unpaid property taxes, water bills and other municipal debts, then puts the liens up for auction every spring — allowing investors to buy them and either collect or move to foreclose. The city auctioned liens on about 10,600 properties on Monday, finding buyers for 6,545 of them and raising $20 million. Suson ended up on this year's list, to her surprise, after the state retroactively reduced a property tax credit she'd received in 2009.

Dear Mr. Gisriel: If a creditor wins a judgment against the owner of a property, but I have a contract to buy the property, will the judgment affect my purchase?Ed CoyleParktonDear Mr. Coyle: The quick answer is you can go ahead and buy the property; once you have a contract on a house that is free of liens, you have a right to buy the property, even if liens are placed on the property before the deal goes to settlement.But first a little lesson on title."Legal title" -- in ordinary parlance, this is called ownership -- is obtained for a house or piece of property only when a properly executed and notarized deed is recorded in the public land records in the county or political subdivision where the house or property is located.

Liens on about 14,000 Baltimore properties could be put up for auction if their owners don't pay their debts to the city, according to a list published in yesterday's editions of The Sun.The number of properties on the list is up about 15 percent from last year. But the reason for the increase is a tightening of the city's rules, not recession-strapped consumers being too short of cash to pay their taxes, said Tov Grande, Baltimore's assistant city collector.The auction is scheduled for May 13 and 14 and will affect properties whose owners don't pay back taxes, water bills or other city charges by May 8, city Finance Director William R. Brown Jr. said.

The Baltimore City Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday calling on Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration to order a halt to the practice of placing liens against homes with unpaid water bills. "This is not to say that people shouldn't pay their bills," said Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young. But he added, "The department's audit presented a lot of troubling things. We can't take the chance that these bills are inaccurate. " The resolution comes after a city audit showed that tens of thousands of households in the city and Baltimore County received incorrect water bills.

Elkridge will get a new elementary school for the 2013-2014 academic year now that the sellers of a 10.1-acre site on Ducketts Lane have settled a dispute in court. The Howard County school system was supposed to close the deal with Ducketts Ridge LLC in October, but a shareholder refused to release a lien to the sellers. The $2.64 million deal was put on hold, leaving the school system without property needed to alleviate overcrowding in the northeast and causing the system to file a lawsuit in December.