Legislation that would require landlords to state a “just cause” for evicting a tenant in Montgomery County passed the county’s delegation to the state House of Delegates Friday morning.
A bill sponsored by Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, a Democrat who represents Silver Spring and Takoma Park, would require that landlords state a specific reason for evicting a tenant. Those reasons can include failure to pay rent, property damage, disorderly conduct on the premises, illegal activity or failure to make repairs.
Under Maryland law, landlords must provide a tenant with a 60-day notice if their lease is not renewed, but there is no requirement that the landlord inform the tenant of the reason for eviction. The just-cause requirement sets a higher standard for landlords when not renewing a lease. Several jurisdictions around the country, including the District of Columbia, have similar ordinances.
Wilkins’ bill has been supported by tenants’ rights organizations such as the Montgomery County Renter’s Alliance. Landlord and property associations have lobbied against the bill.
Wilkins introduced similar legislation last year, but the bill was withdrawn so that the issue could be studied over the summer. The bill, which cleared the delegation with a 17-6 vote, will now go to the House Environment and Transportation Committee for consideration.
“For me this is a huge victory in terms of the Montgomery County delegation in moving forward,” Wilkins said Friday after the vote.
A 2017 report from Montgomery County’s Office of Legislative Oversight found there were 836 evictions over the course of a year, and that the number was decreasing.
When Del. Kumar Barve, a Democrat who represents Rockville and Gaithersburg, noted this fact during Friday’s hearing, Wilkins said that despite the low number of evictions, more than 10,000 eviction notices were issued, and in most cases the tenant left voluntarily.
“Someone is being asked to move their home. That 836 number does not reflect that,” she said.
Wilkins said in addition to requiring a just cause, her bill would ensure data is published by the county on the types of evictions that are being issued.
“We need better data on evictions, and we’ll be able to see what types of things people are being evicted for. And we’ll also be able to get a sense of whether there was a just cause,” she said.
Barve, one of the six who voted against the bill, said just cause aims to “solve a problem that doesn’t exist” in Montgomery County. He added that evictions can costs thousands of dollars for the property owner.
“There’s clearly no economic incentive to gratuitously evict someone,” he said.
Another opponent, Del. Kathleen Dumais, a Germantown Democrat whose full-time job is a divorce and custody attorney, said she feared the bill would alter the nature of landlord-tenant leases, which are technically contracts.
“I can’t vote for something that’s going to change the rules of contract law,” she said.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
