Grand Theft Housing: How HB 1224 Steals Your Equity
The State of Maryland just handed local politicians a weapon to steal your property. They call the legislation House Bill 1224. I’ll call this Grand Theft Housing. This new 2026 law authorizes the local government to shatter the legal tax limits set by voters. It’s a direct attack on private property rights. If a bureaucrat decides your house looks empty or needs repairs, the government slaps a special property tax rate on your deed. They engineer a tax bill so massive you can’t afford to keep your own land.
The architect behind this shakedown sits right on Keswick Road. The Community Law Center operates as a non-profit legal squad for neighborhood associations–the exact people who want to dictate what your house looks like. These lawyers marched into the Maryland General Assembly and lobbied hard for HB 1224. They want the government to bleed property owners dry. When local property values drop, your tax bill should drop right along with them. The Keswick Road crew hates that reality because they want to force out anyone who lacks the cash for high-end renovations.
The trap snaps shut the moment the Baltimore County Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections gets involved. A PAI inspector spots high grass or a sagging porch and issues a building violation. That single citation legally reclassifies your home as vacant and unfit for habitation. The Baltimore County Council then uses HB 1224 to bypass the county charter’s strict tax cap. They jack up your tax rate to an astronomical number and mail you the extortion letter.
They don’t use this new cash to fix neighborhoods. The law allows the County to dump the excess revenue directly into the general fund. The politicians use your stolen equity to pocket money for their own pet projects. You face an aggressive, government-sponsored foreclosure process while the officials in Towson pat themselves on the back for fighting blight. They bypass a jury trial entirely–seizing your assets straight through the administrative tax code.
The most dangerous part of this bill is in Section 1(c)(2)(ii). By allowing this “excess” revenue to be dumped into the general fund, the state has created a massive financial incentive for Baltimore County to label as many houses as “vacant” as possible.
They’ve turned code enforcement into a profit center. If a neighborhood association (like the ones the Community Law Center represents) wants to clear out “blight,” they just need to pressure a PAI inspector to write the ticket. Once that citation is on the books, the County Council can legally ignore the charter revenue cap and bleed the owner dry.
Here is the voting record for HB 1224 (Roll Call 582) with the full names and primary counties they represent. (Note: Some legislative districts cross multiple county lines; the primary counties or cities are listed below):
Voting Yea (127)
Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk – Anne Arundel & Prince George’s Counties
Gabriel Acevero – Montgomery County
Christopher Adams – Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, & Wicomico Counties
Jacqueline Addison – Baltimore City
Nick Allen – Baltimore County
Tiffany T. Alston – Prince George’s County
Marlon Amprey – Baltimore City
H. Kevin Anderson – Somerset, Wicomico & Worcester Counties
Steven Arentz – Caroline, Cecil, Kent, & Queen Anne’s Counties
Lauren Arikan – Harford County
Heather Bagnall – Anne Arundel County
Terry Baker – Allegany & Washington Counties
Benjamin S. Barnes – Anne Arundel & Prince George’s Counties
J. Sandy Bartlett – Anne Arundel County
Barry S. Beauchamp – Wicomico County
Dylan Behler – Anne Arundel County
Harry Bhandari – Baltimore County
Regina T. Boyce – Baltimore City
Jason C. Buckel – Allegany County
Jon S. Cardin – Baltimore County
Mark S. Chang – Anne Arundel County
Lorig Charkoudian – Montgomery County
Brian Chisholm – Anne Arundel County
Barrie Ciliberti – Carroll & Frederick Counties
Luke Clippinger – Baltimore City
Derrick Coley – Prince George’s County
Frank M. Conaway Jr. – Baltimore City
Charlotte Crutchfield – Montgomery County
Bonnie Cullison – Montgomery County
Debra M. Davis – Charles County
Eric Ebersole – Baltimore County
Elizabeth Embry – Baltimore City
Kris Fair – Frederick County
Jessica Feldmark – Howard County
Diana M. Fennell – Prince George’s County
Mark N. Fisher – Calvert County
Linda Foley – Montgomery County
Catherine M. Forbes – Baltimore County
David Fraser-Hidalgo – Montgomery County
Jefferson L. Ghrist – Caroline, Cecil, Kent, & Queen Anne’s Counties
Mike Griffith – Cecil & Harford Counties
Michele Guyton – Baltimore County
Pam Guzzone – Howard County
Andrea Harrison – Prince George’s County
Wayne A. Hartman – Wicomico & Worcester Counties
Anne Healey – Prince George’s County
Terri L. Hill – Howard County
Jim Hinebaugh Jr. – Allegany & Garrett Counties
Kevin B. Hornberger – Cecil County
Seth A. Howard – Anne Arundel County
Tom Hutchinson – Dorchester & Wicomico Counties
Julian Ivey – Prince George’s County
Jay A. Jacobs – Caroline, Cecil, Kent, & Queen Anne’s Counties
Andre V. Johnson – Harford County
Doug Johnson – Anne Arundel County
Anne Kaiser – Montgomery County
Aaron Kaufman – Montgomery County
Ken Kerr – Frederick County
Nic Kipke – Anne Arundel County
Marc Korman – Montgomery County
Mary A. Lehman – Prince George’s & Anne Arundel Counties
Jazz Lewis – Prince George’s County
Jeffrie Long Jr. – Calvert & Prince George’s Counties
Lesley J. Lopez – Montgomery County
Ashanti Martinez – Prince George’s County
Aletheia McCaskill – Baltimore County
Susan K. McComas – Harford County
Ric Metzgar – Baltimore County
April Fleming Miller – Carroll & Frederick Counties
Bernice Mireku-North – Montgomery County
David Moon – Montgomery County
Gabriel Moreno – Howard County
Matthew Morgan – St. Mary’s County
Todd Morgan – St. Mary’s County
Ryan Nawrocki – Baltimore County
LaToya Nkongolo – Anne Arundel County
Darrell Odom Sr. – Charles & Prince George’s Counties
Julie Palakovich Carr – Montgomery County
Cheryl Pasteur – Baltimore County
Edith J. Patterson – Charles County
N. Scott Phillips – Baltimore County
Jesse Pippy – Carroll & Frederick Counties
Andrew Pruski – Anne Arundel County
Lily Qi – Montgomery County
Pamela E. Queen – Montgomery County
Teresa Reilly – Cecil & Harford Counties
Kent Roberson – Prince George’s County
Denise Roberts – Prince George’s County
Mike Rogers – Anne Arundel County
April Rose – Carroll County
Samuel I. Rosenberg – Baltimore City
Kim Ross – Baltimore County
Malcolm P. Ruff – Baltimore City
Sheila Ruth – Baltimore County
Matthew Schindler – Washington County
Stuart Schmidt Jr. – Anne Arundel County
Emily Shetty – Montgomery County
Gary Simmons – Anne Arundel County
Karen Simpson – Frederick County
Stephanie Smith – Baltimore City
Jared Solomon – Montgomery County
Ryan Spiegel – Montgomery County
Dana Stein – Baltimore County
Vaughn Stewart – Montgomery County
Sean A. Stinnett – Baltimore City
Joshua Stonko – Carroll County
Kathy Szeliga – Baltimore County
Deni Taveras – Prince George’s County
Kym Taylor – Prince George’s County
Jen Terrasa – Howard County
Karen Toles – Prince George’s County
Chris Tomlinson – Carroll County
Veronica L. Turner – Prince George’s County
Kris Valderrama – Prince George’s County
William Valentine – Washington County
Courtney Watson – Howard County
Melissa Wells – Baltimore City
Jheanelle Wilkins – Montgomery County
Nicole A. Williams – Prince George’s County
C. T. Wilson – Charles County
W. Gregory Wims – Montgomery County
William J. Wivell – Washington County
Sarah Wolek – Montgomery County
Jamila Woods – Prince George’s County
Teresa Saavedra Woorman – Montgomery County
Chao Wu – Howard & Montgomery Counties
Natalie Ziegler – Howard & Montgomery Counties
Voting Nay (2)
Robin L. Grammer Jr. – Baltimore County
Nino Mangione – Baltimore County
Not Voting (8)
Adrian Boafo – Prince George’s County
Christopher Eric Bouchat – Carroll County
Brian Crosby – St. Mary’s County
Mark Edelson – Baltimore City
Marvin E. Holmes Jr. – Prince George’s County
Joe Vogel – Montgomery County
Jennifer White Holland – Baltimore County
Courtney Young – Baltimore City
Excused (Absent) (4)
Steve Johnson – Harford County
Adrienne A. Jones – Baltimore County
Robert B. Long – Baltimore County
Sheree Sample-Hughes – Dorchester & Wicomico Counties
