August 3, 2020, Hyattsville, MD – The Mid-Atlantic’s largest immigrant advocacy organization CASA denounces two dozen housing providers who presented a lawsuit against local Maryland governments over laws barring landlords from raising rent or charging late fees during the pandemic’s state of emergency. CASA’s Research and Policy Advocate Cathryn Paul, who has led Maryland’s #CancelTheRent coalition campaign work, issued the following statement:

“The world is in the throes of a pandemic. In Maryland alone, 145,000 families are at risk of being evicted. Tens of thousands are unemployed in the state and many more have lost income. Worse off are the thousands of Marylanders who are ineligible for CARES Act benefits, like immigrant families, who have struggled the most to keep afloat during the pandemic shutdown. Despite the economically precarious situation, these landlords in this lawsuit pour gasoline into the fire, insisting on increasing their revenue. The money-grabbing behavior shows us that they don’t care about the implications of the pandemic on working families. Too many face fiscal devastation and if these landlords get their way, homelessness, bankruptcy, and more is on the horizon. CASA and its over 100,000 members will fight to protect renters during the State of Emergency.”

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With over 100,000 members across the states of Maryland, Virginia, and South Central Pennsylvania, CASA is the largest member-based Latino and immigrant organization in the mid-Atlantic region. Visit us at www.wearecasa.org and follow us on Twitter at @CASAforall