More awful landlord laws for Baltimore City have been proposed.

[Nicole A.]

Senate Bill 801, House Bill 0796--This bill is proposing to obtain additional funds for evictions and will adversely affect owners of units in Baltimore City. This bill will cause delays in evictions and owners will incur additional charges for filing, forcing landlords to have to wait (in turn losing more time and money) for evictions to be warranted.

The Senate hearing is scheduled for March 3, 2016; the House hearing has not been scheduled yet. You are invited to testify at the hearing where you can provide written and/or oral testimony for or against the bill. To check the dates of the hearings, please visit: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmLegislation.aspx?pid=legisnpage and enter the bill number (SB 801 or HB0796).

You may still file your complaints at the appropriate senate/delegates office mentioned above. Comments may be submitted in writing and sent to those offices.

Read the bill here:

http://files.ctctcdn.com/ed338b88401/b01f5efb-dfe9...

[Ned Carey]

One thing this bill provides for is a $30 fee PER EVICTION FILING, that the landlord has to pay to help the tenants legal costs. 

It also ads a new requirement that every rent payment must be issued a receipt. No receipt is cause for the case to be dismissed. So any tenant can claim they didn't get a receipt. This leads to a gray area where it is the landlords word against the tenant.

The are only a couple of the provisions of this blatantly one sided anti landlord bill

[Nicole A.]

Yes, it's crazy. You're absolutely right about the he-said, she-said game. I guess you have to certify mail send the receipt every time? Would email be proof enough? Text? What would the judges want to see? 

Hopefully this bill does not pass.

[John Thedford]

More bad news for landlords that own in any liberal left wing city! They are taking away owner's rights and forcing the owners to fund tenants, many of whom may be deadbeats ripping off investors. Your only solution, if you can't stop this garbage, is to refuse to purchase investment properties in those areas. 

[Russell Brazil]

Thanks for posting @Nicole A.. Any idea how much support this bill might have? I was actually in my Legislative Update CE class this morning. One of the things we reviewed was not just what new laws there were....but what bills that were proposed that did not get passes. I was pretty surprised to see how many bills actually get defeated.

[Nicole A.]

I noticed the same thing, Russell. Like past proposed bills that thankfully were defeated, hopefully it will be the same for this. And it's still good that they hear our voice and understand how it will affect investors wanting to work in the city.

[Nicole A.]

As Ned alluded to, there are a few more things this bill proposes. Below is some more detail on those changes (easier than reading the entire bill).

Please at least sign the online petition!!!

https://www.change.org/p/catherine-pugh-oppose-bal...

A short description of The Baltimore City Renters Act:

All landlords will be required to send tenants a 14 day notice that the rent is late. Included in this, each notice will have to include a ledger, copy of lease, registration # and lead cert # . You must inform the tenant that they can cure default by paying within this time frame. You also must include name of tenant advocates that can give them free legal advice and representation. This must be sent certified mail and first class.

After 14 days if payment has not been made you can file a failure to pay rent which must include all the documents and proof they were sent with certified mail tracking #.

When filing the failure to pay you must also add 30.00 to the court fees which you can not recover from tenant to fund advocates to represent tenants.

If your tenant pays you the money it must go towards the current amount due not to past balances and can only be for rent and late charges not utilities, water or citations.

If any of the steps are missed or challenged your case will be dismissed and you will have to start over.

Please pass this on to everyone that may have an interest in removing the bill.

[Account Closed]

Is Baltimore County known to be as restrictive? I've been going back and forth between these two areas, but even the proposition of laws like these make me reconsider the city right now. 

[Nicole A.]

@Account Closed So far, the county has been better than the city regarding eviction laws.  Currently, while eviction laws are similar in the county and city, the city does have a few more hoops to jump through to be able to get your eviction. It will be much much much worse if this bill passes. I invest in the county myself.

[Account Closed]

@Nicole A. Thank you for the insight. I've been focusing on Dundalk and will probably continue to do so. 

[Jennifer T.]

Although this bill wouldn't affect me, I am just appalled.

It sounds like, if it passes, landlords filing for evictions essentially fund a legal aid account for deadbeat tenants.  People who already aren't adult and/or moral enough to pay their basic bills will now get even more free concessions.

[Gabe G.]

In a way every landlord has to fund the deadbeat tenants.

If investment properties were like a hotel or extended stay place. If they don't pay and are staying it's a criminal offense, you call the cops, they haul the deadbeat away.

But cities obviously don't want these deadbeats roaming the city home less, so that's why even in landlord friendly areas, it takes a month or two from the time they stop paying to get them out of the home, all while the landlord eats the cost of that.

But it get ridiculous in these liberal areas. Which makes me question why you would want to landlord in Baltimore, when there are other cities that are more reasonable with their landlord/tenant laws.

[Jade S.]

Originally posted by @Nicole A.:

Senate Bill 801, House Bill 0796--This bill is proposing to obtain additional funds for evictions and will adversely affect owners of units in Baltimore City. This bill will cause delays in evictions and owners will incur additional charges for filing, forcing landlords to have to wait (in turn losing more time and money) for evictions to be warranted.

The Senate hearing is scheduled for March 3, 2016; the House hearing has not been scheduled yet. You are invited to testify at the hearing where you can provide written and/or oral testimony for or against the bill. To check the dates of the hearings, please visit: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmLegislation.aspx?pid=legisnpage and enter the bill number (SB 801 or HB0796).

You may still file your complaints at the appropriate senate/delegates office mentioned above. Comments may be submitted in writing and sent to those offices.

Read the bill here:

http://files.ctctcdn.com/ed338b88401/b01f5efb-dfe9...

Statist is as statist does.  It would seem to be an attempt to discourage future evictions by imposing additional onerous documentation and financial requirements on those "greedy" landlords.  People in Baltimore City are truly getting what they voted for...hope the measure is defeated.

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Nicole A.  unintended consequences... something like this pass's and I assume this is a low income type rental area with lots of evictions  but also sky high rental returns on paper.

when it becomes untenable to deal with this stuff the investment capital retreats. and you have areas that become even worse than they are now.. especially if these are low value assets by that I mean you can buy them for under 100k or under 50k.. I could see many walking.. and prices driven even lower.. to a mean.. do you could have deflation of a serious nature and the areas become even worse than they are now..

I don't know the area I am just reading between the lines.. as in great A class or B class evictions are not common place and it sounds like there is stress from owners there about their eviction rights so that leads one to believe its that type of area as described above.

Smart money exits dumb money comes in   dumb money loses their investment place turns to full blown Ghetto status..   just my thought

[Mike Williams]

Signed the petition. Hope this anti-landlord bill does not pass. Will make me reconsider buying additional properties in the city if it does.

[Nicole A.]

@Jay Hinrichs While there are some beautiful, sought-after neighborhoods in the City, yes, you are right that overall, it is a C class (or worse) type area with lots of people who live off of under-the-table money, gov't assistance, disability, etc. People who more often than not lack bank accounts. There are some wonderful people in this pool as well, but it is extremely easy to get a bad tenant. I agree with your predictions of many investors leaving the city if this kind of thing were to pass. Many have already indicated their intent to do just that if this happens.

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Nicole A.  well it will be interesting to see. I understand rent control and all.. you have that in the top teir cities in the US>.. SF  NY  etc. Berkeley .

However to force owners to deal with transient by nature tenants.. like they were model tenants etc is really over reaching.

I had a eviction in MS  last month... the tenant had not paid for a few months ( happens to me often as I just don't follow the income very closely and wake up one morning and they have not paid in 3 months.. my fault I know)  Well this professional tenant who my POS PM put in there was thinking this was Jackson MS and Hinds country eviction rules. when this was Pearl and RAnkin county eviction rules..

so they fought went to court all the normal BS.. in Hinds county they could have delayed it more and when you get a set out its pretty loosely if not over looked by the constable. WEll in Rankin.. its not.. judge said out in 72 hours.. I guess these folks did not think he meant it. my guy shows up with Constable they have not packed a thing and were cooking breakfast in there PJs.  Constable escorts them out of the house in their PJs tells them if they go back in they will be arrested and let our crew move everything to the curb..

Never Happen like that in Hinds.. did I feel bad not in the slightest did not pay for 3 months then tried to fight it.. not sure what goes on in these peoples minds

[Kimberly H.]

wow, I hope it gets defeated there and doesn't spread elsewhere...

[Pam I.]

SMH. Thanks for sharing. As a newbie, I was considering Baltimore as buy & hold place. If this bill passes, perhaps this area would be better for a flip instead. 

[Account Closed]

@Pam I. I'm literally in the same exact position as you. I'll be wholesaling all throughout Baltimore city. But knowing the local government views landlords in an unfriendly way guarantees my investment dollars stay in the suburbs. 

As someone who lives and works in Baltimore city, and sees the type of poverty here firsthand, I'm not really surprised at this bill. 

[Donald Wilson]

I am a small investor in the hood sections of west Baltimore. If this passes then my game plan becomes quite simple. All leases when eligible go from yearly to monthly. Then instead of following the eviction process I simply terminate their lease.

[Account Closed]

solution for me if this passes. 

1. all rents rise 30 dollars per month due to additional rent court cost not allowed to be carried back to tenant.

2. all water bills now paid by landlord, and rent goes up by approximate monthly water bill amount per month. (because water bill balances cant be filed in failure to pay rent motions)

3. all tenants get mailed documents after 5 days if rent not paid, allowing rent notice filing on the 19th.

4. month to month leases. terminated instantly as a result of forcing rent court filings.

[David L.]

good job Jay. :)