Title and settlement in Pasadena, MD

Pasadena is an unincorporated part of northern Anne Arundel County, between the Patapsco and Magothy rivers and a short drive from our office in Glen Burnie. This guide also applies to nearby unincorporated communities such as Riviera Beach and Lake Shore. Much of the area fronts creeks and coves, and that water shapes a Pasadena settlement more than anything else. Alongside the usual Anne Arundel County questions, a shoreline home can bring an extra district tax on the tax bill, critical area limits on what the next owner can build, and shared beaches or piers whose rights have to be checked.

Taxes at settlement in Pasadena

Pasadena is unincorporated, so there is no town tax, no town transfer tax and no town sign-off to collect at settlement. A Pasadena sale pays the same three government taxes as a sale anywhere else in the unincorporated county. They are:

• 0.5%Maryland transfer tax0.5% of the price.
• 1.0%Anne Arundel County transfer tax1.0% 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 $500Anne Arundel County recordation tax$3.50 per $500 ($7.00 per $1,000), about 0.70%; rounded up to the next $500.

Put your own price into the calculator on our Anne Arundel County page. For a sense of scale, the county’s median sale price (July 2025 - June 2026) was $509,990. At that price the three taxes add up to $11,219.85. Split equally, the buyer pays $5,609.92 and the seller $5,609.93 (the odd cent goes to the seller). That is only the government’s share. Your full cost also includes title insurance, our settlement fee, any lender charges, recording fees and the tax adjustments. An owner’s title policy is optional in Maryland, and its premium is paid once, at settlement. Ask for an instant quote to see the costs for your price.

Two points are worth raising early:

1. Sales of $1 million or more. When a home sells for $1,000,000 or more, the county applies a 1.5% transfer tax rate to the entire price, not only to the amount over $1 million. A $1,200,000 sale, for example, pays $32,400 in the three taxes combined.
2. First-time buyers. 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. To qualify, every buyer on the deed has to give a sworn statement, either as a first-time buyer who will live in the home or as a co-signer or guarantor of the purchase loan who will not live there. Tell your settlement agent early.

For a home that gets the Homestead Tax Credit, Anne Arundel County limits the yearly rise in the assessment it taxes to 2%; the state tax on the same bill uses the state’s 10% cap. The credit does not pass from seller to buyer, so a buyer who will live in the home has to apply for it.

The extra charge on some Pasadena tax bills

Anne Arundel County has special tax districts, mainly special community benefit districts (SCBD) and shore erosion control districts (SECD). They pay for things a community shares, such as a beach, a pier, roads or shoreline protection. Each year the County Council sets the tax for every district in a levy ordinance, and the district tax is billed with the county property tax. For FY2027 (July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027), two districts on the county’s list carry Pasadena-area names:

District	Charge
Woodland Beach (Pasadena) SCBD	$300 per tax account
Riviera Beach SECD	$0.04 per $100 of assessed value

The two work differently. Riviera Beach’s charge is a rate on the assessment, so a home with a higher assessment pays more. Woodland Beach’s is a flat amount per tax account, so every account in the district pays the same, whatever the assessment. Other districts on the county’s list may also cover Pasadena neighborhoods, so the tax bill for the home is the place to check.

What this means if you are:

• Buying: check the seller’s latest county tax bill, not just the listing, for a district charge, and include it when you budget for taxes and escrow. Two houses a few streets apart can differ: one may be in a district and the other not.
• Selling: most sales contracts call for the year’s property taxes to be adjusted between buyer and seller at settlement, and a district tax on the same bill is usually adjusted with them. If you have paid the whole year, you would usually get a credit for the part of the year after settlement. Your contract’s terms decide it.
• An agent: go by the name on the tax bill, not the sign at the neighborhood entrance. The county lists one district as “Woodland Beach (Pasadena)”, and a separate Woodland Beach district elsewhere in the county has a different charge.

Waterfront lots and the critical area

Maryland law requires every contract for the sale of real property to include a notice about the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area. In Pasadena that notice often applies to the lot itself. The critical area takes in land within 1,000 feet of tidal water or tidal wetlands, so it is not limited to waterfront lots: a house a street or two back from a creek can be inside it. Nearest the water there is a buffer of at least 100 feet, and outside the most built-up areas the county limits how much of a site can be covered by roofs, driveways, patios and other hard surfaces.

For a buyer, the question is what you can do after settlement. Clearing trees, putting up a shed, widening a driveway or building an addition can each need county approval, and work in the buffer is tightly limited and may need a variance. If you are buying with changes in mind, talk to Anne Arundel County Planning and Zoning while you can still act under your inspection or due diligence terms.

For a seller, the risk is past work done without approval. When Anne Arundel County or the State has started enforcement over a violation in the critical area of a local law on environmental protection, such as grading, sediment control, stormwater management, zoning or construction, the sales contract must spell out what the violation is, how far the enforcement has gone and any steps the buyer may need to take about it. That disclosure is not needed if the violation has been cured and the buyer would have nothing left to cure. If you know of old permit problems, raise them early so they do not hold up the closing.

Other title issues we see in Pasadena

Shared beaches, piers and boat ramps. Some Pasadena neighborhoods have a community beach, pier or boat ramp. Who may use it usually depends on the deed, the subdivision plat or the association’s documents, not on living nearby. The title search shows which rights are recorded for the lot. If water access is a main reason you are buying, ask to have those rights reviewed before you settle.

Older plats and surveys. In older communities with small lots, fences, sheds and driveways can creep over the recorded lines over the years. A survey or location drawing shows where things actually sit. An owner’s title policy may not cover problems that only a survey would reveal.

Homeowners associations. For a home in an association, the seller has to provide the association’s disclosures. If the buyer did not have them at least 5 calendar days before signing the contract, the buyer may cancel in writing within 5 calendar days of getting them; that right ends at settlement. Sellers can avoid a late surprise by ordering the package when the home goes on the market. Condominiums are covered by a separate law.

Inherited homes. When a Pasadena home is sold by an estate, the estate’s personal representative usually signs the deed, and the sale has to fit the probate process. Our deeds and family transfers team can help with the deed side of an estate sale.

Wells, septic systems and deferred county charges. If a home has a private well or septic system, which tests are done depends on the contract’s inspection terms and the lender. Separately, Anne Arundel County has offered a program that lets some owners who are 60 or older or disabled, and on limited incomes, defer water and sewer connection charges and front foot benefit assessments on the home they live in. Under the program’s terms, a deferred amount stays a lien on the property and is due in full when the home is sold or title is transferred, so the lien search needs to look for it.

Working with Maryland First Title

Maryland First Title has offered title and escrow services by attorneys since 1994, from our office in Glen Burnie. When a Pasadena file raises a critical area issue, a doubtful right to a community pier or a fence over a boundary line, you can talk it through with an attorney. Settlement can take place at our Glen Burnie office, or one of our settlement agents will come to you at no extra cost. We handle residential settlements, for sale by owner closings and purchases by buyers without an agent.