Eviction crisis hits home at Annapolis housing authority

The Annapolis housing authority is in crisis.

It has over 300 households living in its multiple facilities in the city who are behind in their rent.

The Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis is offering “payment plans” which involve paying off back rent over time ( up to 24 months) and reducing current rents to reflect income loss. But as of Dec. 17, less than 10% of HACA tenants had entered into such agreements.

In many cases, the tenant, sometimes a single- mother with children, has lost her job, suffered reduced wages, or their employer has closed. Many have children taking classes from home, thus requiring daycare they cannot afford. Others are elderly, depending on Social Security or help from stressed children or parents. The stark fact is that many of these tenants simply cannot make up the rents owed already.

Maryland has a strong eviction moratorium — the Emergency Order issued by Gov. Larry Hogan in March is still in effect. It protects from eviction tenants who have a “substantial loss of income resulting from COVID- 19” due to job loss, reduction inwork hours, closure of place of employment, or “the need to miss work to care for a home- bound school- age child.” In many eviction cases, one or more of these factors are present.

In a Dec. 31 “Eviction Moratorium Update” HACA stated it “will begin the termination process for residents… who are not covered under the state of emergency protections issued by Gov. Hogan, as the Courts allow.” HACA also stated that it will “begin the termination process for residents who are not in compliance with federal public housing requirements.”

However, it cited a statement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that specifically allows broad state eviction orders to supersede the soon to expire CDC federal eviction moratorium. Maryland has such a moratorium, the Hogan order. But tenants must appear in court to claim protection under the order.

Evictions ruin credit and make it very difficult for tenants to rent again, from private landlords or public housing. In my view, every HACA tenant facing eviction should be afforded a review by HACA as to whether they may be protected by the Hogan order before formal eviction papers are filed which ruin their credit and force themto defend themselves against HACA in court, an intimidating prospect. In that event, tenants facing court proceedings should consider seeking counsel through Maryland Legal Aid ( 410- 972- 2700).

Additionally, if the Hogan order itself were modified, many evictions might be stopped. If the tenant was allowed to file with the landlord a “Hogan Declaration” similar to the expiring federal CDC Declaration, which freezes the eviction process, tenants could avoid the filing of eviction papers and a court appearance.

The signed declaration, under penalty of perjury, would require a simple written description of the situation, attaching supportive documents, such as employment records showing income loss. This would suffice to allowthe tenant to remain in place until the order is lifted, while not relieving the obligation to ultimately pay the rent.

Landlords, including HACA, should be paid. The State of Maryland could make low- interest loans to tenants ( with liberal repayment terms) with which to pay rent. Tenants could go to commercial banks to apply for the loans with payment being made by the bank directly to landlords. To fund these loans and reimburse the banks, the state could issue state- backed “AntiEviction Bonds” to investors.

Impending evictions threaten to put hundreds of Annapolis families on the street. Quick and creative action by our public officials is imperative.

Daniel J. Hurson is a retired Annapolis lawyer who is working with church groups to assist tenants threatened by eviction. He lives in Davidsonville.