Opportunity for change: Maryland evictions task force calls for rent court reforms

Opportunity for change: Maryland evictions task force calls for rent court reforms

Building a robust access to counsel program for Marylanders facing eviction will take money — perhaps around $30 million per year — and a commitment to reshaping rent court proceedings, a new report argues.

The report issued Wednesday is the first from the Maryland Access to Counsel in Evictions Task Force, which began meeting in October under a new legislative mandate.

The group was tasked with assessing how to build and implement an access to counsel program by 2025 that helps eligible low-income Marylanders navigate the eviction process. The General Assembly passed an access to counsel program last session, in part as a response to Maryland’s astronomical number of eviction filings, but did not provide funding.

Finding money is a central recommendation of the task force’s first report. Maryland Legal Services Corporation, which is tasked with administering the program, projects that fully implementing access to counsel for eligible Marylanders will cost about $30 million per year.

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Source: The Daily Record

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