Moratorium on selling homes over water bills wins House approval

Marylanders who fall behind on their water bills would get a year’s reprieve from the threat of having their homes sold under legislation passed Saturday in the House of Delegates.

The 125-12 vote sends the measure to the state Senate.

The bill, sponsored by Del. Mary Washington, would apply statewide but have a particular impact in Baltimore. It would put a yearlong moratorium on the practice of selling people’s homes when they fail to pay their water bills.

A related bill that also passed Saturday would launch a task force to study ways of ensuring payment of water bills without seizing homes.

The problem of people losing their homes over unpaid water bills has been especially acute in Baltimore, where rate increases and billing errors have made the bills harder for low-income residents to afford.

The Baltimore Sun reported in February that the city sent more than 315 owner-occupied properties to tax sale over unpaid water bills last year.

“We have a disproportionate number of low-income people and seniors,” said Washington, a Baltimore Democrat. She added that if the bill passes in the Senate, hundreds of Baltimore residents would avoid losing their homes over unpaid bills.

If enacted by the General Assembly and signed by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, the moratorium would take effect July 1.

Washington said the legislation passed over the opposition of the city’s administration, which provides the water in Baltimore and surrounding counties. She said it doesn’t benefit anyone when people lose their homes over unpaid water bills. She said other utilities manage to collect their bills without such sales.

“No other provider is able to place a first lien to enforce an unpaid bill,” she said.