BALTIMORE — An Annapolis business owner says Baltimore City has repeatedly sent her violation notices for vacant homes she doesn’t own — all because of a name mix-up that’s cost her thousands in legal fees and months of frustration.
Sandy Nuwar runs a small consulting firm out of Annapolis called Prestige Solutions, LLC. She has no ties to Baltimore, yet she’s received citations and even lawsuits for vacant homes in the city — including one that was demolished.
When she started receiving code violations for a Baltimore property back in 2023, Nuwar figured it was a simple mistake.
“The name on it is not mine. I mean it's — they think it's mine, but it's the wrong name,” she said.
According to land records, the deed lists a different Prestige Solutions, LLC along with Curtis Group Holdings, LLC as the property’s co-owners. Neither company is registered in Maryland.
Nuwar says she sent that information to Baltimore’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
“This inspector, who was a building official who didn't really answer, ever, so I then called the office number,” she recalled.
A few months later, she was hit with a lawsuit to foreclose on a different Baltimore property — one owned by the other Prestige Solutions, not hers. But Sandy was mistakenly named in the case.
“So I hire a lawyer, I answer formally this lawsuit with this letter,” she said.
Her request to be removed from the lawsuit was denied on a technicality, and the case moved forward. The judge ultimately transferred the property to the company that filed the lawsuit.
“It's totally owned by this plaintiff who sued for the ownership, the lease, title, free and clear, goes to this owner and it's all said and done, right?” she said. “Well, two days ago, I get another [notice] about the same property that I'm apparently not the owner of, and it's another violation from an inspector. It's just one of these things that keeps you up at night, it's so disturbing,” she added.
In a statement to WMAR-2 News, a spokesperson for Baltimore’s Department of Housing and Community Development said the issue appears to be isolated:
"Based on our initial review, this seems to be human error rather than an issue with the data itself.
We are investigating why this specific violation record was not corrected when it was first brought to our attention, and we are implementing corrective measures to prevent recurrence.
Overall, we remain confident in the accuracy of our property ownership records. Baltimore is also recognized as a leader in our use of blockchain technology to securely store title records, and our vacant property data has undergone independent review and auditing, with accuracy validated."
DHCD explained that Baltimore City Land Records is where deeds and related documents are recorded, and that information is shared with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT).
Inspectors are required to use the tax address provided for each property but will also search for alternative addresses to ensure the notice reaches the correct owner.
Vacant and non-owner-occupied properties are required to be registered with DHCD, and when a property is owned by a business entity, the department typically mails notices to the resident agent and the business address listed in SDAT. DHCD also employs a team of investigators who research ownership records to identify possible alternative addresses.
"Because there are so many of our vacant properties that are owned by LLCs, it does get tricky to try to find the right ownership," said Baltimore City Councilwoman Odette Ramos, representing District 14.
Councilwoman Ramos, who has been pushing to address the city’s vacant housing crisis, says this case highlights a larger issue.
According to DHCD, roughly 33 percent of the 12,348 vacant homes in Baltimore are deeded to LLCs, compared to just under 8 percent owned by the city itself. Ramos has proposed legislation to make it easier for Baltimore to take control of vacant properties to reduce their impact on neighborhoods.
“We, as a city, created the registry to be able to get folks to register their properties if they have a non-owner-occupied property — that way we could try to get more information. That doesn't always happen, right? So it does take a lot of digging that DHCD and, frankly, any other entity who's trying to figure out what the ownership is to be able to get to the right person and make sure that they're holding the right person accountable," said Ramos.
She added it’s not just a paperwork problem. Tracking down the real owners of vacant properties is critical for safety — particularly when some are condemned or carry demolition orders.
Councilwoman Ramos says there also needs to be a push at the state level for more transparency when companies register as LLCs in Maryland.
“We want to get the data right, which I know that DHCD and the Department of Finance are working on. But the LLC transparency piece is something that we've been battling for a really long time, and so we want to get it right,” Ramos said. “I mean, there's definitely a way to do it — even if we don't have everybody's contact information online, can it be at SDAT and one of us can go over there and get it or something? Because it's not only an accountability piece, but what if somebody needs some assistance or wants to be part of our solution and we just can't find the right person for who it is. So, I feel bad for the person that was getting all of these citations, and it was just not them. And of course, obviously the feedback loop is important — if somebody is getting something and it's not them, that really needs to be corrected.”
Ramos' bill to make it easier for the city to acquire vacant properties is scheduled for a public hearing Tuesday afternoon at 5:15 p.m. She also introduced legislation that would tax vacant property owners at a higher rate.