The national dollar house program turned into the Urban Homestead program in the 90’s or 00’s. The city can still sell or lease any vacant property they already own for $1, the new owner has to make repairs to being the house up to code. Once the house is up to code after a few years the city officially gives the house to the new owner. The city owns thousands of vacant properties they could sell or lease for $1. The problem is those properties are in blighted neighborhoods where the city won’t spend money on infrastructure, new streets, new pipes and all that.

There was a case recently where a man bought a house to rehab on North Avenue, the city didn’t do any repairs to the streets or the pipes, then the street collapsed and the man lost everything. The city won’t pay for the repairs or the losses. But in other areas like around the UM Technology Corridor, the city invested money to improve the roads and infrastructure.

The difference in level of services makes it hard for individual investors who are not well connected to someone in control in the city. No one wants to invest in a property of the infrastructure is broken.

https://www.wmar2news.com/homepage-showcase/homeowners-forced-to-pay-a-mortgage-for-homes-that-were-torn-down-from-a-sinkhole

The city does have a legal department focused on foreclosing on vacants with liens against them: https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/housing/vacant-housing-crisis-judicial-foreclosure-5CGX2JGTR5DI3M2NYFIUUXS724/