Maryland Real Estate Law: where the points where the file most often starts drifting changes how readers should frame the problem

Maryland imposes some of the highest combined real estate transfer costs in the United States. Unlike Missouri (no transfer tax), Indiana (no transfer tax), or Arizona (no transfer tax), Maryland buyers and sellers face multiple layers of transfer-related charges: the Maryland State Transfer Tax (0.5% of the purchase price, paid by the seller — with exceptions, including that certain first-time homebuyers may receive a reduced rate); the Maryland State Recordation Tax (0.5% of the consideration up to $500,000, $0.00690 per $100 above $500,000, paid by the buyer or borrower); AND county-level transfer and recordation taxes that vary significantly by jurisdiction. Montgomery County charges an additional 1.0% transfer tax and $4.20 per $500 recordation tax. Prince George's County charges an additional 1.4% transfer tax. Baltimore City charges an additional 1.5% transfer tax and significant recordation fees. In total, a real estate transaction in Maryland can carry 3-5% in combined state and local transfer and recordation charges — one of the highest transfer tax burdens in the nation.

Maryland's foreclosure law is among the more complex in the region. Maryland provides for both a judicial foreclosure process through the circuit courts AND a non-judicial foreclosure proceeding under the power of sale clause in deeds of trust (Md. Real Prop. Art. § 7-101 et seq.). Maryland's non-judicial foreclosure under the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) requires specific notice procedures: a pre-foreclosure notice (loss mitigation notice) must be sent to the homeowner 45 days before the foreclosure action is filed (Md. Real Prop. Art. § 7-105.1); after the foreclosure action is filed, the homeowner has the right to request a mediation session with the lender before the property is sold (Maryland's foreclosure mediation program, effective 2010). The mediation requirement is a significant homeowner protection making Maryland foreclosure processing longer and more procedurally complex than purely non-judicial states like Arizona or Tennessee. Maryland does NOT have a general anti-deficiency statute protecting residential borrowers from deficiency judgments after foreclosure sale — lenders can pursue the deficiency between the sale price and the outstanding debt.