MD SB941

The Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs must collaborate with the Attorney General to develop a plan identifying "severe health and safety risk properties"—rental units with chronic housing code violations, repeated citations, or persistently hazardous conditions.

The plan must establish referral methods allowing residents, tenant associations, municipal/county agencies, and community organizations to report problem properties to the Office.

Potential interventions include financial penalties, legal injunctions, required tenant escrow, corrective action plans with deadlines, mandatory inspections, pest eradication requirements, structural repairs, and temporary tenant relocation for unsafe units.

The Department of Housing and Community Development must submit the plan and legislative recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly by August 31, 2027.

The Act takes effect July 1, 2026 and automatically expires on December 31, 2027 (18-month duration).