The legislative session ended last night, and we were on the edge of our seats until about five minutes to midnight. Here’s the rundown of everything Renters United Maryland worked on – not just our 5 priority bills (3 of which passed) but also the many bills that RUM members supported throughout session with testimony, Zoom calls, social media, flyers, negotiations, and actions.
Because of organized renters, mobilized partners, and committed legislators, Access to Counsel in Evictions is now funded for FY23 and FY24. We passed legislation to improve rental assistance, reduce evictions, and weed out slumlords from our courts. The governor’s vetoes leave us with more to do. We’re up for the fight.
Access to Counsel in Evictions
- Budget: The legislature directed $11 million to the Maryland Judiciary for Maryland Legal Services Corporation’s implementation of Access to Counsel in FY 23.
- SB 662: Passed. Revenue from the Abandoned Property Fund will provide $14 million for Access to Counsel in FY 24.
- HB 571/SB 279: Passed. Creating funding for Access to Counsel in Eviction from a Attorney General Consumer Protection Division special fund.
Emergency Rental Assistance – Stay of Eviction
- SB 384: Passed but vetoed. This bill, as passed, provided a stay of FTPR eviction proceedings of up 35 days if a tenant showed that they made a good faith application for rental assistance before or within 30 days after the filing of the FTPR complaint. The court would grant a stay of trial, judgment, or warrant, but could not grant more than one stay in the same action. The bill was not specific to any specific rental assistance funds. It would have sunsetted in 2025. SB 384 was vetoed by Gov. Hogan.
HB 932/SB 592: Passed. Under this bill, when a tenant exercises their “pay to stay” right, a written or electronic check paid to the landlord by a governmental agency or on behalf of one will have the same legal effect as a cash/money order payment made by the tenant. In other words, landlords will have no grounds to reject a rental assistance check when the tenant is redeeming possession.
Proof of license and lead certificate in eviction trials
- SB 563: Passed, but vetoed. The bill would require landlords to show their valid rental license in any trial for FTPR, THO, or breach of lease. However, an unlicensed landlord would be able to proceed with a THO or breach of lease if they showed that the tenant’s acts caused the failure to obtain a license. In such cases, the landlord would have to provide 30 days’ notice to the tenant of that allegation. Attempts to exempt multi-unit and federally subsidized properties failed during conciliation of the bill. However, Gov. Hogan vetoed it.
- HB 174: Passed. This bill will allow courts to consider evidence demonstrating that MDE registration and lead inspection certificate information asserted in a FTPR complaint is invalid. Landlords will not be required to affirmatively show their records of compliance (as with rental licenses in SB 563). With MDE’s new LRCA database, tenants can verify lead inspection certificates rapidly, and this bill no longer bars tenants from raising “an issue of fact in a trial” when they find certificates to be outdated or fictitious. The bill does not go into effect until Oct. 1, 2023 – a full 5 months after the next legislative session!
Tenant Protection Act 2022
- HB 86/SB 6: Passed. This bill accomplishes four areas of reform in landlord-tenant relations. Notably, the bill expands the ability of survivors of abuse (broadly defined, inclusive of domestic/partner violence, sexual assault, stalking) to obtain early termination from their current lease with limited liability for future rent. Additionally, the bill establishes statewide transparency requirements for “ratio utility billing” (energy/water allocation), requires that landlords send tenants an estimate or invoice supporting any deductions from a security deposit, and requires landlords to make common area space available for tenant associations. The bill goes into effect on June 1, 2022, but will apply to leases prospectively.
Eviction data reporting
- HB 824: Passed. Effective Jan. 1, 2023, this bill requires the Maryland Judiciary to collect and report these data for both evictions and foreclosures: type of case, date of eviction, and county/ZIP location of eviction. Prior-month data will be reported online monthly and data sets made available to state/local agencies as well as academic researchers. In other words, at some point in February 2023, we will have access to January 2023 data.
Shielding of pandemic eviction records
- HB 521: Passed. Beginning Oct. 1, 2023, tenants may petition the district court to shield (defined essentially as sealing) all records related to a FTPR filed during the pandemic period 03/05/2020 to 01/01/2022. For actions that did not result in a judgment for the landlord, the court shall grant the petitioner’s relief. But if there was a judgment entered, there will be a hearing in which the tenant must show a COVID-19-related economic impact. The landlord may object to the petition. The court may deny the petition on specific grounds stated in its order.
Renter tax credit expansion
- HB 449: Passed. This bill expands renter households’ backward-eligibility for missed tax credits. It goes into effect June 1, 2023.
And we stopped a couple bad things from happening
- No eviction filing surcharge passed onto renters facing eviction
- No increase on warrant fees in FTPRs
- No eviction notice bills that trade notice for legal abandonment of personal belongings without a reclaim period
Finally, we came close but ultimately did not pass the eviction prevention/diversion bill SB 564. Our bills to authorize local just cause laws and to establish group actions for repairs and damages did not come up for committee voting despite positive, well-received hearings in House Environment and Transportation. Additionally, the mold inspection/remediation standards bill was withdrawn by the House sponsor.