Failure to Pay Property Taxes

• Can a church lose a portion of its property in a tax sale because of its failure to pay property taxes? Yes, said a Maryland state appeals court. A church received a parcel of vacant land as a gift. Church officials did not believe that the church was required to pay property taxes on the land. They assumed that the land had tax-exempt status, and they had no knowledge of taxes assessed against the property by the county. Tax bills were sent to the title insurance company that provided the church with an insurance policy on the donated land, since its address was the only address listed on the deed to the property. The tax collector assumed that this was the church's address. The legal name of the church that appeared on the deed and in the recorder's office was different from the name the church used in the telephone directory and on its church sign, and so the collector had no way ...