A vacant house in Baltimore can be cheap to buy and expensive to own. If it carries a Vacant Building Notice (VBN), you are buying a code violation along with the house. You can’t legally live in it or rent it until it’s rehabbed under permit and gets a use and occupancy permit. Since the 2026-2027 tax year it can also carry a much higher city tax rate. Find out whether a VBN exists before you make an offer, and build the permit path into your budget and timeline.
We help investors buy, renovate and rent Baltimore houses, and vacants are where the paperwork matters most.
What a VBN is and how to check for one
Baltimore City DHCD places a Vacant Building Notice on a property that is “vacant, abandoned, and uninhabitable.” It is a violation notice, and the owner can be fined $1,000 for not removing it by rehabilitating the property and obtaining a use and occupancy permit (DHCD, Buying a rehabbed home, as of October 2026).
The city points to two ways to check:
- CoDeMap, the city’s code enforcement map, at cels.baltimorehousing.org/codemapv2ext.
- The lien sheet your title company orders before settlement. Open violation notices show up there.
The city also publishes a Vacant Building Notices dataset on Open Baltimore.
Sellers have to disclose a VBN. Baltimore City Code Article 2, 14-8 requires a written disclosure of whether a VBN was issued and whether it remains unabated, and DHCD says a buyer can walk away from the contract when one exists. Ask anyway. DHCD’s own advice to buyers is to ask “Does the property have a Vacant Building Notice?” before signing, and to confirm a rehabbed house got its final use and occupancy permit. Some flips look finished but were never permitted.
The vacant property tax
This is the cost that catches people now. A 2024 city ordinance created a higher property tax rate for vacant structures, starting with the July 2026 to June 2027 tax year (CBS News Baltimore, November 2024). As of October 2026, the current text of City Code Article 28, 11-3 says vacant lots and vacant structures “are subject to 4 times the full rate property tax.” The full rate is $2.248 per $100 of assessed value (BBMR).
On a vacant house assessed at $50,000, four times the city rate is about $4,496 a year in city tax, compared with $1,124 at the normal rate, before the state’s $0.112. That’s a reason to move fast once you own it. Ask your title company what the current bill is and whether the property is classified as vacant.
City-owned property sales
Baltimore City sells city-owned vacant houses and lots through DHCD. In March 2024 the Board of Estimates approved fixed pricing for city-owned vacants (WYPR, March 20, 2024):
| Buyer | Price |
|---|---|
| Individuals and community land trusts | As little as $1 |
| Small nonprofits | $500 to $1,000 |
| Developers and large nonprofits | $3,000 |
The same reporting says buyers can take up to 12 properties and must show at least $90,000 available to renovate each one. The pricing covers properties in the city’s most distressed market categories, and every sale is for residential redevelopment.
A $1 house is not a $1 project. You’re buying a shell with a rehab deadline attached. Program terms change, so confirm the current rules, application window and eligible properties with DHCD before you plan around them.
Tax sale and receivership, briefly
Two other routes to vacant houses come with more risk.
Tax sale. Baltimore City sells liens on properties with unpaid taxes. The winning bidder does not get the house at the sale. Six months after the sale, the bidder may sue to foreclose the owner’s right of redemption on non-owner-occupied residential property, or sooner if the property needs substantial repairs. For owner-occupied homes the wait is nine months (Baltimore City tax sale process, as of October 2026). Under state law, the certificate is void if the buyer doesn’t file to foreclose within two years of the sale (Maryland State Tax Sale Ombudsman). Expect legal costs, a long timeline and a real chance the owner redeems and you get your money back with interest instead of a house.
Receivership. When an owner leaves a vacant building unabated, the city can ask a court to appoint a receiver, who sells the property at auction to a qualified bidder who agrees to renovate it and get a use and occupancy permit. Ask DHCD for the current auction schedule and bidder requirements.
Neither route lets you inspect the inside the way a normal purchase does. Price that in.
Permits and inspections to lift a VBN
The path out of a VBN is the same whoever owns the house:
- Building permits for the work, through the city’s permits office.
- Inspections as the work progresses.
- A use and occupancy permit at the end. Removing a Vacant Building Notice is one of the listed use and occupancy permit categories, and you apply through ePermits (Baltimore City Use and Occupancy permits).
The notice stays on the property until the violation is corrected and any fines are paid. Every non-owner-occupied property, including a vacant building, must also be registered with DHCD each year, within 10 days of a transfer. A vacant residential structure pays an extra $100 a year on top of the normal registration fee (City Code Art. 13, 4-8).
If you plan to rent it afterward, you’ll also need a rental license and, for a pre-1978 house, lead registration and a lead inspection. See investing in Baltimore rental property for that side.
Hire a licensed contractor and make sure the permits are in the owner’s name and closed out. Our guide to Maryland’s home improvement license explains what an MHIC license covers.
Financing and insurance for vacants
A house with a VBN is, by definition, uninhabitable, so a standard purchase mortgage is rarely an option. The usual paths:
- Cash, then refinance after the use and occupancy permit is issued.
- Hard money or a construction loan, short-term and expensive, with a clear exit.
- A renovation mortgage (FHA 203(k) or Fannie Mae HomeStyle) that funds the purchase and the repairs. These have contractor, bid and draw rules; see renovation loans in Maryland.
Insurance needs its own call. Standard homeowner forms limit coverage once a home has been empty for a set period. The common ISO homeowner form, for example, excludes vandalism after 60 consecutive days of vacancy (Property Insurance Coverage Law). Ask an agent for a vacant dwelling or builder’s risk policy that covers the rehab period.
This is general information, not legal, tax or lending advice. Talk to an attorney, CPA or lender about your own purchase.
Rehab cost ranges
We’re not publishing rehab cost ranges in this post. Vacant Baltimore houses vary too much, from a sound shell that needs systems to a house missing its roof or rear wall, and an average would mislead you. Get a written bid from a licensed contractor before you’re committed. Have it cover structure, roof and masonry first, then plumbing, electrical, HVAC, then finishes, and add a contingency for what you find behind the plaster.
My company, Monarch Bay Renovations, prices rehabs for our investor clients during the inspection period.
Affiliated business disclosure: Stephen Wilson owns Monarch Bay Renovations (MHIC #149066). You are never required to use it, and you can hire any licensed contractor.
Incentives
The main city incentive for vacants is aimed at owner-occupants. The Vacant Dwelling tax credit in City Code Article 28, 10-3 applies to a dwelling of up to four units that was cited as vacant and abandoned for a year (or owned by the city for a year and in need of substantial repair). The owner has to substantially rehab it and live there as a principal residence. The credit is applied to the city tax on the value the improvements add:
| Tax year after rehab | Credit |
|---|---|
| 1st | 100% |
| 2nd | 80% |
| 3rd | 60% |
| 4th | 40% |
| 5th | 20% |
| After that | 0% |
Owners apply each year by September 1. Investors who don’t live in the house don’t qualify for this credit. The Department of Finance Vacant Dwelling credit fact sheet lists the documents to file. Other city and state programs come and go, so ask DHCD what is open now.
Bottom line
Before you buy a vacant house in Baltimore, check CoDeMap and the lien sheet for a VBN. Price in the vacant property tax and the permit path to a use and occupancy permit, line up financing that allows for repairs, and get a vacant dwelling insurance policy. City-owned sales can be cheap to get into, and tax sales and receivership auctions are slower and riskier. In every case the house isn’t usable until the permits close. When you have an address, browse Baltimore homes for sale or read about the Baltimore region, then send it to us and we’ll walk the numbers with you. If you’re thinking of selling a city house instead, see selling a house in Baltimore City.
Sources
- Baltimore City DHCD, Buying a rehabbed home in Baltimore City? (checked October 26, 2026)
- Baltimore City, CoDeMap and Open Baltimore, Vacant Building Notices (checked October 26, 2026)
- Baltimore City Code, Article 2, 14-8, Article 13, 4-8, Article 28, 10-3 and Article 28, 11-3 (checked October 26, 2026)
- CBS News Baltimore, City Council approves tax hike for vacant properties, November 2024 (checked October 26, 2026)
- Baltimore City BBMR, City tax rates (checked October 26, 2026)
- WYPR, Spending board approves fixed pricing for city-owned vacants, March 20, 2024 (checked October 26, 2026)
- Baltimore City, Tax sale process (checked October 26, 2026)
- Maryland SDAT, State Tax Sale Ombudsman (checked October 26, 2026)
- Baltimore City, Use and occupancy permits (checked October 26, 2026)
- Baltimore City DHCD, Property registration (checked October 26, 2026)
- Baltimore City Department of Finance, Vacant Dwelling Property Tax Credit (checked October 26, 2026)
- Property Insurance Coverage Law, Vacancy exclusions (checked October 26, 2026)