Rent Is Past Due
Tips To Avoid Eviction In Maryland
By Raoul Dennis
“We expect a monsoon of eviction proceedings over the next few months,” Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh was quoted saying during an August 31 virtual meeting hosted by the Maryland State Bar Association.
Nearly 300 viewers participated in the session that was aimed at preparing Maryland residents for the challenges that lawmakers expect as federal and state COVID-19-related non-eviction restraints are relaxed with regard to landlords across the state and nation.
No eviction filings could be made in Maryland before August 31. The state’s judicial system experts expect “an impending tsunami of eviction notices starting in late August and through the fall.”
Entitled the COVID 19 Access To Justice task force, the panelists and experts provided tangible information on “what to do if you haven’t been able to pay rent?”
The primary response, go to court if summoned, applies to every form of eviction notice a tenant might receive. The various forms of eviction include failure to pay rent, tenant holding over, breach of lease and wrongful detainer. “Always go to court,” said Greg Countess, of Maryland Legal Aid. “You must respond. It’s never a good idea to ignore a summons or not respond.”
Countess and co panelist Zafar Shah, an attorney with the Public Justice Center, reminded viewers that COVID-19 defense is still valid as it applies to all failure to pay rent cases during the state of emergency. Residents must be prepared to show direct impact of COVID-19 on their income and in many cases demonstrate that they have nowhere else to go.
They encourage tenants to be prepared to offer payment arrangement schedules if possible.
The pair shared a presentation of critical information and steps that tenants can take to protect themselves.
For specific information of organizations and legal aid, see graphics above and below.
Tenant’s rights advocates and support groups across the nation are bracing to combat what they see as an upcoming struggle to help millions of families negatively affected economically by COVID-19. The American Civil Liberties Union calls upon citizens to contact Congressional representatives in their offices and urge them to add “at least 100 billion in funding toward emergency rental assistance in the next COVID-19 relief bill.”
“Tomorrow is the first of the month and millions of tenants are at risk of losing their homes in the middle of a global pandemic unless we act,” the ACLU wrote in an August 31 national outreach. According to the organization, Black women have evictions filed against them at double the rate of white renters or higher in 17 out of 36 states.
