Tangible Solutions

If you don’t pay your property taxes, then the government sells your debt to a debt buyer who then gets to charge egregious levels of interest and fees. Untold millions of dollars are siphoned from the lowest-income residents in West Baltimore each year. And it’s been going on for decades now. Stopping this injustice is my highest priority once elected. 

The inheritance tax is a tax on non-wealthy people who leave an inheritance to their niece, nephew, friend or unmarried partner. So, it is effectively a punishment for not having children. Besides being discriminatory, it's often arbitrary, often unenforceable and bring in very little tax revenue. Almost all other states have repealed their inheritance taxes and we should too. 

Ground rent is where a homeowner has to pay a relatively small fee to an investor each year. There are about 100,000 properties subject to ground rent, almost all are in and around Baltimore. Usually this is little more than a nuisance. But if you get behind on your bill, it can lead to steep fees that dwarf the original bill. If it remains unpaid, the homeowner will lose their home and all of its equity. I have a plan to eliminate ground rent.

Probate law is complicated and convoluted. As an attorney helping low-income families with probate, there are so many laws that shouldn't exist and that disproportionately harm low-income people. No one should be stopped from getting what is rightfully theirs due to unnecessary barriers. Often, these problems exist because they just hurt low-income people and nobody has bothered to fix them.