Settlement in Linthicum and Linthicum Heights, MD

Linthicum at a glance for settlement

Linthicum and Linthicum Heights sit just north of BWI Marshall Airport. Neither community is an incorporated town, so the tax bill is simple: Anne Arundel County at $0.968 and the state at $0.112 per $100 of assessed value for FY2027 (July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027), with no town rate on top. Once the owner has the homestead credit, the county’s 2% yearly cap limits how fast the assessment used for the county tax can rise. The state tax uses the state’s 10% cap.

The airport is what makes a Linthicum sale different. Before signing, check the address against the state’s BWI Airport Noise Zone, and find out whether the house went through the airport’s sound insulation program, because those homes carry a recorded avigation easement. Commuters like the Linthicum and North Linthicum light rail stops on the BWI Airport / Glen Burnie to Hunt Valley line, but the stops make no difference to the taxes or the title.

Who pays what at settlement

Maryland law sets a default. Recordation tax and state and county transfer taxes are presumed to be shared equally between buyer and seller unless the contract says otherwise. Many contracts change that, so the signed contract, not custom, decides who pays.

First-time buyers start from a different rule. For a sale to a first-time Maryland home buyer who will live in the home: the seller pays the whole state transfer tax (no exception), and the seller pays the whole recordation tax and county transfer tax unless the contract expressly says otherwise. The state transfer tax on that sale is 0.25% of the price, paid entirely by the seller. The rule only applies to a home the buyer will live in as a principal residence, and only if every buyer either is a first-time Maryland buyer or is a co-maker or guarantor of the purchase loan who will not live in the home. Each one signs a statement under oath. Let us know early if you think it fits your purchase.

Transfer and recordation taxes are not the whole bill. Title insurance, our settlement fee, lender charges and the Clerk’s recording fees are added, and property tax and any HOA dues are divided by the days each side owns the home. Your contract and the lender’s Closing Disclosure set out who pays each item.

Title insurance works the same way across Maryland. A buyer with a loan usually pays for the lender’s policy, which most lenders require. An owner’s title policy is optional in Maryland; if you choose one, its premium is paid once, at settlement.

Maryland withholds tax when the seller lives outside the state. The rates are 8.75% of the total payment to the seller, meaning the net proceeds actually paid to the seller (nonresident individuals), and 8.25% of the total payment (nonresident entities). The withholding comes out of the proceeds and is paid when the deed is recorded. It does not apply in some cases, for example when the seller certifies that the home is the seller’s principal residence or has a Comptroller certificate that no tax or a reduced amount is due. Tell us early so the paperwork is ready.

The taxes on a Linthicum sale, worked through

A sale at the county median price of $509,990 pays $11,219.85 in state transfer, county transfer and recordation tax combined. Split evenly, that is $5,609.92 for the buyer and $5,609.93 for the seller (the odd cent falls to the seller). To see your own numbers, enter your price in the calculator on our Anne Arundel County page, and turn on the first-time buyer setting if it applies.

How each tax is charged:

• 0.5%State transfer tax, paid to Maryland: 0.5% of the price.
• 1.0%County transfer tax, paid to Anne Arundel County: 1.0% of the price up to $999,999.99; 1.5% of the whole price when the price is $1,000,000 or more.
• $3.50 per $500County recordation tax$3.50 per $500 ($7.00 per $1,000), about 0.70%; rounded up to the next $500.

Recordation tax is worked out on the price, not the loan. A purchase-money deed of trust delivered and recorded with the deed (within the 30-day windows in the statute) is not subject to recordation tax. Our Anne Arundel County closing costs guide covers the county in more detail, including the higher county transfer rate on sales of a million dollars or more. For a full figure that includes title insurance and our fee, ask for an instant quote.

The BWI Airport Noise Zone

Under Maryland’s Environmental Noise Act of 1974, the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) keeps an Airport Noise Zone around BWI. The zone is there to control building and land uses that do not suit the noise. MAA has published the final report of its 2025 update of the zone, and its noise zone page says a BWI zone was certified effective August 3, 2026. The Linthicum-Shipley Improvement Association and the North Linthicum Improvement Association were invited members of the update’s stakeholder advisory committee.

What this means for a sale:

• Check the specific lot. The zone is drawn from noise contours, and MAA’s final report on the 2025 update lays it over the county tax maps. Find the property’s tax map reference in the state assessment record and compare it with the tax map grid on MAA’s noise zone page. If the lot sits near a zone line, ask MAA which map is in force.
• Read any contract notice for what it is. A notice that a property may be in a noise zone tells you to check. It does not tell you whether this lot is inside the zone.
• Building plans need a permit check. According to MAA, building, changing a structure or starting a new land use inside the zone needs an airport zoning permit from MAA before the county can approve the work, though additions to an existing house that do not add a dwelling unit are exempt. MAA also describes a wider Airport Zoning District around the airport where county permits need MAA approval. If you are buying to build or to change how the lot is used, ask MAA how both apply before you rely on those plans.

Avigation easements and the sound insulation program

MAA’s voluntary Residential Sound Insulation Program adds sound-rated windows, doors and ventilation to eligible homes. MAA sets the eligibility rules, which look at where the home sits on the airport’s federal noise map, its zoning, its age and its condition. Everyone on the deed must sign an avigation easement before the work goes ahead. It permits aircraft operations, noise and other effects of flight over the property, it binds later owners, and it is recorded in the Anne Arundel County land records once the work is done. Mortgage lenders and any ground rent holder must subordinate to the easement, so it stays on the title even after a foreclosure. An avigation easement can also appear on a lot for another reason: MAA’s report says the Board of Airport Zoning Appeals requires one whenever it grants a variance to build inside the zone.

For a buyer, that means the easement comes with the house. Because it is recorded against the property, the title search should find it, and we will point it out to you before settlement. Read it and ask us about anything that is unclear. If you hope to get insulation work after you move in, check the program’s status with MAA first. In November 2026, MAA’s program page said the program was paused until an updated federal Noise Exposure Map is approved.

Other title checks we make in Linthicum

• Older lots and fences. In neighborhoods laid out long ago, sheds, driveways and fences do not always sit where the recorded plat says the lines are. A survey before settlement shows the problem while it is still easy to fix.
• Ground rents. Some older Maryland homes still sit on a ground lease, so we check the land records and the state’s Ground Rent Registry. A ground rent redeemed through the state gets a certificate of redemption, which then has to be recorded in the county land records.
• Deferred water and sewer charges. Anne Arundel County has offered some older and disabled owners a way to defer certain water and sewer connection charges and front foot benefit assessments. Under the county’s terms, a deferred amount stays a lien on the property and comes due when the property is sold or transferred. When the seller had a deferral, we ask the county for a payoff figure so the charge is cleared at settlement rather than passed to the buyer.
• County violations. If Anne Arundel County or the State has started enforcement for certain local-law violations on a property, the sales contract must disclose the violation, the status of proceedings and what the buyer must do. Contracts must also carry the Anne Arundel land-use plan notice (Real Property 10-703).
• Homeowners associations. For an HOA home, Maryland law requires the seller to give the buyer the association’s resale disclosures, and a buyer who receives them late has a short window to cancel the contract in writing. Check those dates with your agent as soon as the contract is signed.
• Estates. When the seller is an estate, the personal representative signs the deed. We check the court appointment before settlement. Our deeds and family transfers service handles these.

Recording the deed

After settlement we deliver the deed and the buyer’s mortgage to the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Land Records Department, 8 Church Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401. The county transfer and recordation taxes go to Anne Arundel County, and the state transfer tax is paid through the land records office. All of it comes out of the settlement funds.

One task stays with the buyer. The credit does not carry over to a buyer. SDAT mails an application to new owners after the deed is recorded, and the settlement agent must give the buyer a copy of the Homestead application at settlement. Send it in, because the yearly cap on taxable increases only protects owners who have the credit.

How Maryland First Title helps

Attorneys have led Maryland First Title since it opened in 1994. Our Glen Burnie office is a short drive from Linthicum, and our attorney settlement agents will also meet you at your home or office at no extra cost. Weekend and after-hours settlements can be arranged by appointment.

We handle residential settlements for buyers, sellers and their agents. We also work with owners selling without an agent and buyers purchasing without one.