Landlords

A Baltimore landlord with a long history of violating lead-paint poisoning laws was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in prison by a federal judge, who called the now-bankrupt businessman a "scofflaw. " Cephus Murrell, 69, of Catonsville sat impassively in U.S. District Court as Judge Benson E. Legg imposed the sentence, which included six months' home detention after release from prison. Murrell owned and managed 175 rental units in Baltimore, officials said, all built before lead paint was banned.

The fliers first showed up in March, dropped on doorsteps of the big homes in Todd Stave's quiet cul-de-sac. They compared him to a Nazi. Two months later and 50 miles away, new anti-abortion leaflets appeared in another peaceful suburban subdivision, this time in Baltimore County. They had the same bloody images. But now, they targeted Stave's in-laws, asking neighbors to pray for the family and to call or visit their home. Protesters had also showed up at his daughter's middle school.

Legislation that would expand Maryland's efforts to curb childhood lead poisoning remains in limbo, as House and Senate members strive to settle their differences over whether to give landlords who follow state law any legal protection against lawsuits from poisoning victims. HB644 , which passed the House, would expand state regulation of rental housing with lead paint in it to cover units built between 1950 and 1978.  The original 1994 law covers rental homes built before 1950.  The bill also would authorize the state to regulate renovation, repair and painting of all homes containing lead-based paint, which if improperly done can generate toxic dust that could cause brain damage to infants and toddlers.

With efforts to reduce lead poisoning among children at a crossroads, Maryland lawmakers are wrestling with proposals to expand state regulation of home sales, rentals and repairs to reduce youngsters' exposure to the toxic metal. But the biggest question facing legislators might be how — or whether — to help landlords facing a flurry of lead-paint poisoning lawsuits from former tenants. The number of young children reported poisoned by lead in Maryland has dropped 98 percent since the mid-1990s.

Lost in the protest earlier this week, that in all likelihood resulted in the pulling of legislation seeking to regulate landlords in Harford County, was a curious juxtaposition of timing: the hearing for the ill-fated bill was one of the first orders of Harford County Council business to be transacted in the newly-reopened county council building, better known as the Black Box. The Black Box was evacuated about a year ago when its structural integrity...

One of the best reasons to avoid question headlines: They invite mischief. A Baltimore Twitter account tweeted a link to a website with this unconvincing come-on: “Do you want to know the 3 types of commercial landlords?” I RT'd, asking, “Venal, negligent, and predatory?”

Bonnie Celmer had been on the waiting list for Section 8 housing since July when she finally got a voucher three weeks ago. She's still living in a Baltimore County homeless shelter, unable to find an apartment. "I've been looking for a place, but I can't get anybody to accept the voucher," the 59-year-old said. Celmer spoke to a crowd of more than 100 gathered Wednesday evening at Towson United Methodist Church to support a proposal that would prohibit landlords from discriminating against potential tenants based on their sources of income.

In the 1960s, Baltimore's leaders, driven by both desperate need and newfound vision, enacted a first-of-its-kind housing code for the City of Baltimore. Its provisions ensured that Baltimore's residents, including even the poorest, would be able to obtain, at a bare minimum, housing that was "fit for human habitation. " Of course, the slumlords reacted in the knee-jerk manner one would expect. (To be clear, most landlords are not slumlords. Instead, they follow the law and do their best to provide safe housing.)

Know anyone who gets paid for doing nothing? Ground rent owners. These folks do nothing but claim their "booty" on a tax form. And it is all blessed by our politicians and lawyers. This could be solved if ground rent owners were required to be "landlords. " They should be responsible for any gases, rodent infestation, ground heaving or an old tree that falls on "my" house. How would you feel if you paid rent for your apartment, and the landlord had no legal responsibility for the upkeep of your pad?

The Maryland Court of Appeals decision this week to throw out liability limits for landlords upsets what had been one of the most productive compromises to come out of Annapolis in recent memory. The state's 1994 lead paint law, a product of extensive negotiations between property owners and public health advocates, has indisputably achieved its most crucial purpose: a drastic reduction in the number of children who are exposed to lead paint and, as a result, risk a lifetime of cognitive problems.