Tenant Rights | 2023 Maryland Legislative Agenda
Housing is a Human Right
In addition to protecting our community member’s physical health through healthcare we also need to protect their mental and financial well-being through legislation on housing rights. Tenants are facing a dual hardship- still recovering from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as they try to mitigate the current economic crisis. CASA’s top two housing bills will help families live with dignity in their homes.
Just Cause Eviction bill
Protects tenants making good-faith actions to pay their rent from being evicted from their homes
Tenant Safety Act
Allows tenants to sue landlords en masse for negligence and serious conditions of disrepair that threaten the health and safety of tenants
Rental Assistance Funding
Add a budgetary item for rental assistance programs
Just Cause Eviction Bill
We need to ensure housing stability by passing the Just Cause Eviction bill. Stable housing is a human right and a pillar of healthy and vibrant communities. When tenants are making good-faith actions to pay their rent they should not be punished and evicted from their homes.
Provides tenants an avenue to dispute unnecessary eviction action by money hungry landlords
Allows families to stay in place and have housing security
Improves future outcomes for individuals who are not displaced
This bill protects family security and stability by requiring landlords to provide just cause for evicting a tenant. This bill will also ensure that any previous court-ordered evictions are strictly scrutinized to make sure that just cause is present.
The Tenant Safety Act is another piece of legislation to ensure tenant protection by allowing tenants to sue landlords en masse for negligence and serious conditions of disrepair that threaten the health and safety of tenants. Landlords who only care about profits and neglect necessary improvements or property maintenance should face the consequences of their inhumane actions. The landlord lobby is strong compared to tenant associations’ ability to fight for basic living standards in housing. We need to create a system where tenant associations, just like the landlord lobby, can fully represent their members and fight for their rights without facing overwhelming obstacles and extra fees.
CASA stands united with tenants’ right to collectively file suit against corrupt landlords. We know there is power in collective unity.
– Gustavo Torres, CASA Executive Director Tweet
To ensure that eligible families are not evicted from their homes CASA strongly supports continuing and adding a budgetary item for rental assistance programs. Although we are not experiencing peak Covid-19 infection levels, our communities are still experiencing debilitating illness and unprecedented economic changes. With inflation eating away at their incomes and many having to miss work due to sickness, rental assistance programs have kept many families afloat. Legislators must continue to fund rental assistance programs to protect Black and brown families.