A senior adviser for Angela Alsobrooks said Sunday that the Maryland Democratic U.S. Senate candidate was unaware she had been improperly taking advantage of tax breaks she didn’t qualify for and that her attorneys were working to resolve the issue, which was detailed in a CNN report that morning.

Alsobrooks claimed a homestead tax exemption for over a decade meant to apply only to a person’s primary residence, according to CNN, saving her thousands of dollars on two properties, one in Washington, D.C., and the other in Maryland. The finding follows a property tax record review by the news outlet on both of Alsobrooks’ properties.

The review also found that Alsobrooks, 53, improperly claimed a senior citizen tax break on her property in Washington that cut her tax bill in half.

Alsobrooks has primarily resided in Prince George’s County, where she serves as the county executive and previously served as the county state’s attorney, according to CNN.

Records show that Alsobrooks bought her home in Prince George’s County in 2005. The CNN review found that she applied for a homestead exemption in 2008 for the home. CNN said it is unclear when, but Alsobrooks eventually began renting out the property while continuing to take the exemption that was meant for primary residents.

The news outlet also reported that between 2005 and 2017, Alsobrooks was able to save nearly $14,000 in taxes on her home in Washington using a tax exemption meant for the district’s primary residents, specifically low-income residents and older adults.

Alsobrooks Senior Adviser Connor Lounsbury said in the statement to The Baltimore Sun that Alsobrooks paid the mortgage on the home in Washington after her grandmother moved out, until the home was sold in 2018.

“She was unaware of any tax credits attached to that property and has reached out to the District of Columbia to resolve the issue and make any necessary payment,” the statement reads.

The CNN review found that in 2014, Alsobrooks bought a home in Prince George’s County that she lists as her primary residence on her mortgage. CNN reported that Alsobrooks does not take a homestead tax expansion on the home.

Lounsbury said that when Alsobrooks bought the new property, the homestead tax credit from her previous property did not transfer — resulting in no financial gain and her having to pay more in taxes than she would have if the credit transferred. “Nevertheless, Angela is working to repay any credits received on the old property,” the statement says.

Blake Kernan, a spokesperson for the campaign of Maryland Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former Gov. Larry Hogan, said in a statement that Alsobrooks' “campaigns on raising taxes while failing to pay her own and taking advantage of tax credits reserved for the poor and elderly. It’s deeply disturbing that Angela Alsobrooks thinks the rules don’t apply to her. … She claims to be unaware of tax laws it was her job to enforce.”

A decade ago, a Sun investigation found that hundreds of city homeowners were improperly receiving the homestead tax credit on second homes and rentals, including Wes Moore in 2013.

Moore, now the governor, and his wife, Dawn, bought a rowhouse in Riverside in 2006 and later moved out in 2008. The Sun’s investigation found that the city knocked $1,700 off the property’s yearly tax bill, including a $63 discount for owner-occupants as the Moores used the home as a rental property.

At the time, Moore told The Sun he wasn’t aware of any issues with the home’s taxes. “We would never willingly try to receive a credit for something we did not earn or wasn’t justified,” he said. “We really just did not know.”

The Sun’s investigation found that homestead troubles were a common problem in part because there is no formal way to notify the state that you no longer live in your home. Frank M. Conaway Sr., then clerk of the Baltimore Circuit Court, got discounts on two homes. Former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and her husband simultaneously received two credits.

Louis Wilen is a Maryland resident who says he helped bring homestead tax verification to lawmakers’ attention in 2005, meeting with Democratic Del. Anne Kaiser on the subject. The Homestead Credit Verification Law passed in 2007.

Wilen said the process for removing a primary residence is a phone call — or email — away to the state Department of Taxation and Assessment. He explained that the status of whether a home is the taxpayer’s primary residence or not is printed on every property tax bill and triennial assessment notice.

“It’s incredible that Alsobrooks’ certified public accountant didn’t notice something was amiss,” Wilen said. “He had to have reviewed her property tax bills to support deducting property tax for her rental property.”

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