Baltimore's Code Enforcement Has Teeth with 'Vacants to Value' Initiative

Baltimore is increasing lawsuits against negligent property owners with outstanding code violations. As part of the city's "Vacants to Value" initiative, forfeited properties are transferred to receivership and auctioned to new owners.

1 minute read

July 24, 2014, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


The Vacants to Value program has multiplied the number of properties that enter receivership by about four times, according to Sherman: "In the mid-2000s, the organization appointed by the District Court to organize auctions of the forfeited properties handled about 60 each year, according to Grant Colledge, the former board president of One House at a Time. Last year, the Hampden-based nonprofit was appointed the receiver for 271…"

The Vacants to Value program launched in 2010, "after [a] 2009 city ordinance gave inspectors the power to issue tickets. Attorneys previously had go to court over violations."

"Since Vacants to Value started in late 2010, Baltimore Housing attorneys have filed nearly 1,350 receivership cases, and another 200 or so are pending, according to the city."

The ordinance allowed Baltimore Housing to "re-engineer" their code enforcement efforts, which Sherman details in the article. 

Monday, July 21, 2014 in The Baltimore Sub

Close-up of 'Red Line Subway Entry' sign with Braille below and train logo above text in Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago Red Line Extension Could Transform the South Side

The city’s transit agency is undertaking its biggest expansion ever to finally bring rail to the South Side.

November 24, 2023 - The Architect's Newspaper

stack of books

Planetizen’s Top Planning Books of 2023

The world is changing, and planning with it.

November 24, 2023 - Planetizen Team

College students walking on green lawn with neoclassical red brick domed building in background on University of Illinois campus.

Why College Campuses Make Ideal Models for Cities

College campuses serve as ideal models for cities, with their integrated infrastructure, vibrant communities, sustainability initiatives, and innovation hubs inspiring urban planning and development for a brighter future.

November 16, 2023 - Devin Partida

Makeshift shelter built by unhoused people on hillside overlooking freeway in Stockton, California.

Study: Homeless People Face Higher Mortality Risk

Unhoused adults are more than three times as likely to die in any given year as their housed counterparts, research shows.

November 27 - San Francisco Chronicle

BlueLA car share car parked in Los Angeles.

Study: Equity in Car Share Programs Requires Low Cost, Broad Coverage

Data from a Los Angeles car share program showed its impact on underserved communities was ‘limited by its small footprint.’

November 27 - Streetsblog USA

Aerial view of two sports stadiums in Arlington, Texas.

The Largest U.S. City Lacking Mass Transit

Arlington, Texas has the dubious distinction of being the largest city in the nation with no fixed-route public transit system.

November 27 - Fort Worth Report

Assistant/Associate Professor in Indigenous Planning

University of New Mexico - School of Architecture & Planning

Principal Planner

Placer County

Coastal Program Analyst III

San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC)

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.