Selling in Baltimore City works like anywhere else in Maryland, plus a few city-only steps: a municipal lien certificate, the final water bill, a check for open permits and code violations, and higher closing taxes than most counties. If the house has a Vacant Building Notice, the buyer inherits it, which changes who will buy and at what price.
I’m Stephen Wilson, team lead at The Wilson Home Team of Samson Properties. These are the items that slow down a city settlement when nobody checks them early. If you’re thinking about selling, start with our seller page or a free home value request, and see our Baltimore City and County area page for local context.
The municipal lien certificate
Every Baltimore City sale needs a lien certificate, which shows the city charges against the property. Under City Code Article 28, § 2-1, the Bureau of Liens keeps a record of municipal charges and assessments and issues a certificate stating whether any exist.
What the city says about it, as of October 2026 (Department of Finance, Liens; lien certificate announcement):
- Online only. Mail and phone requests ended October 31, 2025. Certificates come by email.
- Fee: $55.
- Timing: Allow about seven business days. The city doesn’t expedite.
- Good for: Generally 45 calendar days from the date on the certificate. Certificates ordered May 16 through June 30 go void July 1, when the new tax year starts.
Your settlement company usually orders it. The useful thing for you to know is that it takes a week or more, so don’t schedule a fast closing without it already in hand.
Water and sewer at settlement
Water in the city is billed by the Department of Public Works, and unpaid charges don’t just follow you. Under City Code Article 24, § 1-2(c), water charges, interest and penalties are a lien on the property, recorded in the tax lien records kept by the Department of Finance.
So the water bill gets settled at closing, the same as property taxes. A few tips:
- Pay any past-due balance before you list, so it doesn’t surprise anyone on the lien certificate.
- If your bill has been estimated rather than read for a while, call DPW. An estimated bill can be far off from actual use.
- Ask your settlement company how they’ll handle usage between the last bill and settlement day.
- After settlement, make sure the account moves to the buyer.
Open permits and code violations
Two different things can sit on a city property:
- Open permits. Work that was permitted but never got a final inspection. That might be a deck, a bathroom, an electrical upgrade or a roof.
- Violation notices. Orders from the Department of Housing and Community Development to fix something, from high grass to structural problems.
Both show up when the buyer’s settlement company checks. For violations, the Baltimore City Building Code, § 114.23 is specific (checked October 2026):
- Before any transfer, the buyer must get a violation report for the property.
- If violation or condemnation notices are open and on that report, the buyer becomes primarily liable for them, as if the notices had been addressed to them, and must fix the violation.
- A buyer who relied on a violation report that didn’t show a violation isn’t liable for the city’s cost of fixing it.
Under § 124, DHCD or the Bureau of Liens issues the report, which states whether any notices are open and includes a copy of each. You can also look up active notices on the city’s code enforcement map.
What to do as a seller:
- Close out open permits before listing if you can. Call for the final inspection, or have the contractor who pulled the permit do it.
- Fix small violations before listing. A high-grass or trash notice is cheap to clear and scares buyers off.
- Disclose what’s open. Maryland’s disclosure form asks whether required permits were issued and whether the work passed inspection. Our as-is selling guide covers what you still have to tell buyers.
Vacant Building Notices and what they do to a sale
A Vacant Building Notice (VBN) is the city’s order for a structure it has found to be vacant. Under Building Code § 116.4, a “vacant structure” is one that is unoccupied and either unsafe or unfit to live in, or a nuisance property. The city treats every vacant structure as a fire hazard and a nuisance.
The code puts real obligations on the owner while the notice is open:
- Remove trash and debris, then close, lock and board up openings.
- Keep it boarded, posted against trespass, clear of occupants and debris, and keep the roof sound.
- Don’t reoccupy it until the city issues an occupancy permit.
DPW also shuts off the water when a structure is declared vacant.
What it means for a sale: the notice transfers to the buyer under § 114.23, so the buyer has to rehabilitate the house and get an occupancy permit before anyone lives there. A house nobody can legally live in is a hard fit for a standard mortgage, so expect most of your interest to come from cash buyers, investors and buyers using renovation loans. If the city has gone further and asked a court to appoint a receiver under § 121, the property can’t be transferred without the Building Official’s approval.
If you own a house with a VBN, get two numbers: what it would sell for as-is, and what it would take to clear the notice. For the buyer’s side of these purchases, see our post on buying a vacant house in Baltimore.
Rental license if tenant-occupied
If the house is a rental, Baltimore City requires non-owner-occupied dwellings to be registered and licensed. The buyer will ask for it, and a lapsed license is a problem for an investor planning to keep the tenant. Our post on the Baltimore City rental license explains the process.
If a tenant lives there, Maryland’s tenant right of first refusal probably applies before you list. See selling a house with tenants in Maryland.
City transfer and recordation taxes
Baltimore City’s closing taxes are among the highest in our area. Per the Department of Legislative Services’ fiscal 2027 county tax rate tables (checked October 2026):
| Tax | Baltimore City rate |
|---|---|
| City transfer tax | 1.5% of the price |
| Recordation tax | $5.00 per $500 of the price |
| State transfer tax | 0.5% (0.25% for a first-time Maryland homebuyer, paid by the seller) |
On a $250,000 sale, that’s $3,750 city transfer tax, $2,500 recordation tax and $1,250 state transfer tax, or $7,500 total, before the buyer and seller split it as the contract says. Your settlement company will confirm the exact figures.
Our post on what it costs to sell a house in Maryland shows how these taxes fit into a full net sheet, and the taxes when selling guide covers capital gains and nonresident withholding.
Bottom line
In Baltimore City, plan for the lien certificate (about a week, $55), clear past-due water before listing, close out open permits and fix small violations, and expect higher closing taxes than most of Maryland. A Vacant Building Notice moves to the buyer, which limits your buyer pool to people who can rehab. Check all of this before you set a closing date. Ask us for your home’s value and we’ll go over the permit and violation checks with you.
Sources
- Baltimore City Department of Finance, Liens and lien certificate announcement, checked October 2026
- Baltimore City Code, Article 24 (Water), § 1-2, checked October 2026
- Baltimore City Code, Article 28, § 2-1 (lien certificates), checked October 2026
- Baltimore City Building Code, § 114 (Violations), § 116 (Unsafe Structures), § 121 (Vacant Building Receiver) and § 124 (Violation Reports), checked October 2026
- Maryland Department of Legislative Services, County Tax Rates, FY 2022-FY 2027, checked October 2026
- Maryland Code, Tax-Property § 13-203, checked October 2026