Own the sticks and bricks, but not the ground upon which it sits?

There are two sides to every story, and the story of the new laws affecting ground rents in Maryland is no exception.

For home owners subject to ground rent, this new law is a god-send. No longer need they fear of being thrown out of their home for failure to pay what is usually a nominal bi-annual fee. At worst they will face a lien on the property for back rent when they sell. And if they feel on shaky ground because they can’t locate their lease holder, they can stabilize their position in 90 days for less than $100.

From the perspective of the ground rent owner, however, the new laws are an unconstitutional attempt by the state to take their property without fair compensation. In November, a large group of ground rents holders filed suit against the state in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, claiming the reforms have made ground rent leases worthless. The case is pending, but the political will in Annapolis is strongly in favor of doing away with these antiquated laws.

Yet for all of the hullabaloo about ground rents in Maryland, not much has really happened so far. According to an official at the State Dept. of Assessments and Taxation, the suit has not impacted the owner registration process, which is proceeding surely but slowly. About 2,000 properties have been registered to date, 1% of the expected 200,000 that will be. If the ground rent is registered, or a redemption application has been filed, an icon to that effect will appear in its tax record online.

And the rate of redemption filings has actually decreased.Home owners subject to ground rents may not have to file for redemption at all,but simply wait until the registration period expires in October of 2010, and if the owner has not registered the ground rent, it becomes null and void.

For all the details, visit http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/real.html.