The latest news from MMHA.
LTA Baltimore County Announcement in LTA News News Coverage for the LTA coming to Baltimore County! CityBizList CityBizList Baltimore WMAR-TV The Daily Record BNN Online Continue Reading
Believing that The Baltimore Sun wrote the title to their "investigative series," Dismissed: Tenants Lose, Landlords Win in Baltimore City Rent Court, before properly collecting and analyzing the true facts and procedures of rent court and rent escrow court, MMHA sent our perspective to the Sun... Continue Reading
From the Daily Record: "The apartment boom in Maryland appears headed for a slow down as big banks nationally put the brakes on lending for multifamily projects. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that credit markets for projects nationally are drying up. MPF Research found national demand... Continue Reading
Erroneously high water bills may lead to the privatization of the Baltimore City's water system which is currently run by the Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW). When asked about privatization, Mayor Catherine Pugh praised DPW ‘s new smart meter technology, "Baltimeter," and... Continue Reading
Saying that it would make it easier for health practitioners to identify more children affected by lead, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is considering lowering its threshold for lead levels in children by at least 30 percent from 5 micrograms per deciliter to 3.5... Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published its final fiscal year 2017 fair market rents (FMR) for Maryland. The Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metropolitan area, which includes Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Harford County, Howard County, Queen... Continue Reading
Administrative Services for the District Court of Maryland has notified district court practitioners that the Petition for Warrant of Restitution Form ( DC-CV-081) has been revised . The new warrant of restitution form can be found by clicking here. Please note, the previous version of the... Continue Reading
The Pew Research Center recently released some interesting survey results concerning the balance between the working conditions and the pay that companies provide their employees and the bottom line costs for consumers. The survey can be summarized as follows: Around one-half of Americans feel... Continue Reading
Dr. Ben Carson is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Dr. Carson will be charged with running an agency with a budget of $47.9 billion and over 8,400 employees. HUD plays a significant role in all housing arenas. For... Continue Reading
On November 29, 2016, The Maryland Court of Appeals published an opinion regarding rent escrow. The 21 page opinion in Wendy Crane v. EZ Rentals is simply a restatement of the current rent escrow law found in the Maryland Real Property Article, §8-211(e). The Honorable Robert N. McDonald's... Continue Reading
On Tuesday, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas blocked an Obama administration rule to extend mandatory overtime pay to approximately 4.2 million salaried workers nationwide from taking effect, imperiling one of the outgoing president’s signature achievements for boosting... Continue Reading
Yesterday, Senator Thomas "Mac" Middleton (D - Charles County), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, held an interim hearing on Employer Mandated Paid Sick Leave. With the primary sponsor of last year's paid sick leave bill, Senator Pugh, becoming the Mayor of Baltimore and thus departing... Continue Reading
The National Apartment Association (NAA) highlights a potential class action lawsuit against Facebook on the grounds that the social networking site allows racial discrimination in housing and employment ads, violating the Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The NAA article can be... Continue Reading
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued a final rule under the Fair Housing Act, which became effective on October 14th, 2016, clarifying that discriminatory actions by non-agents of the landlord, such as other tenants, are the landlord's responsibility; even if the... Continue Reading
After hearing two business group leaders dump on the paid sick leave proposal from last session, Sen. Ed Kasemeyer, chair of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, told a Howard County Chamber of Commerce breakfast Wednesday that the paid sick leave bill was bound to pass this term, and... Continue Reading
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) expanded the protections of The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2013 and finalized a new rule to protect the housing of survivors of domestic abuse, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Housing providers that... Continue Reading
Last week in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) filed a statement of interest arguing that the Fair Housing Act (FHA) requires that landlords who consider criminal records in evaluating prospective tenants do not use overly broad... Continue Reading
For Immediate ReleaseOctober 19th, 2016 The Maryland Multi-Housing Association Announces Officers for 2017 MMHA is a professional trade association established in 1996, whose membership consists of owners and managers of more than 178,288 rental housing homes in more than 705 apartment... Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was very active in 2016 when it came to the Fair Housing Laws. The below chronologically highlights HUD's actions in the Fair Housing arena this this past year: In April, HUD issued guidance on the use of criminal records in real... Continue Reading
On October 1st, the landscape of Maryland’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Law changed. Employers should carefully review this bill and update their employment policies. Before the October 1st amendments became law, Maryland's Equal Pay for Equal Work law required that an employer, regardless of... Continue Reading
Beginning this Saturday, October 1st, a security deposit receipt, and it’s 7 required points of notification, MUST be included in the written lease. This requirement reflects a change to Real Property Article 8-203 that was passed during the 2016 legislative session in Annapolis. The 7... Continue Reading
Beginning October 1st, the maximum fee that a condominium association or home owners association (HOA) may charge a unit owner for providing a resale package will be $250. This figure may be CPI-U adjusted every 2 years, but as of October 1, 2016 the maximum fee will be $250. Condominium... Continue Reading
New OSHA guidelines, effective immediately, state that OSHA will not approve settlement agreements that prohibit or restrict employees from “participating in protected activity.” In this regard, OSHA is particularly focused on the inclusion of confidentiality or “gag”... Continue Reading
With the cost of housing squeezing family budgets across the country, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released draft legislation that would create a new tax credit to spur the development of rental homes affordable to Americans with moderate incomes. The new incentive,... Continue Reading
Maryland Legal Aid releases a "study" on Maryland's rent court system claiming 1. failure of due process at all levels of the summary ejectmet proceedings and 2. inadequate record keeping by the court system on summary ejectment cases. The "study" blames the landlords and the court system for... Continue Reading
Holden Wilen of the Baltimore Business Journal reports that the Regulatory Reform Commission, who last year recommended consolidating professional licenses and reviewing the state's procurement process, indicated that this year they will recommend modifying and repealing regulations that... Continue Reading
Steve Lash of the Maryland Daily Record Reports that in a 3-0 decision, the Court of Special Appeals said the federal law permitting landlords to evict drug-possessing tenants in subsidized housing does not trump Maryland’s statute permitting eviction only upon a showing that the terms of... Continue Reading
In October, the Department of Public Works (DPW) will start BaltiMeter Billing, a new water and sewer billing system that according to DPW will enhance their infrastructure and help to ensure customers receive efficient and reliable billing services. The below information affects only City... Continue Reading
The Baltimore County Police Financial and Cyber Crime Unit has seen an uptick in online rental scams. The Baltimore Sun article can be found by clicking here. Continue Reading
The Baltimore Board of Estimates approved an annual water rate increase of 9.9% and a sewer rate increase of 9% over each of the next 3 years. An article from the Baltimore Business Journal explains the increase and the reasons for it. Continue Reading
