Story by the Baltimore Banner – 5/21/2024 5:07 p.m. EDT Inside the Baltimore sheriff’s office, Sam Cogen boasts of the department’s new computer system, new equipment and new staff members brought on at his direction since the start of his term nearly 18 months ago. But the biggest change? Look no farther than the top of his bookshelf. There sits a copy of “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller by sociologist Matthew Desmond who went on to found The Eviction Lab at Princeton University. Desmond’s work has been credited for breathing life into th ..read more

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed the Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act and other housing legislation into law during a bill signing ceremony at the State House in Annapolis on Thursday. Del. Chris Adams, R-Wicomico/Caroline/Dorchester/Talbot, a landlord, was not there, and thus did not participate in the smiling and celebratory atmosphere. Neither were, so far as public pronouncements indicated, any of the more than 400 individuals who were evicted in Wicomico County last year. “We knew it was an issue that could not wait,” said Moore, a Democrat, from the lectern in the Governor’s ..read more

Tenant in November 2023 eviction attempt says drawn guns were unnecessary. Judgement had been paid. GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies are being accused of using excessive force to perform an eviction at gunpoint that turned out to be on shaky legal ground, according to the recording of the incident. The accusations are being made by a pair of Montgomery County business owners who say deputies came through the door of their unoccupied business at gunpoint last November, even though a judgement had been paid. The deputies reversed course after re-checking documents, a ..read more

Article – Business Regulation § 7-101.       (a)      In this title the following words have the meanings indicated.       (b)      “Board” means the State Collection Agency Licensing Board.       (c)      “Collection agency” means a person who:             (1)      engages directly or indirectly in the business of collecting for, or soliciting from another, a consumer cla ..read more

The Appellate Court of Maryland (under the then-named Maryland Court of Special Appeals) further defined the permitted-but-not-encouraged actions of self-help repossession in Donegal Assocs., LLC v. Christie-Scott, LLC, 248 Md. App. 448 (2020) by setting out a three-step inquiry approach: (1) Is the tenant in default under the terms of the lease; (2) Do the terms of the lease permit the landlord to retake possession in the event of a breach; and, (3) Can the repossession be done peacefully? Donegal, at 472. First, look to the lease. Has the tenant defaulted under the terms of the lea ..read more

Self-Help. Ok or Not? Commercial Property “Self-help,” in a leasing context, typically refers to the landlord’s historical remedy of locking out a defaulting tenant and obtaining possession of the premises without going through judicial procedures. Traditionally under the common law, a landlord was subject to few limitations in choosing its remedies against a defaulting tenant, including the liberal use of self-help. However, modern jurisprudence provides tenants with much greater protection from eviction and also seeks to prevent possible violent landlord-tenant confrontations. Therefore, the ..read more

Maryland Court of Appeals Re-Affirms the Landlord Self-Help Remedy What is “self-help”? Self-help is the act of peacefully enforcing one’s rights without resorting to the court process.  Self-help is legal in Maryland as long as it is reasonable, peaceful, and does not violate some other law.  The difficulty or complexity in implementing self-help is not to violate some other law in the process.  While potential violations are too extensive to list, a representative violation could be something as simple as breaching the terms or conditions of a lease.  A more complex viola ..read more

Madeleine O’Neill February 2, 2023 A federal jury awarded $186,000 to a Baltimore couple who lost their belongings under a city ordinance that gives landlords the immediate right to take possession of items left behind when an eviction takes place.The couple, Marshall and Tiffany Todman, won a total of $36,000 in damages for lost or destroyed property and another $150,000 for emotional distress.“We are very pleased with the jury’s verdict,” said Joseph Mack, one of the Todmans’ lawyers. “The way Baltimore City handles these evictions is simply unjust. An eviction is already a horrible eve ..read more

Baltimore sheriff pauses December evictions to implement new policies, train staff  Baltimore Sheriff Sam Cogen said he is pausing evictions for the remainder of December as his office implements new policies and his staff undergoes training on proper eviction procedures. The December evictions are being rescheduled, not canceled, Cogen said, and some evictions might continue this month on a case-by-case basis if there are public safety concerns or other issues. Cogen said he expects 64 evictions to be rescheduled. There are just 16 working days left in the month, Cogen said, and eviction ..read more

Residential landlords in Frederick will have to register and obtain a license from the city and could face sanctions if their properties don’t meet basic health and safety standards, under a new ordinance the city’s aldermen approved Thursday. The aldermen passed the ordinance 3-1, with Alderman Kelly Russell opposed and Alderman Derek Shackelford abstaining. Alderwomen Donna Kuzemchak — who proposed the measure — and Katie Nash and Alderman Ben MacShane voted in favor. Shackelford said after the vote that he abstained because he supported a rental licensing program but disagreed with some ot ..read more