The push to change a Maryland eviction law everyone ignores — except Anne Arundel

Last May, the managers of several apartment buildings in Glen Burnie filed 90 lawsuits accusing their tenants of failing to pay rent.

An Anne Arundel County District Court judge scheduled trials on those complaints for five business days later, which fell on the day after the Memorial Day holiday, and ordered the county sheriff’s office to place notices on residents’ doors. Court records show that they posted many of the notices on the day tenants were due for trial at 8:45 a.m.

Few, if any, residents showed, according to records and housing attorneys, and a judge largely ruled in favor of the landlords by default. The decision stripped the tenants of their ability to pay the overdue rent and jump-started the process of their being legally kicked out of their homes.

Housing lawyers say it happens every day in Anne Arundel, often with dockets featuring hundreds of tenants.

The judge was following an almost century-old state law that requires a trial within five days of a landlord’s filing a failure-to-pay-rent lawsuit, a rule that other localities across the state regularly ignore. Housing advocates and county Sheriff Everett Sesker are trying to get state lawmakers to change the law as it applies to Anne Arundel to avoid what some view as the potentially devastating consequences.

Sesker, a Democrat, wants state legislators to add a provision to the statute to bring his jurisdiction’s practice in line with the rest of the state, spare his overworked deputies and give residents a reasonable chance to defend themselves in court.

“We’re actually putting these notices on doors the day of court, the day before court,” Sesker told The Banner, explaining that the practice does not provide enough time for people to get time off from work or arrange for child care.

This is the second session of the Maryland General Assembly in which Sesker has pursued the measure. He has an ally in Del. Gary Simmons, a Democrat who represents northern Anne Arundel and who introduced the bill for Sesker.

“The sheriff’s department, they want to be fair to the residents,” Simmons said in an interview. “They don’t want to engage in this predatory housing. ... It puts the tenants to a disadvantage because the worst thing you can do is show up to court and not have an understanding of the law or have representation.”

Matt Pipkin, a lobbyist for the Maryland Multi-Housing Association, said the bill would make landlords wait too long to go to court, noting that the law already requires landlords to give tenants 10 days’ notice before they sue for failure to pay rent.

“It’s going to increase rents over time,” Pipkin told the county delegation.

At about $2,119 a month, the cost of renting in Anne Arundel is already among the highest in the state.

Anne Arundel follows the 1975 amendment to a 1930s law that requires the five-day trial rule, but in most counties, trials are typically scheduled three to six weeks from the time a landlord sues, according to housing advocates.

In January, Cienna Brown and her husband got a notice from the landlord of their Crofton apartment saying they would be sued for failure to pay rent if they didn’t pay $2,400 in 10 days.

Court records show that the landlord sued on Jan. 23, during the recent snowstorm, and that an Anne Arundel judge scheduled the trial for Jan. 30. Brown said she didn’t receive notice before her trial date.

“I got nothing up until literally the day after a judgment was served against me. I was livid,” Brown said. “We’re scrambling to get the money. But at that point, you need to know the time frame.”

The judge ruled in favor of her landlord. After getting notice the day after trial, Brown emailed her attorney explaining that she hadn’t been served court papers in time for court. Her attorney filed an emergency motion to reopen the case, which is still pending.

She believes her experience underscores the need to change the law for Anne Arundel.

“We’re talking about people’s housing. We’re talking about what keeps people warm in the winter and cool in the summer. This isn’t a question,” Brown said. “And the majority of the world is not full of lazy people who don’t want to pay their rent. The majority are hardworking people who fall on tough times, and that’s why we’re there.”

The rate at which tenants show up for failure-to-pay-rent cases in Anne Arundel is less than half that of other counties, according to Lisa Sarro, director of litigation and advocacy for Community Legal Services.

“What I discovered is that the appearance rate in Anne Arundel County — that is, the number of tenants who are appearing for trial — is 5%,” said Sarro, whose group represents tenants in their disputes with landlords. “The average around the state is near 10%. Prince George’s, Montgomery and Baltimore City are over 10.”

When tenants don’t show, the judge typically sides with the landlord, Sarro said. The residents lose their right to negotiate or pay back rent, and the landlord can begin the legal process for eviction.

“To have somebody get a filing the day before their hearing, taped to their door, and find it as they’re walking out for work is not meaningful notice and opportunity to be heard,” Matt Hill, an attorney for the Public Justice Center, told the House Economic Matters Committee. “It’s not a chance to be able to say, ‘No, I don’t owe this rent. I’ve been withholding the rent because you haven’t fixed the leak in the ceiling.’ It’s not due process.”

A separate bill before the County Council would overhaul the way evictions are carried out in Anne Arundel.

The state bill would change state law so that it only impacts Anne Arundel County. The legislature typically approves “local bills” so long as they have the support of the lawmakers from the county in question. Anne Arundel’s legislative delegation is considering whether to back Simmons’ measure.

Simmons’ bill faces opposition from the Maryland Judiciary and an organization that represents landlords.

The courts don’t want a law to create a procedure that is unique to Anne Arundel, Suzanne Pelz, a lobbyist for the judiciary, wrote to the Economic Matters Committee.

“The Judiciary believes there should be statewide consistency and equity in how landlord/tenant cases are processed across Maryland,” Pelz wrote.

A spokesperson for the judiciary, Nick Cavey, declined to say why the judges in Anne Arundel are adhering to the five-day rule when most, if not all, other jurisdictions don’t.