Public Justice Center and Citizen’s Planning and Housing Association Eviction Reform Initiative

In fiscal year 2007, there were 7,864 evictions representing nearly 7 percent of all renters in Baltimore City. Evictions are devastating for tenants and are a triggering event contributing to homelessness. Evictions also had a negative effect on neighborhoods, as the city allowed the landlords to deposit in the public right-of-way all items remaining in the units. Three full-time crews were employed by the City’s Department of Public Works to follow every eviction and pick up and dispose of items, at a cost to city taxpayers of more than $1 million each year. And while the Department of Public Works attempted to accomplish this within 24 hours of an eviction, in reality, the Department reported that the crews took an average of 2.7 days to clear the streets. In the meantime, the piles became scattered by wind and weather, and picked through by scavengers. The resulting debris blighted neighborhoods, demoralized residents, blocked pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and hindered community investment.

Other states and cities handle evictions differently. A March 2003 Abell Report found that Baltimore has a higher rate of eviction per tenant than Cleveland; Washington, DC; Detroit; New York City; and Philadelphia. The research showed that Maryland’s eviction process is markedly different from other states in that the court eviction process assigns less responsibility to landlords to notify tenants and to store and dispose of remaining belongings, or chattel, remaining following an eviction.

In response to the issues raised in the Abell Report, the Public Justice Center and the Citizen’s Planning and Housing Association with funding from The Abell Foundation worked together to organize tenant and neighborhood groups and set a public agenda to change the process of evicting residential tenants in Baltimore City. PJC built a coalition of 25 tenant groups and advocacy organizations toward eviction reform and CPHA convened neighborhood groups and become an effective voice for the blighting and demoralizing impact of eviction chattel on neighborhoods. The two organizations played complementary roles with PJC focusing on outreach to tenants and tenant organizations and CPHA focusing on outreach to neighborhood groups.

PJC conducted extensive legal research on comparative landlord-tenant laws across the country, including the practice of tenant notice of scheduled eviction, tenant right to reclaim and alternatives to chattel being placed on the street. In addition, PJC researched the uniform jurisdiction of the Maryland district court in order to determine whether certain reforms could be accomplished at the state or local level. Based on this research, PJC and CPHA formulated policy proposals to provide notice to tenants of the date of eviction and require landlords to dispose of remaining items, prohibiting dumping in the right-of-way.

Last year, policymakers at the City and state levels began to signal interest in reforming the eviction process. Mayor Sheila Dixon’s transition report highlighted elimination of eviction chattel from public streets as a priority for the new administration. After taking office, the Mayor Dixon assigned the City Solicitor to form a workgroup of landlords, tenant advocacy groups, and community leaders to address this issue and former Councilman Kenneth Harris followed with the introduction of City Council legislation.

In August, 2007 the Baltimore City Council passed landmark legislation, called the “Clean Streets” bill, based on the principles advocated by the organizations. The legislation requires landlords to provide a two-week advance notice to the tenant of the exact date of eviction, landlords to dispose of all items remaining in the rental unit and prohibits tenant belongings from being placed in the street following eviction.

The PJC has worked with the District Court judges and clerks, the Sheriff’s Office, and eviction prevention programs to ensure compliance. The PJC wrote and published a brochure informing tenants and landlords of their rights and responsibilities under the new law, they make daily announcements in District Court to tenants and landlords, and they have issued public service announcements to local media, including a video announcement produced by the Megaphone Project. CPHA has met with neighborhood groups to inform them of the changes in the law and to encourage reporting of non-compliance and illegal dumping.

Recent numbers that show the early success of the new law in reducing both evictions and illegal dumping. Although landlords filed a similar number of court complaints for nonpayment of rent from October 2007 through April 2008 compared with the same period the year before, the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office reports that:

The number of evictions that the Sheriff was required to perform dropped 22%, from 3,889 to 3,019. The reduction results from tenants being able to pay off the rent in time and cancel the eviction, thus preserving their housing.

The number of tenants who had not moved out before the Sheriff arrived to perform the eviction dropped by 34%, from 886 to 585. The reduction is attributed to the notice of the specific date of eviction, allowing more tenants to work out repayment with the landlord or plan to move out of the premises and avoid being put on the street.

Since it took effect, the ordinance has been successful in eliminating public dumping and the public expense of cleaning up after evictions. There has been only one instance of illegal dumping as a result of an eviction, for which the landlord was subject to a fine of $1,000 per day. The elimination of Public Works sanitation costs and landfill costs associated with chattel pickup is expected to save the City $1 million annually.