Baltimore council reviews first month of Strengthening Renters Safety Act as residents describe hazardous conditions

Baltimore City Council members convened an oversight hearing on Feb. 4 to review implementation of the Strengthening Renters Safety Act, a new local law that directs the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to identify and prioritize buildings with repeated health-and-safety failures.

DHCD Deputy Commissioner Jason Hessler told the Legislative Investigations Committee that the department ran the law’s criteria against 2025 data and identified 38 properties that meet the statute’s threshold for ``priority dwellings.'' Under the law, buildings with 20 or more units become priority dwellings if they meet two of four criteria: an open violation notice older than 90 days; four or more violation notices in a calendar year; a high ratio of life/health-related 311 calls relative to the building size; or a HUD INSPIRE reinspection score of 79 or below. Hessler said DHCD mailed and hand-delivered notifications, added a map layer and website content listing the 38 properties, and plans meetings with owners in February and March followed by two rounds of special priority inspections (Feb–May and June–Oct).

Hessler said the law expanded the…