Introducing Bill to Strengthen Rental Licensing and Accountability

The Rental Dwelling Safety and Enforcement Act strengthens landlord licensing, enforcement, and accountability. The new legislation builds on the work Council President Cohen did as a Councilman in the last term.

Less than ½ of our rental properties in the city are properly licensed. That is unacceptable and it must change so that residents can live in decent conditions. While some unlicensed landlords may be having trouble obtaining a license, I have several in my district who are intentionally not obtaining licenses, not paying their fines or water bills, and do not care about the conditions in which the residents are living. Moreover, this bill works to decrease the fraud that many of us have seen, where licenses should never have been issued. I’m grateful to the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and the advocates for working so hard with me on this. 

Key Points in the Rental Dwelling Safety and Enforcement Act:

•  Applies to all rental properties, not just those with more than 20 units.

•  Establishes Rental Licensing Receivership where DHCD can take the most egregious violators to court, and the court could assign a receiver to bring the property up to code and sell it to a new owner.

• Requires DHCD to audit between 100 and 200 current licenses to ensure compliance and reduce fraudulent document filings.

•  Prevents licenses from being renewed or issued if the water bill is not paid.

• Ensures that a license can be revoked if the landlord uses intimidation tactics like threatening to call ICE on tenants.

•  Changes how landlords select rental inspectors to avoid conflict of interest - landlords cannot use the same third-party rental inspector for each time they renew each property for four renewal periods.

•  For buildings with more than 20 units that are specifically for older adult living, DHCD will establish customer service training for all staff of the management company, which must be taken as a condition of their rental license.