Anne Arundel County overhauls eviction process with ‘a bill for compassion’

It seems like every time someone is evicted in her western Anne Arundel County neighborhood, Councilwoman Julie Hummer hears about it.

“I will immediately get messages with pictures of the stuff piled on the ground,” Hummer said in an interview. “Universally when people reach out they’re concerned about the person who was evicted.”

Motivated to make evictions more compassionate, the Democrat has introduced a bill to overhaul the process in the county. The legislation, co-sponsored by Councilwoman Lisa Rodvien, passed unanimously on Monday night.

Before the meeting Monday, Hummer said she was thrilled about the measure, saying it was something she’d worked on for years.

“It’s a win-win for tenants and landlords‚” Hummer said, adding that she hopes other jurisdictions in Maryland will follow Anne Arundel’s lead.

During Monday night’s council meeting, Hummer said neither tenants nor landlords would be “100% happy” with the legislation, which she took to mean it struck an effective balance.

“We’ll see how it works,” Hummer said.

The bill, which mirrors a similar measure before the Baltimore City Council, extends the notification period for an eviction in the county from six to 14 days. It requires the landlord and the sheriff’s office to provide the eviction date and ends the practice of hauling tenants’ belongings outside.

“The impetus behind this was to stop the practice of ... when someone is evicted, their belongings, everything left in the unit, are placed on the curb,” Hummer said. “They have to be placed on a public right-of-way. So you come home from work and all of your life is on the curb. That is traumatic.”

She cited the mistaken eviction of Glen Burnie resident Sharnae Hunt in 2022. Hunt came home from work days before Thanksgiving to find her belongings strewn about the lawn of her apartment complex. Many of her things were missing — including her young son’s pet turtle, Mikie.

Last month, the council amended the bill to have it take effect July 1, rather than 45 days after its enactment.

Rodvien, an Annapolis-area Democrat, said Monday that she agreed to co-sponsor the bill because she’s seen evictions in action.

“They’re just really devastating. It’s basically like kicking someone when they’re down,” Rodvien said.

Rodvien, who said she and her husband once rented out property but are not currently landlords, said she was pleased the measure provided a more “humane” way to handle evictions.

Hummer said she worked with tenants’ rights groups and landlord associations to craft the bill and believes it would benefit all parties. While tenants would be spared having their belongings dumped outside, landlords would no longer need to have movers on hand to do that. Instead, landlords could just change the locks with a sheriff’s deputy present. At that point, the resident’s stuff would be considered abandoned.

After the landlord changes the locks, the legislation provides a 24-hour period before the landlord can dispose of the tenant’s belongings. Hummer said she included that provision in case there was a mistaken eviction.

“This is a bill for compassion,” Hummer said.

Both landlord groups and tenants’ rights advocates supported the legislation.

The Maryland Multi-Housing Association, which represents apartment owners and property management companies, submitted written testimony in support of the bill, provided that it included changes that Hummer ultimately made.

“There is a lot of common ground here between housing providers, tenant advocacy groups, and the county government in the displeasure of seeing personal belongings being dumped and thrown away at the side of the roadways following an eviction,” wrote Matthew Pipkin, the group’s government and community affairs manager. “In years past, MMHA has had discussions with county leaders about bringing forth a clean ‘lock and leave’ eviction policy to avoid the unpleasantness of personal belongings being tossed out.”

Steven Waddy, president of the Anne Arundel County branch of the NAACP, told the council on Jan. 20 that he was heartbroken when he saw someone picking through the belongings of a renter who had recently been evicted in Glen Burnie.

The civil rights organization supports the bill, Waddy said, because it would help African American women, who are disproportionately affected by eviction.

“People are at their lowest, oftentimes, because they can’t afford to get a U-Haul. They can’t afford to get a car,” Waddy testified. “They don’t have a car. They’re rent-burdened. ... Most of the evictions are happening because they can’t afford rent.”

The measure has the support of Anne Arundel County Sheriff Everett Sesker, a Democrat whose office oversees evictions.

Sesker told The Banner that the bill would save his deputies hours. Rather than having to oversee movers dumping tenants’ belongings, deputies would just have to watch the landlord change the locks. That, in turn, would free deputies to serve summonses and warrants or provide security at the Circuit Court.

Sesker said Hummer’s bill benefits the community by preventing the eyesore of piles of furniture and clothes, and it helps residents who are often “victims of theft” when their belongings are left outside.

“It brings back a sense of caring to the process,” Sesker said. “People are being evicted, I get that. But we don’t have to humiliate people when we do it.”

Banner reporter Cody Boteler contributed to this story.