One of three main renters rights bills, a focus of Governor Wes Moore’s priorities for the Maryland General Assembly, is stalling in the senate as the 2024 session winds down.
Senators have until Monday, Sine Die, to pass and send the legislation to the governor’s desk.
While two renters bills are progressing – The Tenant Safety Act and The Renters Rights and Housing Stabilization Act – just cause evictions legislation is hitting new hurdles in the last week of session.
All three bills were overwhelmingly approved by around three-fourths of the House of Delegates in March.
The just cause bill would give counties the ability to require landlords provide a “just cause” for eviction. The legislation is stuck in a Senate committee due to new amendments pushed by landlord advocates, Montgomery County Renters Alliance Director Matt Losak said.
The other renter-friendly bills would be weakened without the just cause legislation, Losak said.
“While there is some success without the main protections being passed – preventative protection against being evicted without a good justification – then the rest of it is is substantially weakened,” Losak said in an interview with MCM.
Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins (D), the lead bill sponsore, reinforced her commitment to the bill during a Tuesday Senate bill hearing.”Displacement is debilitating,” Wilkins said. ‘They should have a reason, a fair and justifiable reason, for why they’re losing the roof over their head”.
