Ground rent laws enabled holders of ground rights to collect rent for land on which someone else owned the house.

Annual fees for ground rent have been relatively small, but courts in the past frequently backed holders, permitting them to seize homes for unpaid ground rent bills as small as $24.

About 150,000 to 200,000 homeowners in Maryland pay rent for the land their house occupies, The Baltimore Sun reported Monday.

Ground rent laws were reformed last year to make it harder for holders to seize property or demand high fees on overdue ground rent.

Before the law went into effect, however, holders filed hundreds of lawsuits under the old laws, the Sun reported.

Under the reformed measures, holders say they cannot recoup losses and legal fees when taking delinquent homeowners to court.

"They don't have a real remedy to collect the rent," said Edward J. Meehan, an attorney representing the holders.

"There was an old system that had a very reliable remedy," he said.