[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6373655,"mediaKeyId","2145661-bec9f1a2609d3399e7a5eab01be847a2","parentId",2145661,"title","Developers and property managers tell Senate panel rent control and related rules are deterring investment","audioSeconds",1543,"startMs",5957000,"endMs",7500000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2145661-bec9f1a2609d3399e7a5eab01be847a2&start=5957&end=7500","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2145661-bec9f1a2609d3399e7a5eab01be847a2/thumbnail_5957000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6373655/Maryland/Developers-and-property-managers-tell-Senate-panel-rent-control-and-related-rules-are-deterring-investment","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6373655-28782e1d90bb212b03993298db28936f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770430969&Signature=ntrZBsFOVEtXTHXn3SqIhHf3rVjmMRXc6Fixj2wWVj0bbjcoBwxD2BkSnvF6pO4eI6YP8cLjoKNry6~Hgh3aCPJh5n~K6xKhV0RC-9Y5YTg09A8iaE9L3k9LWuNKfuY8rOw1AEkWLbK0nYgiaJIlXgGsuHVhQohx5s0FM~SM1u52PLiEywSZE~mdBSgtg0rmI1g3OcrGOmhrnbfJW~yghYWLsOndWTmICffN8b4jHAiVXo9NLorsnJD01xdB5X60xN7IA2s0WJu3LHUlh2Vq16qhugASBji5FXzuqeJ8LmiClcJ9dacM59n1dw3CCCfiGX1RsvzNCVCyMPaJdzfQFA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","MGA - JPR","date","2025-01-21T00:00:00Z","article","Developers, property managers and industry associations told the Judicial Proceedings Committee on Jan. 21 that county‑level rent stabilization and other recent statutory changes have discouraged investors, hampered refinancing of older properties and complicated building management.

Tom Cole of the Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition and Aaron Greenfield of the Maryland Multi‑Housing Association said their organizations represent developers, owners and managers who support tenant protections but are worried about the cumulative regulatory burden. They said demand-side dynamics (low vacancy) and financing conditions (higher interest rates) already constrain production, and that added regulatory uncertainty deters institutional equity and lenders.

Representatives of several large regional owners described the local effects. Chris Brew, president and CEO of Donahoe Companies, said institutional equity has “zero interest” in investing in Montgomery County since local rent stabilization passed, and that multifamily transaction volume and starts in the county lag regional peers. He said falling asset valuations reduce property‑tax receipts and transfer taxes, and can lead some owners to surrender property to lenders rather than recapitalize under more constrained terms.

Arianna Royster, Borger Residential, and other operators described rising operating costs — particularly insurance, labor and energy — and warned that building retrofit mandates could be unaffordable, especially for older affordable properties. Industry witnesses said building‑energy performance standards (BEPS) and sprinkler retrofits can require heavy up‑front expenditures (they cited illustrative figures from local technical reports) and that a gap between required capital and allowed rent increases makes cost recovery difficult in rent‑regulated jurisdictions.

Speakers also said vacancy‑control provisions (limits on resetting rent between tenants) and a large increase in the eviction‑filing surcharge can change owner behavior: some managers file less frequently to avoid repeated fees, which they argued could leave unpaid balances to accumulate and pose collection challenges. Several industry witnesses urged lawmakers to account for local permitting, tax and fee interactions when crafting statewide policy.

Why it matters: Industry testimony frames one side of a core policy tradeoff — protections for existing tenants versus incentives for production and maintenance. Developers argue that if financing and resale values decline, fewer projects will be built and preservation of older stock will be harder.

Ending: Committee members asked for more datasets on two issues the industry raised — county multifamily sales volumes and the effect of rent stabilization on permit and financing flows — and invited continued dialog between advocates, local governments and the business community. Quotes used in this article come from industry witnesses who testified at the Jan. 21 hearing.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","JPR Committee Session, 1/21/2025 #1","oneSentenceSummary","Large landlords and developer groups told the Judiciary Committee that recent tenant-protection measures and county‑level rent stabilization policies have reduced sales and investment in Maryland multifamily housing, raising concerns about future production and building maintenance costs.","taxTitle","Judicial Proceedings Committee, SENATE, SENATE, Committees, Legislative, Maryland","taxId",15095,"location","Maryland","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6373660,"Tenant advocates urge more protections, cite eviction disparities and limits of current law",1609,4120000,5729000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2145661-bec9f1a2609d3399e7a5eab01be847a2&start=4120&end=5729","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2145661-bec9f1a2609d3399e7a5eab01be847a2/thumbnail_4120000.jpg","/articles/6373660/Maryland/Tenant-advocates-urge-more-protections-cite-eviction-disparities-and-limits-of-current-law","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6373660-f47d1e288b3dca946016674e0b539a94/orig.mp4?Expires=1770430969&Signature=IyCqRt42S-q~vINVMHfUHdK36vVV9FX9DyjGNVDXrU70RmW95J~l1j4eFMTgJg4HL6BPxDIKzRQK2CcysvYRqhaIe4TNZFaLLyB7rYcnKwjcxxnFpNQhjZffvIM9TpJk8QJGuwHc0b1TUDZtALsjjr1PXJBmCviY-q~ydDeipJdPR4pEX-SPNvtxn4oQrmfcJHfytbAIR0uc6dL8rAoDX7XVOiFe3prqODuHSSwD6JvqyfcyrljgYGKEtcZozSrwV4KKmidXsv2DnuoiCEXBt5AJOIOTNLLDU1WEfMcX6Kx44htqRF8IbqmZ4QIO7epyOFmXlMtMOSh~tT7z7e9m2Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Tenant advocates, legal services lawyers and civil-rights researchers told the Judicial Proceedings Committee on Jan. 21 that recent Maryland laws have moved the needle for some renters but important gaps remain in enforcement, access to counsel and protections against retaliation.

Zephyr Shaw, director of the AFSI Human Right to Housing unit at Maryland Legal Aid, summarized more than a decade of tenant-protection legislation and said the state has made substantial progress in five categories: preventing unfair conduct in the marketplace, strengthening tenant notice and due process, improving access to housing opportunities, protecting tenants from retaliation, and establishing governance structures such as reporting and a dedicated Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs.

Shaw listed recent statewide measures — including prohibition of source-of-income discrimination, a statewide tenant right of first refusal, access-to-counsel expansions in eviction court, and the Renter’s Rights and Stabilization Act — as “major milestones” but argued there are specific gaps to fix. He highlighted the need for stronger protections in non‑payment and non‑lease cases, better remedies for tenants who appear at court without counsel, and limits on electronic notice that can be abused.

Jose Coronado Flores of CASA, an immigrant‑advocacy network, described the new Tenant Safety Act’s joinder mechanism — which lets tenants in the same building join rent‑escrow proceedings — as already working. He described a case in which 39 tenants at a Prince George’s County complex used the joinder provision to pursue a coordinated claim. But CASA’s field reports also described widespread building disrepair, slow maintenance responses, mold and HVAC failures at multiple affordable communities and said that tenants who speak up sometimes face lease nonrenewals.

David Wheaton of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund laid out eviction data showing disproportionate impacts on Black households. Using eviction warrant and removal data for the year ending Sept. 30, 2024, Wheaton reported that Black households experienced nearly three times the eviction removal rate of white households in Maryland, that households headed by Black women had the highest eviction removals, and that areas with higher shares of Black renters had higher rates of no‑cause and holdover eviction filings. He also noted research linking eviction to long‑term income losses and higher use of homeless services.

Legal Aid and CASA urged several reforms: strengthening anti‑retaliation law to cover more tenant activities including tenant organizing and to make it easier to pursue retaliation defenses in court; tightening rules on tenant screening and criminal‑history screening; and expanding upstream access to legal help before filing becomes necessary.

Professor Edward G. Goetz of the University of Minnesota presented empirical research on good‑cause eviction laws and production. He summarized published studies that find good-cause protections can reduce eviction filings and displacement, and presented new county‑level permit analysis from California, Oregon and New Hampshire that — after controlling for demand factors — found no evidence that adopting good‑cause regulations reduced housing permits at the county level. Goetz said the highest‑quality evidence currently available indicates good‑cause can reduce displacement without producing measurable declines in housing production in those states.

Why it matters: advocates said Maryland’s suite of protections has tightened rights for many tenants but that policy design, enforcement resources and data collection need to be improved to address racial disparities, no‑cause evictions and building‑condition problems that continue to cause displacement.

Ending: committee members asked for more empirical breakdowns (for example, production by housing type and additional county‑level data) and invited agency and advocate follow‑up on targeted amendments to retaliation and eviction‑process rules. Quotes are attributed to speakers who testified before the committee.","Advocates and researchers told the Senate committee that Maryland’s recent tenant-protection laws have improved some outcomes but gaps remain — especially for racial disparities, no‑cause evictions and enforcement of habitability — and urged further steps including better data, enforcement and anti‑retaliation changes.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6373666,"Maryland housing leaders warn supply shortfall, present early evidence renters’ protections are lowering filings",1122,540000,1662000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2145661-bec9f1a2609d3399e7a5eab01be847a2&start=540&end=1662","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2145661-bec9f1a2609d3399e7a5eab01be847a2/thumbnail_540000.jpg","/articles/6373666/Maryland/Maryland-housing-leaders-warn-supply-shortfall-present-early-evidence-renters-protections-are-lowering-filings","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6373666-9a08e88a55b3705a5ce53b51f3d75a8a/orig.mp4?Expires=1770430969&Signature=PfSbeXNX~uduyCjOOYnbGaAnBCxZO4GHHVohFIQQMXPG8u~NiLfu0406xStm8709tghxagWPcXjcKWB1VnvnIvLYdPjWT56EmhPjiW-7izfCAivCpOA1M4ZtAGFgMQlYZkZLb39q0uGRQ-jczq8JERI~tMV4hlW09ckxsaxDjGthxZ0gIp-caMp5btS4j42g3bglb9WEJ57M3AcUx6KVBcigA2j0WL1k78f8A0vlqBvIucSODMcBoJSii03YNwIuyawwus9fC-5EsSzK88PbVsRNympsp-kfyWgvDjzPPhmNKgq-tG~YJRsAsqHiddWEkGzvE87QJu7Te-vh~5axtg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Secretary Day, the head of Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development, told the Judicial Proceedings Committee on Jan. 21 that Maryland is underproducing housing and that recent renter-protection laws are beginning to show early effects.

In a detailed presentation the secretary said the state’s median home value rose from $300,000 in 2010 to $413,000 today, median rents have risen 46% since 2010, and year-over-year median rent showed a roughly 10% increase. He said Maryland’s housing supply has lagged population growth, estimating the state has underproduced housing “at a rate of 56,100 units per year on average,” and noted a drop in permitted units in 2023 compared with the prior year.

The secretary framed the briefing as a two-part task: assess the “state of play” for housing in Maryland and examine how the Judicial Proceedings Committee’s recent tenant protections have affected tenants and the housing market. He described last year’s legislative package — including the Housing Expansion Affordability Act, the Housing and Community Development Financing Act, and the statewide Renter’s Rights and Stabilization Act — as “a comprehensive approach” to increase production and protect renters.

The administration provided preliminary enforcement and program updates tied to the renter protections. The Renter’s Rights and Stabilization Act took effect Oct. 1 and the department reported these changes implemented statewide: a maximum security deposit equal to one month’s rent, an increase in the eviction filing fee from $15 to $50, a tenant “right of first refusal” portal, and an online portal with landlord and tenant resources. The department said it has hired the first employee for the new Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs and is filling two additional positions. The department reported early eviction filing data in limited jurisdictions: comparing October 2023 to October 2024, eviction filings in Baltimore City were down about 35% and in Anne Arundel County were down about 48%.

“The early data from two jurisdictions are promising signs that the legislation is working as intended to reduce housing instability for renters,” Secretary Day said. He cautioned the committee that this is preliminary and that the department plans a six‑month evaluation and continued work with courts to collect eviction-outcome data in partnership with the judiciary.

Committee members pressed the secretary on tradeoffs between preservation and production of housing, the role of local zoning and permitting, and the possibility that tenant‑focused laws could affect investment in rental housing. Senator Henson asked about the “Just Communities” baseline report and how preservation of older affordable units can be balanced with new construction; the secretary said the department is exploring bifurcated funding approaches (separate lines for preservation vs. new production) but that statutory or budget changes would be required.

Several senators argued the state must keep an eye on regulatory barriers and permitting timelines. Secretary Day and later witnesses pointed to permitting and local development review as major constraints on production that state policy should address alongside financing tools. The secretary cited the Housing for Jobs Act and other proposals intended to identify redevelopment capacity near transit and job centers.

Why it matters: committee members and the administration agreed the state faces twin challenges — increasing production near job centers and protecting renters — and that policies in one area affect the other. Secretary Day urged lawmakers to weigh both goals when drafting housing policy.

Ending: The committee scheduled follow-up requests for more fine-grained permitting and production numbers by county, more complete eviction and court-processing data from the judiciary, and a six‑month evaluation of early outcomes tied to last year’s renter protections. Quotes used in this article come from Secretary Day’s presentation and the committee’s question period.","The Department of Housing and Community Development briefed the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Jan. 21 on Maryland’s housing shortage and early results from the Renter’s Rights and Stabilization Act, saying production must rise and noting preliminary declines in eviction filings in two counties.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Developers and property managers tell Senate panel rent control and related rules are deterring investment

Tenant advocates urge more protections, cite eviction disparities and limits of current law

Maryland housing leaders warn supply shortfall, present early evidence renters’ protections are lowering filings