A receivership action is a code enforcement tool that allows the City to request the appointment of a vacant building “receiver” to abate the public nuisance created by vacant and problem properties. All properties in receivership actions had been issued Vacant Building Notices by Baltimore City.
If an owner of the property fails to comply with the notice, an attorney for Baltimore City’s housing department can request the District Court to appoint a receiver to sell, rehabilitate or demolish the property. In Baltimore City, the only receiver is currently One House at A Time (OHAAT), a nonprofit organization. One House at A Time does not rehabilitate or demolish houses; rather, it sells properties to qualified buyers, who are then required to rehabilitate the structure within one year.
Learn more in this presentation from Lisa Evans, Executive Director of OHAAT, prepared for the Vacants to Value Program.