The number of owner-occupied homes threatened with tax sale in Baltimore has fallen 40 percent this year, after the state legislature increased the minimum debt that would trigger a sale, according to an analysis for the Abell Foundation. The law – which increased the minimum debt that would trigger a tax sale from $ 250 to $ 750 for owner-occupied properties – passed after a push by advocates at the state and local level, who said the process burdened the poor with onerous interest rates if the sale moved forward and hurt neighborhood stability by fueling foreclosures.