Date: Feb. 1, 2022 | Publication: Bennett Leckrone, Maryland Matters | LINK
Excerpt
Lindsay Bouie, who lives in Gaithersburg with her partner and their two children, has a month-to-month lease. And although she and her partner always pay their rent on time, Bouie said she worries that their landlord could decide to not renew their lease, leaving them with 60 days to find a new place to live.
“We are all in constant threat of being told to leave our homes with just 60 days notice,” Bouie said at a Tuesday press conference. “As month-to-month renters, that leaves us wondering each month: Will such a notice arrive on our door?”
Letting local governments require landlords to provide a reason when they choose not to renew a tenant’s lease is a top priority for Renters United Maryland, a fair housing coalition that is asking state lawmakers to allow local governments to enact “just cause” eviction laws in their jurisdictions.
At a Tuesday press conference, Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery) said she will introduce such legislation. Current Maryland law doesn’t require landlords to cite a reason when not renewing a lease.
Wilkins’ said her bill would allow local governments flexibility in crafting their own just-cause legislation. Examples of “just cause” evictions could be when a tenant is breaking provisions of a lease or is disturbing other residents.
Wilkins said Tuesday that Baltimore City and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties have expressed interest in enacting just cause eviction laws.
“It’s time to permit our local jurisdictions to move forward,” Wilkins said.