New Housing Data Available for Maryland: 

MORE EVICTION DATA AVAILABLE FOR STATE OF MARYLAND

Maryland released a new dashboard of Eviction Data in May 2023. This is in response to a 2022 Maryland General Assembly law requiring the District Court of Maryland to collect and report eviction case data and requiring the Department of Housing and Community Development to publish a dashboard for public viewing and analysis and to publish an annual eviction report. The District Court began collecting the eviction case data required under the law on January 1, 2023, and the public dashboard launched in May 2023.

Contents of the Dashboard - 

The dashboard contains multiple pages with: (1) Statewide Eviction Summary, and (2) Eviction Data by Case Type. DHCD is developing new features for the dashboard that will offer additional analysis tools, including mapping and summary data for all landlord-tenant cases.

Court Data Collection Process -

• Sheriff's offices collect a few basic data points on the evictions they conduct. Each sheriff uses a different  tool or process to track this data.
• Data is provided by the sheriff's office monthly to the District Court clerk's office on the evictions they conducted.
• The District Court clerks enter the data into the Maryland Electronic Court (MDEC) data system.
• Judiciary staff compile data using the MDEC monthly.

Eviction Data Not Included - 

Not all evictions conducted in January through March 2023 may be reflected in the data as of publishing, as the new data collection and reporting process is continuing to be implemented and refined. The data provided by the District Courts for this dashboard only includes cases where the tenant was forcibly evicted by the sheriff’s office under a legal warrant of restitution. Court data does not include all judgments of possession, which deemed the tenant no longer had a right to the property. Additionally, court data does not include all tenants with orders of warrants of restitution.

On average, there are typically between 10,000-12,000 warrants of restitution ordered in a month. Of those, there are approximately 1,000-2,000 evictions conducted by the sheriff, which is the data included in this dashboard. As a result, this dashboard does not include:

• Cases where a tenant moved out prior to a warrant of restitution being ordered by the court or moved out prior to the sheriff conducting an eviction
• Cases where a warrant of restitution was ordered but the tenant legally “paid to stay” under right of redemption
• Cases where a tenant was illegally evicted through lockout, turnoff of utilities, or other measures intended to force a tenant to leave the unit prior to the sheriff conducting an eviction

Dashboard viewers should not compare year-over-year trends for evictions using this dashboard, as the District Court did not begin collecting and reporting eviction case data until January 2023.

Eviction Case Types - 

• Tenant Holding Over - A landlord files this when they allege the tenant refuses to leave the property after the lease term has expired. The landlord can use this to seek eviction and possibly monetary damages for rent owed.
• Breach of Lease - A landlord files this when they believe the tenant has violated the lease. The landlord can use this action to seek eviction.
• Failure to Pay Rent - A landlord files this when they believe the tenant owes back rent. The landlord can use this to seek eviction and possibly monetary damages for rent owed.
• Wrongful Detainer - A property owner or other lawful occupant uses this action to seek eviction when someone who is not a lawful occupant of the property refuses to leave.

*****

Sources: 

MD Eviction Dashboard website.

https://www.msba.org/a2jcs-housing-data-dashboard/.

 Celebration of ADA's 33rd Anniversary

MARYLAND CELEBRATES ADA'S 33RD ANNIVERSARY WITH TOWN HALL

US Access Board Town Hall

Celebrate the ADA- Americans with Disabilities Act 33rd Anniversary! The U.S. Access Board will hold a public town hall meeting on Tuesday, July 25 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. (ET) at the national headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore, Maryland. Presidentially appointed Access Board members and representatives from other federal member agencies will be present to hear from the local community about the state of accessibility in Baltimore and the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area.

The Access Board is an independent federal agency that promotes equality for people with disabilities through leadership in accessible design and the development of accessibility guidelines and standards. Created in 1973 to ensure access to federally funded facilities, the Access Board is now a leading source of information on accessible design. The Access Board develops and maintains design criteria for the built environment, transit vehicles, information and communication technology, and medical diagnostic equipment under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and other laws. Share your experiences with accessibility at the town hall meeting! To register, send an email to events@access-board.gov with your name and organization. The Access Board invites in-person oral comments on accessibility. Registrants who wish to make in-person oral comments must indicate their request to speak when emailing events@access-board.gov. Public commenters will be allotted two minutes to make their comments.

Following the town hall meeting, members of the public will be able to meet and speak with Presidentially appointed Board members and representatives from other federal agencies at the networking reception from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (ET), sponsored by the Maryland Department of Disabilities.

Maryland Department of Disabilities Voice 410-767-3660 Toll Free ⁄ TTY ⁄ Voice 1-800-637-4113 www.mdod.maryland.gov

 Update on Previous Whitepaper:

Maryland Needs a State CRA Law to Increase Racial Equity & Reinvestment

The following is a summary of a whitepaper by Josh Silver of the National Community Reinvestment Corporation (NCRC) entitled "A Maryland CRA Law Would Marshall Considerable Resources for Increasing Racial Equity and Reinvestment." In this article, Silver presents reasons why Maryland should adopt its own state Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). This article was referenced in the June 23, 2023 NCRC Just News. Download the whitepaper.

Economic Action Maryland has released a Policy Brief that advocated a Maryland CRA Law. Economic Action Maryland, the NCRC, and other housing advocates plan to push for the legislature to pass a bill in the 2024 Session. Del. Melissa Wells (D-Baltimore City) introduced legislation this year to propose a state-level community reinvestment act, but withdrew it.

The Major Points of the Whitepaper & Policy Brief

(1) A Maryland CRA law would apply to banks and credit unions with about $46 billion in assets. It would cover mortgage companies that made more than 68,000 loans in three years. The assets and lending activity are considerable resources that should have a CRA obligation for reinvesting in underserved neighborhoods.

(2) A state CRA law would help narrow racial and equity gaps in lending. In Baltimore, for example, 33% of recent loans went to African Americans whereas they constituted 62% of the population.

(3) State law can plug gaps in the federal law. The federal CRA applies to banks, whereas other state laws in Massachusetts and Illinois also apply to mortgage companies and credit unions.

Impact of a Maryland CRA Law

A state CRA law would apply CRA to institutions with tens of billions of dollars which offer tens of thousands of loans. State-chartered banks have about $38 billion in assets and state-chartered credit unions have nearly $8 billion in assets. The top ten independent mortgage companies issued almost 68,000 home purchase loans in Maryland during 2018-2020.

Applying CRA to institutions with these large resources would channel significant increases in loans and investments to neglected communities in Maryland. A state CRA law is needed to address sizable racial and income disparities in access to loans. In all of Maryland, lenders made 20% of their single-family loans to African Americans in 2018-2020 while 29% of the population was African American. The gap is even wider in Baltimore, which is 62% Black but where only 33% of loans went to African American borrowers.

While some gaps have narrowed slightly, underserved communities continue to suffer. For the whole state, lending institutions made 32% of their loans to low- and moderate-income (LMI) borrowers during 2018-2020 while 31.6% of the population was LMI.  A significant disparity is in Baltimore where LMI borrowers received 58% of the loans but were 73% of the residents.

A state law would complement rather than duplicate federal law, as the experience of other state CRA laws have demonstrated. It can address needs and neighborhoods not explicitly addressed by the federal CRA. A state law could  authorize Maryland’s Commissioner of Financial Regulation to conduct separate exams for individual counties. This would enable examiners to assess performance more rigorously in Baltimore and underserved rural counties. In contrast, federal CRA exams usually rate performance on a metropolitan level that hides poor performance, which most often occurs in the underserved counties. In addition, a CRA law could require the examiners  to assess the sustainability of lending by considering default and delinquency rates. This is very important for underserved communities and is frequently overlooked by federal CRA exams.

A Maryland state law could contain provisions designed to counter CRA ratings inflation and that would motivate improvements in performance to communities of color. On a federal level, the pass rate of banks on their CRA exams is 98%. A state law should counter this inflation by introducing a fifth rating and by requiring examination of performance in underserved neighborhoods, which are disproportionately communities of color. By law, banks that fail their exams cannot receive deposits from a state agency. The Commissioner could also adjust fees based on ratings received.

Studies have shown that the federal CRA has increased lending and banking services in modest income communities. A state CRA law would expand and widen this. The gains in wealth from a rigorously enforced CRA, driven by homeownership and small business ownership, would benefit Maryland through higher gross domestic output, higher tax revenues, and reduced dependence on the state safety net.

Sources:

Read the June 13, 2023 NCRC article.

https://www.marylandmatters.org/2023/06/20/advocates-a-maryland-community-reinvestment-act-needed-to-invest-in-underserved-communities/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=4b868637-2282-437b-b614-5da7465c2ad8.

 Calendar: 

Upcoming Fair Housing Events 

 

Fast Track To HUD Housing Counsellor Certification

June 26 – June 30, 9 pm - 6 pm ET

Preparing for the HUD Housing Counseling Exam can be daunting when tackling it on your own. Research shows that working together in a collaborative environment allows individuals to learn the material better than when working alone. Join other housing counselors in this virtual experience where peer discussion, exploration of the six core topics on the exam, and interactive activities will stimulate all learning styles. [Register here]

 

Remaking the Economy: Tenant Organizing In Unexpected Places

July 12, 2 pm - 3:30 pm ET

Spurred in part by COVID and by a growing housing affordability crisis, tenant organizing is picking up in not just expected places like New York, but in mid-sized cities like Austin and Baltimore, and even smaller cities like Louisville, Kentucky, and Portland, Maine. In this 90-minute webinar, cosponsored and co-moderated by NPQ and Shelterforce, tenant activists will share their stories, both in direct organizing and policy advocacy. [Register here]

 

New American Leadership Institute MIMA Opportunity: NALI

Leadership Training Opportunity! MIMA returns with our third annual New American Leadership Institute!  This is a fantastic opportunity for emerging immigrant and refugee leaders to learn more about local governance, develop leadership skills, and create connections with peers. If you are interested in NALI, or know someone who is, please apply here! All four free sessions will be offered in person and the final session will be include closing remarks from Mayor Brandon Scott.  Applications are due on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. Want to stay updated with the latest information and resources for our immigrant and refugee communities? Follow MIMA on Facebook and Instagram! To sign up to receive our monthly update via email or suggest announcements to include, please contact mima@baltimorecity.gov. Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs 100 N. Holliday Street, Room 250 Baltimore, MD 21202 410-396-8056

 Economic Action Maryland June 29th Celebration Honors:  

Brian Frosh to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award from Economic Action Maryland

Economic Action Maryland (EAM) has announced that former Attorney General Brian Frosh will receive our Lifetime Achievement Award for his continued commitment to consumer protections and decades of good work on behalf of working families across Maryland. 

EAM will hold a celebration on June 29th  5:30-8:30 p.m. at the BWI Airport Marriott, 1743 W Nursery Road, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090 to celebrate our economic action champions, enjoy good food and good drinks, and renew our commitment to building an economy that works for all.  There is still time to claim your seat at the table and join us at our Awards Ceremony and Night of Celebration. The Keynote address will be by Lisa Snowden, Editor-in-Chief and Cofounder of Baltimore Beat. Read her biography.

Click here to get tickets.

Awardees are:

• Chris Van Hollen, U.S. Maryland Senator - Federal Champion of the Year Award.
• Brian Frosh, Maryland Attorney General - Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Will Smith, State Senator District 20 - Legislative Achievement of the Year Award.
• David Moon, State Delegate District 20 - Legislative Achievement of the Year Award.
• Lorig Charkoudian, State Delegate District 20 -Consumer Advocate of the Year Award.
• Stephanie Smith, State Delegate District 45 - Housing Advocate of the Year Award.
• Bank Of America & Baybrook Coalition - Community Partnership Award.

Sponsors and individuals who bought tickets for the event in November can use the discount code “RENEW” to redeem your tickets. If you didn’t get a chance to buy a ticket last time, don’t miss out now. Ticket sales will run until June 26th.

For more information about EAM: info@econaction.org.

Economic Action Maryland

2209 Maryland Ave.

Baltimore, MD 21218

(410) 220-0494 / info@econaction.org

 Free Public Celebration: 

June 24th Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition Meeting to Celebrate Red Line Cancellation

The Harbor venue and its bathrooms are wheelchair accessible. Please email btec.moretransitequity@gmail.com for questions.

Click here for map and to RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/save-the-date-2023-commemoration-of-the-red-line-june-24th?clear_id=true&source=email-save-the-date-june-24th-in-the-harbor-with-btec.

For more information: btec.moretransitequity@gmail.com.