Landlords

A Baltimore landlord has been jailed by a city Circuit Court judge for failing after years of pressure to fix lead-paint poisoning hazards in all of his rental units, state officials said Thursday. Cephus Murrell, whose address is listed in court records as the 600 block of Laurel Hill Lane in Catonsville, was ordered jailed for contempt of court by Judge W. Michel Pierson until the landlord remedies lead-paint risks in all of his units or relocates the tenants to safe housing at his expense.

Redwood Tower, two blocks north of Harborplace in downtown Baltimore, boasts spacious corner offices, harbor views, a brick-and-glass exterior and a unique perch atop a historic building. It also offers parking and access to shopping, restaurants and mass transit. What is missing, its managers say, are workers to fill the half-empty, 15-story building, which lost a key tenant when the state Department of Business and Economic Development moved out more than a year ago. The tower is one of many buildings in downtown Baltimore struggling with a high vacancy rate — a problem at the heart of criticism over plans for a $1.5 billion development project on the western edge of the Mount Vernon neighborhood.

Are landlords required to hire exterminators for bedbugs? Do bedbugs attack pets? How can you avoid them in movie theaters? With bedbug infestations on the rise, Baltimore health officials launched a series of meetings Wednesday to answer such questions from residents, property managers and others — and to tell everyone not to panic. "I'm here to assure you we will all be fine," Dr. Madeleine Shea, a deputy health commissioner, said at a meeting at the War Memorial Building.

Time is running out for Baltimore County landlords to meet the Oct. 13 deadline for installing carbon monoxide detectors in rental units with fuel-burning appliances. Landlords must submit a verification form after installing the devices. The form is due Nov. 13. County officials said they have started making reminder calls to owners. The new requirement, approved by the county council last year, applies to all rental properties, regardless of year constructed. Violators will face a maximum $500 daily fine.

Amid mounting complaints from homeowners dealing with irresponsible renters in their neighborhoods, the Baltimore County Council is considering a bill that could force landlords to curb tenants' rowdy behavior or face loss of their rental licenses. "Some of these communities are at their wits' ends," said Councilman Vincent Gardina, the bill's sponsor. "We need to be stricter about this." The council enacted a law last year limiting the number of tenants in a single-family home to two unrelated people.

Incidents of disorderly conduct around Towson have prompted one Baltimore County Council member to propose a crackdown on landlords who allow tenants to cause a "public nuisance." Some community leaders say measures proposed by 5th District County Council member Vince Gardina are a good start in addressing conduct issues, but don't go far enough because they would only affect properties listed under the county's rental registration law — and wouldn't include apartment complexes.

City police said the deaths of two people found inside a North Baltimore home Monday afternoon appeared to be the result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Officers responded to a home in the 2900 block of Greenmount Ave. to check on the well-being of a tenant who had not been heard from since late April, said Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman. Inside, police found the woman at the top of the stairs, and a man in a bedroom, Moses said. Both were in early stages of decomposition. Police located a generator that had run out of gasoline, and the landlord said the block had recently lost power.

Health advocates and landlords squared off Thursday in Annapolis over a proposal to beef up Maryland's lead-paint law, which both sides agree has succeeded in drastically reducing the number of young children poisoned in older rental homes. Advocates, pediatricians and health officials urged the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to approve a bill that would require landlords to test for lead dust in rental units built before 1950 if they are to be occupied by families with children.

Marjorie Benedum and her husband, Mel Harris, knew their landlord was facing foreclosure but were reassured when he said they could keep renting the Southwest Baltimore house after his family lost it. Then Harris, who is 79 and retired, came home from church three weeks ago to find a sheriff's notice on the door. Get out in 10 days, it said, or be evicted. "We weren't sure what we were going to do," recalled Benedum, 62. More and more renters have been caught up in the national foreclosure crisis, and lenders taking back those homes nearly always want them gone.