A Baltimore couple can not close on a home sale in Baltimore due to the ransomware attack making real estate transactions in the city not possible. I can’t imagine not being able to buy a house because the city can’t do the administrative part on their end. From a WBAL TV news article:
“A Baltimore couple is feeling the effect of the ransomware attack first hand. They’re supposed to settle on a home in Baltimore, but can’t because of the city computer hack. The problem is access to the city’s lien system.The Johnsons are scrambling, and they are not alone. They were supposed to close on their first home Thursday in northeast Baltimore.”We’ve been packing all week, then we got a call from our realtor saying that we don’t know when we’re going to be able to settle on our house because of these whole shenanigans,” Ashlee Johnson said.
The ransomware attack has shut down, among other things, the system that is essential for all that goes into real estate transactions in the city, and it’s happening during one of the busiest times of year to buy and sell a home. “There are no real property transactions being conducted in the city,” said Henry J. Raymond, Baltimore City director of finance.The Johnsons, and so many others, need paperwork that they simply can’t get.\”Even just things as far as BGE and our loan and getting our rate locked in — there are just so many things that are up in the air right now and we don’t know what’s going to happen with all of it,” Daris Johnson said.That includes where they’re going to live. They were committed to moving out of their apartment, with their two boys under 5, on Saturday.”Now we don’t know when we can tell our current landlord, “Hey, we’re going to be out by this date because we don’t know,” Daris Johnson said. “It doesn’t seem like it’s an issue that will have a solution soon.”Raymond said they’re hoping to have access to the lien system by late next week, but there’s no guarantee.“
