Baltimore becomes 7th city with tenant right to counsel

UPDATE: City begins funding right to counsel

The City of Baltimore has committed $2.4 million of CDBG-CV money from the CARES Act to help pay for the city’s enacted right to counsel.

Background

In 2020, the City of Baltimore has enacted a bill to provide all tenants right a right to counsel, and it is without regard to income level. See City of Baltimore, Ordinance 20.465, Council Bill 20-0625, An Ordinance concerning Landlord-Tenant – Right to Counsel in Eviction Cases (2020); WYPR and Maryland Matters have more.  You can read the bill text and a fact sheet about the bill, and check out Baltimore Renters United’s page on right to counsel.

Notably, a Baltimore Sun op-ed made the case for Maryland to provide all three necessary pieces to avoid an eviction crisis: a state moratorium (due to the flaws in the CDC one), rent relief, and a right to counsel. For this last point, it cites to a Stout study that found a $5.7 million investment in right to counsel in Baltimore would yield $35.6 million in benefits to the city and state.  And in December 2020, the editorial board of the Maryland Daily Record endorsed the right to counsel for Baltimore and urged the city to fund it.

The right is codified in Baltimore City Code, Article 13, §6A-1 through §6A-6. §6A-3(A)(1) specifies that:

subject to provisions of this subtitle including any rules and regulations and with the advice and consultation of the Commission, the Commission shall ensure that all covered individuals are offered legal representation from a designation organization in a covered proceeding as soon as practicable after the initiation of that proceeding, but no late than at the time of the covered individual’s first scheduled appearance in a covered proceeding if possible.

A covered individual is any individual who occupies a dwelling within the City of Baltimore under a claim of legal right other than the owner, and includes tenants in building owned, operated, or managed by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. §6A-1(D). Again, there is no income requirement written into the ordinance. A covered proceeding includes judicial and administrative eviction proceedings, termination of tenancy and subsidy cases, any proceeding that is the “functional equivalent” of such a proceeding, and any first appeal of these proceedings. §6A-1(E)(1). Covered proceedings include judicial and administrative proceedings to remedy a violation of local laws dealing with a landlord’s non-compliance with the lease, retaliatory actions, and the taking or threat of taking possession of a dwelling unit. §6A-1(E)(2).