Tomorrow, the Housing and Economic Development Committee Hearing will have the final committee vote on the Rental Dwelling Health and Safety Enforcement Act. I introduced this bill last November, and we’ve had two hearings and a lot of work to make it perfect. Thank you to the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and all stakeholders for their time and effort in working on this! The bill will allow for the creation of a rental property receivership to go af

When purchasing a rehabbed home in Baltimore City, please ensure it does not have a Vacant Building Notice. Despite the legislation that I sponsored and passed several years ago to prevent this issue, it still happens. Visit the Baltimore City CodeMap website and look for a red diamond on the property you are interested in. If it has a red diamond, it has a vacant building notice, and the property is considered vacant by the city. If you need assistance with this issue, pleas

Mayor Scott is hosting the city's annual Back-to-School Kick-off event this Saturday, August 22nd, from 11am to 4pm. There will be school supply giveaways, resources, activities, and more. School supplies will be given on a first come, first served basis. Bring your student to the event to have a fun day before school starts!

The Baltimore Books Festival is coming up! And it will take place here in the district, in the Waverly neighborhood. Be sure to save the date - September 19th and 20th. There will also be a preview weekend on September 12th and 13th. It's going to be an exciting weekend celebrating books, authors, bookstores, publishers and more. Programming will include book signings, panel discussions, and a youth zone. There will be something for everyone. We look forward to welcoming ever

Recently, Live Baltimore announced that the Buy Back the Block Program is back. This program helps current renters in Baltimore City become homeowners in our city by providing prospective homeowners with grants. The grants awarded are for closing costs assistance, and there are also grants available for people who are interested in purchasing and rehabbing a home. If you are a Baltimore City renter looking to buy a home here in our great city, this program is for you! For mor

It is time to go back to school shopping ! Maryland Tax Free Week is this entire week from August 9th to the 15th. For school uniforms, supplies, and backpacks up to a certain amount, you will not have to pay that sales tax! This helps families ensure that every child has what you need for school. Please see the flier for more details and check out the Comptrollers website about Maryland Tax Free Week here.

The Baltimore City Fire Department sends out warnings about fire hazards so that you can prevent fires and keep your family safe. Recently, they sent out information related to frayed power cords. Never use frayed power cords, and definitely don’t just wrap them up in tape and continue using them. You should make it a habit to check your power cords to make sure they are not peeling or fraying. If this happens, replace them immediately. If you are interested in reading more t

As a reminder please use 311 to report vacant properties and other code violations. After you create a service request please then send the confirmation number to our office to escalate. This allows you get the notifications on any updates on the request. Sometimes you will get a “closed” notification because there is already a request in. Regardless, your request is still logged as needing attention. For vacant buildings, please put in a vacant building inspection request.

As we see more of our vacant properties across the city being rehabbed, please call 311 if you think that work is being done without permits. Unfortunately, we are seeing this happen, and that compromises the health and safety of any resident who ends up purchasing the property. Please call our office as well so we can escalate to get an inspector out there. You can also see what permits a property has on CoDeMap, here.