On February 13, 2024, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko submitted written testimony to the House Environment and Transportation Committee in support of HB 477- Landlord and Tenant- Residential Leases and Holdover Tenancies- Local Just Cause Termination Provisions. This bill authorizes counties to establish laws preventing landlords from failing to renew a lease without just cause.
For the 2024 Maryland General Assembly Session, MACo has made it a priority – one of the Association's four legislative initiatives – to Advance Comprehensive Housing Solutions. Much like climate change and rising sea levels, the challenges surrounding affordable housing are vast and call for a large, multipronged effort. While in other policy areas, it may be easy to deduce a simple cause-and-effect relationship, housing is a complex web of multifaceted factors. Addressing challenges like workforce, financing, interest rates, broad economic trends, supply chain, and large out-of-state corporate interests – among many other obstacles – requires an all-hands-on-deck effort from policymakers at all levels.
MACo is working with sponsors to cross-file legislation to target several components of this crisis: abandonment/blight disincentives, corporate owner transparency, and short-term rental oversight. Additionally, under this initiative, counties will be supporting other pro-housing legislation which helps to advance the conversation, balances local flexibility, and ensures more Marylanders can afford a place to call home.
From MACo Testimony:
Several counties have sought the authority from HB 477 to protect vulnerable constituents facing eviction for reasons outside of their control. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, evictions have received increased scrutiny as average household debt due to unpaid rent and volatility in the employment marketplace reached significantly elevated levels. HB 477 simply provides a tool for counties to prevent housing instability and inequity tailored to the needs of their respective communities.
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