short sales: Montgomery County, MD Shortsales Impact on Recordation and Transfer Taxes - 01/31/10 06:26 AM
Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler's office released an advice letter on January 27th as to whether a county has the authority to assess recordation taxes on debt of a "short sale" seller of real property that is forgiven by the lender.  
Attorney General Gansler discussed this letter that states, "While not expressly prohibited, it is my view that the counties do not have the authority to include debt forgiven by the seller's lender in calculating the consideration on which the recordation tax will be calculated."  
Several counties in Maryland had recently started charging recordation and/or transfer taxes on the unpaid principal balance … (1 comments)