Date: April 6, 2022 | Publication: Guest Commentary, Maryland Matters | LINK
Excerpt:
Officeholders and voters alike probably assume all landlords would move heaven and earth for rental assistance, and they probably would assume that Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) or the Maryland General Assembly made sure that the court process would not upend distribution of relief funds.
In reality, Maryland lacks any policy to stop the significant minority of landlords who would rather put their tenants on the brink of eviction before they even return a call about a rental assistance application. Others prefer to refuse the money in pursuit of a new tenant and a higher rent.
To address this policy gap, Sen. Shelly Hettleman and Del. Vaughn Stewart introduced HB674/SB384 in this year’s Maryland General Assembly. The Senate bill passed in both chambers and now goes to the desk of the governor. The legislation will ensure that courts stay eviction proceedings “up to 35 days” when renters show that they await the resolution of a pending rental assistance application.