As the pandemic winds down, some tenants in Langley Park still struggle to stay in their homes

In February I wrote about landlord disinvestment at Bedford and Victoria Station Apartments in Langley Park, Maryland. The complex’s tenants were then nearly a year into the pandemic and desperate for help—to pay back rent and hold their landlord accountable. Tenants are finally getting some rental relief, but their landlord still hasn’t fixed major housing code violations.

In a healthy housing market, tenants could speak with their feet, but that’s not an option for many in the region, where demand for affordable housing far outstrips supply. So, tenants will fight to stay put and hold their landlord to account.

Rental assistance provides a tenuous lifeline

When I spoke to Bedford and Victoria Stations’ tenants in February, they told me they were trying to negotiate payment plans for their rent. Many had lost jobs, or seen their hours reduced, and couldn’t pay their rent. Unfortunately, their landlord was hard to reach. In fact, they weren’t sure who their landlord was. The property is owned by a limited liability corporation (LLC), Bedford United LLC. It has no phone number in the 411 system and the Maryland Real Property database lists a street address for an office building in Bethesda, but no suite number.

Rental assistance for Bedford and Victoria Stations’ tenants eventually came, but not from the landlord. Instead, they’re getting help from Prince George’s County’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), which is funded by the federal government (see here for background). Tenants can apply for rental assistance on their own or their landlords can apply on their behalf. When a landlord files the application, they must agree to two stipulations. If the tenant has back rent from before April 2020, the landlord must permanently waive thirty days of it. The landlord must also “waive any self-help actions such as eviction for 90 days.”

The county has also teamed up with non-profits to make sure as many applications as possible are submitted. CASA, a non-profit organization, is working with Bedford and Victoria Stations’ tenants. CASA’s Lead Regional Organizer, Trent Leon Lierman, estimates his organization has helped 60 tenants apply for rent relief on their own and the management company has filed applications for 30 additional tenants.

The pace for relief has been slow, however. As of June 11, only seven tenant and 29 landlord applications have been approved. Total applications represent a small fraction (15%) of the total number of units on the property (587). Accepted applications are an even smaller proportion (6%).

The slow pace of applications is problematic because other protections to help tenants stay put are being phased out. In early May, for example, the CDC’s eviction moratorium was ruled unconstitutional. The judge stayed her order to give the Biden Administration time to appeal, but that won’t be necessary. On June 24th the CDC announced it was extending the moratorium to July 31, but said it would be the final extension.

Things are no better in Maryland. Governor Hogan, just lifted Maryland’s state of emergency, effective July 1. The state’s eviction moratorium is tied to the state of emergency, so it will sunset after a 45-day grace period (August 15).

Meanwhile, landlord disinvestment continues

In February, tenants told me their landlord wouldn’t fix serious problems at the complex, including vermin infestations, untreated mold, faulty heating, and holes in ceilings and walls. After my first piece came out, nearly three dozen tenants filed complaints with the county’s housing inspector. The landlord responded with cosmetic fixes, but serious problems persist.

What Can Tenants Do? - One strategy is the rent escrow program run through the Maryland Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Bureau. The process starts with a tenant putting a request for repairs in writing. If the landlord fails to make repairs in sufficient time, the tenant can request a rent escrow account with the District court. They pay rent to the escrow account until the repairs are made. Escrow accounts can only be established for conditions that are “serious or dangerous.”

Bedford and Victoria Station’s tenants can easily point to serious and dangerous problems in their units, but most wouldn’t qualify for rent escrow because they no longer have a valid lease. They are what housing experts call holdover tenants. As CASA’s Trent Leon Lierman explained, the landlord hasn’t been renewing leases for tenants behind on their rent.

As a result, some of the complex’s tenants started a rent strike. They’ve been at it for months. For tenants waiting for ERAP payments, the strike will cover future months (ERAP payments go directly to the landlord). Their reasoning is simple—why should the landlord receive rent money when they refuse to fix major code violations?

After visiting two apartments in June, I can see their point. A tenant named Oscar showed me a hole in his bathroom’s ceiling, just above the bathtub. If history is precedent, he’ll wait a long time to see it repaired. In the meantime, he’s worried about using the shower in case more of the ceiling collapses. His kitchen cabinets were in a similar state of disrepair. The wall they hung on had bubbles in the plaster, and he told me water regularly leaked from the wall into his cabinets.

The bottom level was visibly wet. Oscar also showed me what was left of his fire detector. When it broke, the management company brought over a new detector, but not a base plate to connect to the electrical outlet. According to Oscar, the management company told him to “just put [the detector] on a table.”

When I visited Anita’s ground floor apartment, she told me her family’s problem was vermin and showed me two holes in her baseboards. The landlord wouldn’t take care of the problem so they bought a foam gun to block the holes. But, the rats/mice keep finding new ones. A man in the apartment told me: “I woke up one night and saw a rat on the table between the beds.”

What Can Prince George’s County Do? - Prince Geroge’s county has a spotty record on housing code enforcement. A 2019 report on serial disinvestment in Langley Park found that the County’s Department of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement had “limited staff, resources, and leverage to enforce the housing code.” These problems will take time to fix, but for now the county should hold ERAP funds destined for Bedford United LLC in escrow until significant improvements are made. To protect holdover tenants, the county should also require landlords that received rental assistance to renew leases for tenants who get caught up on their rent.

It should also upgrade its rent escrow program. Willow Lung-Amam, the lead author of the above-mentioned report, pointed to Los Angeles’ rent escrow program as an example. In LA, if a landlord doesn’t make repairs, their property is compelled to enter the escrow program and pay a mandatory fee. Their tenants also receive rent reductions until repairs are made.

What Can Maryland Do? - Maryland should start by extending the statewide eviction moratorium well into the fall. The pandemic devasted low-income immigrant communities and they need time to recover. The General Assembly should also consider passing a bill similar to one passed by the New York State Senate. That bill (S1730) would update the real property transfer tax return to require any residential property bought or sold by an LLC to “include information on the ownership of such company.”

This has been a particular problem for Bedford and Victoria Stations’ tenants. They have no way to get in touch with their landlord. And, reaching out to the management company hasn’t helped. The company hasn’t been responsive in the past, and it doesn’t have the power of the purse. It can only work with the funds the landlord gives them—and these are clearly insufficient. Tenants should have the ability to bring social pressure to bear against the people behind such LLCs.

After a year-long pandemic, our social fabric is frayed. One way to repair it is to make it harder for people to continually rip it without consequence.