Property accounts must be for a legal parcel as approved by the local government and must be legally transferrable.
Combining Accounts
In order to combine accounts into one account, the department requires a plat or deed of consolidation to be recorded with land records. A plat must show the removal of the lot line and be signed by the appropriate local officials. A deed of consolidation must have one property description for the entire parcel. The owner may seek to obtain other approval documents from the local planning and zoning offices when a plat or deed has not been recorded in order for the office to combine the accounts.
Offices should never combine accounts that are described in separate deeds or described separately within one deed unless approved by local planning and zoning officials. If approved by local planning and zoning without a plat removing the lot line, this would be considered merging two or more existing accounts, and the boundaries will still technically exist. The total account’s value with all parcels merged should not be reduced after merging to one account unless a plat has removed the lot lines.
An assemblage of land refers to the process of combining or merging two or more adjacent parcels of land into a single, larger parcel. This is more common in commercial redevelopment, urban planning, or infrastructure projects so that larger buildings can be constructed. The construction of the structure over the two or more parcels would have to be legally permissible and typically done to increase the overall value or utility of the land. When the combined value of the assembled land is greater than the sum of the individual parcels' values, the increase in value is known as “plottage”. In cases where the same ownership has built a structure over two or more parcels, the Supervisor of Assessments or their designee may determine that merging the parcels together is the highest and best use due to current zoning and development requirements for the structure to be built. While technically possible, splitting out previously assembled parcels that have been merged into one account and built upon with one structure over several of those parcels is complex. There would need to be a strong economic reason to support this action that would also need to be legally permissible with local planning and zoning.
Once sufficient approval has been received, the Supervisor of Assessments or their designee must ensure that the property taxes have been paid for the most recent tax year before deleting any property account parcel. The account with the main dwelling or commercial building is be maintained as the active account to the extent possible.
Owners should consult with their local planning and zoning office, attorney or surveyor to determine what steps are required to have the land combined to be described in one account.
Splitting Accounts
In order to split out land from an existing account, a plat and/or deed would need to be recorded in land records for the office to create a new account(s).
To move land from one existing account to another existing account, the department requires a recorded plat showing the adjusted lot lines that have been signed by the appropriate local officials. The parent property account is to maintain the main dwelling or commercial building to the extent possible. A deed may also be required if land is exchanged by plat between more than one ownership. Do not process a plat and ownership exchange until a clear title has been established by recording a deed. Should you receive concerns from an owner or owner’s representative claiming that a deed is unnecessary, please consult with our Assistant Attorney General's Office for assistance.
At times, old deeds may refer to more than one parcel by metes and bounds descriptions and owners may elect to split or transfer one of those parcels out by deed. The Supervisor of Assessments should consult with their local planning and zoning office for parcels being split out by deed to determine what is legally permissible before creating the new tax account. Offices are provided with deed plotting software to determine the land area being split and to make necessary map updates for the Maryland Department of Planning and local county GIS offices.
Courtesy Accounts
As a rule, new “courtesy” tax accounts should only be created for leases on government owned property created under Maryland Annotated Code, Tax Property §6-102(e). An account may also be created in cases that involve a recorded 99 year lease that contains a clear parcel description after it has been reviewed by our Assistant Attorney General’s Office. Offices are prohibited from creating "courtesy" accounts for any other situation because there is no legal status for the “courtesy” account to exist.
Please Note: Anytime land and/or improvements are combined or split from an account that is an “H” or “D” occupancy, the credit information screen value may need to be adjusted so that the homestead credits are calculated and reflected correctly.
