Baltimore’s history of ground rents is coming to an end. The archiac holdover from the English Monachy’s system of funding their Lord’s that has remained in Baltimore since the colonial days is coming to an end.

The main reason is that the system is so far outside of most American’s understanding of real estate and a group of people who thought this would be a great way to take property from unsuspecting homeowners. The actions of these few lawyers and business people has raised such ire to the system that now the State of Maryland has passed legislation to abolish the system.

Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law yesterday a ban on new ground rents in Maryland, while the General Assembly worked to pass a package of bills that would phase out existing ground rents and ensure that the system could no longer be used to seize the houses of unwitting homeowners.

In his first bill-signing since taking office in January, O’Malley sat in the governor’s reception room, flanked by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch.

Vernon Onheiser, who almost lost his Canton home over what began as $24 in unpaid ground rent, also attended the event, along with state legislators and Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler.

“It felt good working together for the working people of our state so they won’t have to lose their homes because of some unscrupulous efforts to twist around a ground rent and eject the family,” O’Malley said, holding up the hands of Miller and Busch.

O’Malley and the legislature sought to reform the ground rent system after an investigative series in The Sun revealed that some ground rent holders had levied large fees and seized hundreds of homes of residents who had fallen behind on payments, in some instances over minimal debts.via the baltimoresun.com.

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