@BryanRenbaum
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Will Smith Thursday called for an extension of the state’s eviction pause deadline for residents and tenants that are unable to pay rent due to the pandemic.
Smith’s remarks come the very day the state of emergency that Gov. Larry Hogan declared in March 2020 is set to end. However, Maryland’s eviction protections, which some have classified as a moratorium, are not set to expire until Aug. 15.
They require that defendants prove that their inability to pay rent is the direct result of the pandemic.
The federal moratorium on evictions, which was recently upheld by the Supreme Court, is set to expire on July 31. It had previously been scheduled to expire on June 30.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott vetoed a controversial bill Monday afternoon that would have expanded the market for a “security deposit insurance” company tenant advocates have called “predatory.”
The bill, which would require landlords to offer one of two alternatives to traditional security deposits, passed in the Council 12-2, with one abstention. Scott considered the bill up until the very last minute if he hadn’t vetoed the bill by 5 pm Monday, it would have automatically become law.
“I applaud the bill’s sponsor for seeking to reduce the burden on residents as they seek to secure stable housing in the City of Baltimore,” Scott wrote in a letter to the City Council. He praised one of the two alternatives laid out in the bill the option to spread the security deposit payment over a three-month period as a way to help residents struggling with the upfront cost of renting an apartment.
Does Baltimore s security deposit alternatives bill offer freedom or carve away renter protections? – Greater Greater Washington ggwash.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ggwash.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.