A protected sale does not cancel the tax
Maryland's Chapter 777 took effect October 1 with new protections for homeowners facing tax sales. The enacted text requires local governments to withhold a qualifying homeowner's dwelling from sale for documented terminal illness or medical hardship. It is not a general cancellation of property taxes or every lien.
The medical condition must be documented by a licensed healthcare provider who has treated or examined the homeowner. The law calls for regulatory definitions and requires each county collector to establish an application process that can involve the homeowner, a family member or another representative. Contact the local collector about current implementation rather than waiting for a sale notice.
The $450,000 cap belongs to another program
A separate part of the law raises the assessed-value ceiling for the Homeowner Protection Program from $300,000 to $450,000 and changes eligibility provisions. That figure should not be presented as a universal home-value limit for every medical-hardship withholding request; the provisions serve different functions.
Keep tax notices and healthcare documentation and ask the collector or state Tax Sale Ombudsman about the applicable route and remaining obligations. A withheld sale does not establish that the tax balance, interest or other charges disappear. The new protection creates a process, not an automatic refund or a reason to ignore an outstanding bill.