Renters' advocates urge more eviction protections, fair-chance screening and court fixes
January 31, 2026 | Economic Matters Committee, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative, Maryland
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Annapolis — A coalition of tenant and legal-aid advocates told the Economic Matters Committee that Maryland needs stronger eviction-prevention resources, fair-housing protections, and procedural fixes in landlord-tenant courts to prevent avoidable housing loss.
Zephyr Shaw of Renters United Maryland said the state faces a shortfall of roughly 275,000 rental units affordable to households at 80% of area median income or below, and that nearly half of that shortage is concentrated among households at 30% AMI or less. Shaw cautioned against conflating tenant protections with the zoning and permitting problems DHCD described: "There is no evidence that, for instance, good-cause eviction empirically impedes production," Shaw said, and pointed to cities such as Seattle that have tenant protections alongside production.
David Wheaton of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund highlighted racial disparities in eviction rates and warned that recent federal rollbacks of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) guidance and other HUD rules weaken the tools jurisdictions use to combat segregation. Wheaton and other advocates said they intend to bring a Maryland Fair Chance Housing Act to the committee that would require individualized assessments for applicants with criminal histories and set look-back periods for certain convictions.
Legal practitioners on the panel described operational problems in failure-to-pay cases: Lisa Saro of Community Legal Services said tenants — particularly immigrants and Latino residents — were missing court dates and that some counties provide only minutes or a single day’s notice between service and trial, making it difficult to prepare defenses. Jacob Kamitch of CASA gave a client example in which a landlord threatened tenants with deportation and attempted to evict a tenant by suggesting she was a squatter; Kamitch said legal aid intervened and the tenant prevailed after providing corroborating messages.
Advocates urged expanded eviction-prevention funding, better notice practices, and codifying fair-chance screening practices at the state level to guard against disparate outcomes as federal guidance is weakened. Committee members asked detailed follow-ups about court timing and what statutory changes would be needed to guarantee more meaningful notice.
Zephyr Shaw of Renters United Maryland said the state faces a shortfall of roughly 275,000 rental units affordable to households at 80% of area median income or below, and that nearly half of that shortage is concentrated among households at 30% AMI or less. Shaw cautioned against conflating tenant protections with the zoning and permitting problems DHCD described: "There is no evidence that, for instance, good-cause eviction empirically impedes production," Shaw said, and pointed to cities such as Seattle that have tenant protections alongside production.
David Wheaton of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund highlighted racial disparities in eviction rates and warned that recent federal rollbacks of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) guidance and other HUD rules weaken the tools jurisdictions use to combat segregation. Wheaton and other advocates said they intend to bring a Maryland Fair Chance Housing Act to the committee that would require individualized assessments for applicants with criminal histories and set look-back periods for certain convictions.
Legal practitioners on the panel described operational problems in failure-to-pay cases: Lisa Saro of Community Legal Services said tenants — particularly immigrants and Latino residents — were missing court dates and that some counties provide only minutes or a single day’s notice between service and trial, making it difficult to prepare defenses. Jacob Kamitch of CASA gave a client example in which a landlord threatened tenants with deportation and attempted to evict a tenant by suggesting she was a squatter; Kamitch said legal aid intervened and the tenant prevailed after providing corroborating messages.
Advocates urged expanded eviction-prevention funding, better notice practices, and codifying fair-chance screening practices at the state level to guard against disparate outcomes as federal guidance is weakened. Committee members asked detailed follow-ups about court timing and what statutory changes would be needed to guarantee more meaningful notice.
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