If you don’t know what ground rent is, then you have finally come to the right place. The interesting thing in a lot of cities is that the ground that the property sits on is not owned by you. This dates back to the mid 1800′s. My ground rent is approximately $75/year and the owner of the property can collect this money. I am in the process of finding the owner of this land and pay them accordingly. In 2004, legislation was passed to allow the homeowner to “redeem” the ground by paying a buy out fee.
Maryland will calculate a percentage based on when the ground rent for the property was first established. After doing some spelunking on the the web, I found that my ground is redeemable for $75 divided by .04. How did Maryland come up with this number? No idea. In the area, this is not a deterrent for people to buy in the city. It is assumed that ground rent will be paid. However, if the owner of the ground does not collect, for, let’s say, 5 years, only 3 years of the ground rent is payable if they don’t pay attention. As of late, they are suing the people to get the money.
I’m thinking this is ridiculous. Why should I pay someone for land that my house is sitting on? Craziness. I will do some calculations and think whether or not it is worth paying off the ground rent. The owner HAS to sell it to me. He is obligated by the state of MD to sell it to me. But is it worth it? Anyone else have to deal with this?
S.Dixon Says:
March 8th, 2009 at 12:11 amVisit S.Dixon
75 a year? and ur complaining? 6 dollas and 25cents a mth. come on, that tough for u.. really?
perry Says:
March 8th, 2009 at 12:35 amVisit perry
im not saying its tough…its just ridiculous
Andy Says:
July 7th, 2009 at 2:01 pmVisit Andy
I have a $120 a year ground rent that I would like to buy back from the “owner” of the ground, but every time I ask them about buying it back they keep telling me that it is more hassle than what it would be worth to me. They tell me that I have to have my house surveyed, have a home inspection, etc… Then I could apply to buy the $2000 strip of land back from them. In other words, they don’t want to sell it back and they are making it a living hell to try and buy back the 1 foot strip of land they own in front of my property. (Yes, ground rent is only on the first foot of your property from the property lines in the front.) If someone could tell me the proper way to deal with these people to make them sell my land back to me without having to jump through hoops, I would sure appreciate it.
Andy Says:
July 7th, 2009 at 2:01 pmVisit Andy
I have a $120 a year ground rent that I would like to buy back from the “owner” of the ground, but every time I ask them about buying it back they keep telling me that it is more hassle than what it would be worth to me. They tell me that I have to have my house surveyed, have a home inspection, etc… Then I could apply to buy the $2000 strip of land back from them. In other words, they don’t want to sell it back and they are making it a living hell to try and buy back the 1 foot strip of land they own in front of my property. (Yes, ground rent is only on the first foot of your property from the property lines in the front.) If someone could tell me the proper way to deal with these people to make them sell my land back to me without having to jump through hoops, I would sure appreciate it.
Megan Says:
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:01 amVisit Megan
I *believe* this is how you do it.
http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/ground_rent.html
There is a form on the state website. You send it to the landowner via certified mail 30 days before you file.
I think you’ll have to jump through hoops regardless…
Good luck!
Anonymous Says:
July 24th, 2010 at 12:03 pmVisit Anonymous
why do I PAY THE TAXES ON THE LAND THAT I PAY GROUND RENT ON