All about the eviction RTC in Maryland

UPDATE JAN 2024: Report shows progress of RTC program

A report of the Maryland Access to Counsel in Evictions Task Force notes that 4,800 tenants were served in FY23 and that “Of the 3,795 cases where full representation was provided through ACE in FY2023, 76% of tenant households avoided disruptive displacement.  ACE grantees helped Maryland residents receive more than $415,000 in housing judgments and avoided more than $4.5 million in direct costs.”

The report also notes that due to capacity constraints (in part caused by hiring difficulties), 375 cases were triaged to advice-only service despite being eligible for full representation.  But it adds that “MLSC has worked on implementing other components of the law by funding efforts to build a pipeline of attorneys who would take up this work.”  The Task Force also urged the Governor to provide an additional $6 million in funding for FY25.

We testified at a hearing related to the report.

UPDATE: Outreach to tenants in full swing

An article in Maryland Reporter discusses efforts by legal services providers to let know about their right to counsel prior to the first day in court, so that attorneys have more time to prepare for effective representation.

UPDATE: Maryland right to counsel funded

Maryland’s General Assembly has enacted SB 662 and HB 571 / SB 279, which provide $14 million funding for the right to counsel through 2024 as well as set up an Eviction Defense Fund.  The Daily Record has more.

UPDATE: Report issued from statewide task force

The Access to Counsel in Evictions Task Force, which was established by the Maryland General Assembly, has released a report regarding funding and implementation of the statewide right to counsel enacted in 2021.

UPDATE: Bill has become law!

On the last day of the legslative session in 2021, HB 18 made it through the Maryland House and Senate, and on May 28 the bill became law.  The Appeal has more. See also Maryland House Bill 018; Senate Bill 154 (2021) (creating a new subtitle 9 in the Real Property Article, entitled Access to Legal Representation in Eviction Cases).

Under the law, a covered individual “shall have access to legal representation as provided under this subtitle.” § 8-902. A covered individual is one who occupies residential property under a claim of legal right other than the owner, and includes tenants in housing owned, operated or managed by a public housing authority. §8-901(C)(1). Unlike the Baltimore City local law, there is an income eligibility requirement. The statewide right only applies to a “member of a household with an income that is not greater than 50% of the median income, adjusted for household size, in the state.” § 8-901(C)(2). Legal representation is broadly defined to include “all representation by an attorney beyond brief legal advice and is not limited to the formal entry of appearance in court.” § 8-901(F). Section 8-904(A) specifies that the right to counsel applies to judicial or administrative eviction proceedings, proceedings terminating tenancy or subsidy of a covered individual, and the first appeal where the designated service provider deems there are sufficient legal grounds.

Background

Following up on Baltimore’s passage of an eviction right to counsel, a group of MD lawmakers introduced a legislative package that includes a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction (HB 18 / SB 154).  The House bill has made it out of committee.  Media coverage can be found in the Maryland Daily Record, WYPR, Delmarva Now, WBAL TV, and DCist.

Maryland joins Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Washington State with such legislation in 2021.

Relatedly, the Maryand Attorney General’s Access to Justice Task Force released a report recommending a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.