For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 1, 2025
This afternoon, the Montgomery County Council by a unanimous vote adopted Bill 6-25, Consumer Protection for Renters, sponsored by Councilmember Kristin Mink and cosponsored by Council President Kate Stewart, Vice President Will Jawando and Councilmember Dawn Luedtke. The bill will remove an exemption for landlord/tenant issues under Consumer Protection law, opening up new County tools to induce compliance when landlords repeatedly fail to cure housing code violations.
The legislation was supported by a wide coalition of community and nonprofit organizations, including Action in Montgomery (AIM), Service Workers International Union (SEIU) Local 500, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1994 - MCGEO, the Islamic Society of the Washington Area (ISWA), the Muslim Community Center (MCC) of Silver Spring, CASA, the Enclave (Silver Spring) Tenants Association, Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) and Everyday Canvassing.
“Once this bill is signed into law, rental housing, typically tenants’ largest expense, will no longer be exempted from our County’s Consumer Protection laws,” said Councilmember Mink. “Because of that exemption, tenants have had no meaningful recourse if they discover they’ve been sold a false bill of goods and are locked into a lease with a landlord that chronically and illegally fails to meet basic obligations. A handful of the worst actors have wasted a significant amount of County code enforcement time for years on end, as they continue pitching their buildings to prospective tenants as safe, healthy, even luxury dwellings.”
“Landlords who follow the laws will be unaffected, but those whose business model relies on our inability to enforce tenant protection laws can soon be taken to court by the County with far more significant consequences on the line. I am grateful to County Executive Marc Elrich and my colleagues for their support, and to community members for their advocacy,” Mink continued.
In Fiscal Year 2024, the Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) attempted to recover over $1.5 million in unpaid fines through District Court. They collected just $100,375. This bill will allow the County to bring cases to Circuit Court illustrating patterns of deceptive practices, rather than fighting for single citations at a time.
“This legislation improves the County’s ability to bring landlords who repeatedly violate tenant protections in the County Code into compliance,” said County Executive Elrich. “Unfortunately, a minority of landlords rely on delaying the fixing of housing code violations or engaging in deceptive trade practices as part of their business model. They rely on six-month-plus delays in our overburdened District Court and the practice of judges to reduce fines to negligible amounts. The results are tenants waiting long periods of time for housing code violations to be fixed and this minority of landlords having only minor consequences for not fixing the violations in a timely manner. The Office of Consumer Protection and the Office of the County Attorney will now be able to sue landlords in Circuit Court who have a demonstrated history of property neglect, noncompliance with citations, and deceptive trade practices to seek injunctive relief and damages. The truth is most landlords do not engage in these practices, but those who do will learn quickly that they must either change their business model or face the more serious consequences provided in this bill.”
“Enhancing tenant protections is critical to ensuring the dignity and security of residents in Montgomery County,” Council President Stewart said. “I am glad to see this bill pass the County Council, continuing our commitment to ensuring all our residents have a safe place to call home.”
“This bill is about fairness and accountability,” Council Vice President Jawando said. “Landlords who engage in deceptive practices will no longer be shielded from liability. Bill 6-25 will give renters the tools they need to fight back against bad actors and ensure that every resident in Montgomery County has access to safe and dignified housing.”
“When a tenant pays rent, they should get what they pay for,” Councilmember Luedtke said. “I want to thank Councilmember Mink for leading on this important step to further protect Montgomery County residents. Safe and secure housing is critical to the well-being of our community and tenants deserve the same protection we seek to provide for any type of consumer.”
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Release ID: 25-114