Shielding Landlord-Tenant Records

 Having a "clean" rental record as a tenant is valuable. A history of evictions limits your ability to get further housing. Maryland provided the following law which gives you an avenue for shielding of failure to pay rent during the pandemic. It's worth looking at.

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§ 8-502. Petition to shield court records relating to action for repossession for failure to pay rent

(a)

(1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.

(2)

(i) "Court record" means an official record of a court proceeding kept by the clerk of the court or other court personnel.

(ii) "Court record" includes:

1. An index, a docket entry, a petition, a memorandum, a transcription of proceedings, an electronic recording, an order, and a judgment; and

2. Any electronic information about a proceeding on a website maintained by the Maryland Judiciary.

(3) "Shield" means to remove information from public inspection in accordance with this section.

(4) "Shielding" means:

(i) With respect to a record kept in a courthouse, removing the record to a separate secure area to which persons who do not have a legitimate reason for access are denied access; and

(ii) With respect to electronic information about a proceeding on a website maintained by the Maryland Judiciary, completely removing all information concerning the proceeding from the public website, including the names of the parties, case numbers, and any reference to the proceeding or any reference to the removal of the proceeding from the public website.

(b)

(1) This section applies only to a court record relating to an action for repossession of residential property for a failure to pay rent filed on or after March 5, 2020, but before January 1, 2022.

(2) This section does not apply to any record relating to an action for repossession for failure to pay rent that resulted in a money judgment entered in favor of a landlord unless the petitioner provides evidence to the court that the judgment has been satisfied.

(c)

(1) An individual may petition the court to shield court records relating to any action for repossession for failure to pay rent filed against the individual if the failure to pay rent was due to a loss of income arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(2) A petition may not be filed under this section until the appeal period for the action to which a record relates has lapsed.

(d) The court shall grant a petition under this section for any record relating to an action for repossession in which there was not a judgment entered in favor of a landlord.

(e)

(1) For any record relating to an action for repossession in which a judgment was entered in favor of a landlord, the petitioner shall serve a copy of the petition for shielding on the landlord.

(2) A landlord may file an objection to a petition no later than 15 days after receipt of service.

(3) If the landlord files a timely objection to the petition, the court shall hold a hearing.

(4) If the petitioner demonstrates at the hearing that the petitioner's failure to pay rent that led to the judgment in favor of the landlord was due to a loss of income arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the court may grant the shielding of records relating to that judgment.

(5) If the landlord does not file a timely objection to the petition, the court:

(i) May grant the petition; or

(ii) If it denies the petition, shall provide the specific reasons for that denial in the order denying the petition."

History:

Added by 2022 Md. Laws, Ch. 722, Sec. 1, eff. 10/1/2022.

MD Code RP 8-502 Petition to shield court records relating to action for repossession for failure to pay rent (Maryland Code (2022 Edition))

 Right to a Speedy Trial

Motions to dismiss on speedy trial grounds have been routinely denied during the past year with judges citing Covid as the grounds.  Recently I've come to learn that the argument is again alive and perhaps well.  In today's case the routine drunk driving case was 563 days old.  The defendant was out on bond.  Other than stating a general feeling of anxiety wondering what would happen at trial there was no other obvious prejudice to the defendant.  The defendant did assert her speedy trial rights early on in the case.  There were no other postponements, the defendant never missed court, the judge found the delay to violate her speedy trial rights and dismissed the charges.

If you have an old case it is worthwhile to assert speedy trial defenses.

Loss of Second Amendment Rights in Maryland

 Maryland Statutory Scheme regarding Loss of Second Amendment Rights Based on Convictions for Disqualifying Crimes and Domestically Related Crimes

In Maryland you can lose your Second Amendment rights based on a conviction for many serious crimes of violence and one misdemeanor crime of violence along with domestically related crimes. If you have a physical fight and are convicted of misdemeanor assault you will (for your lifetime) lose your Second Amendment rights to possess firearms in whatever form including rifles, shotguns and handguns. You will be court ordered to surrender your firearms without compensation or the right to ever get them back. If you are charged with disqualifying crimes or domestically related crimes and you possess firearms or would ever like to possess firearms you need skilled defense.

 Below are some definitions worth considering.

From the annotated code of Maryland, public safety 5-101 a conviction for a "disqualifying crime" crimes of violence and domestically related crimes. Specifically,

"(1) "Convicted of a disqualifying crime" includes:

(i) a case in which a person received probation before judgment for a crime of violence; and

(ii) a case in which a person received probation before judgment in a domestically related crime as defined in §6-233 of the Criminal Procedure Article.

(2) "Convicted of a disqualifying crime" does not include a case in which a person received a probation before judgment:

(i) for assault in the second degree, unless the crime was a domestically related crime as defined in §6-233 of the Criminal Procedure Article; or

(ii) that was expunged under Title 10, Subtitle 1 of the Criminal Procedure Article.

(c) "Crime of violence" means:

(1) abduction;

(2) arson in the first degree;

(3) assault in the first or second degree;

(4) burglary in the first, second, or third degree;

(5) carjacking and armed carjacking;

(6) escape in the first degree;

(7) kidnapping;

(8) voluntary manslaughter;

(9) maiming as previously proscribed under former Article 27, § 386 of the Code;

(10) mayhem as previously proscribed under former Article 27, § 384 of the Code;

(11) murder in the first or second degree;

(12) rape in the first or second degree;

(13) robbery;

(14) robbery with a dangerous weapon;

(15) sexual offense in the first, second, or third degree;

(16) home invasion under §6-202(b) of the Criminal Law Article;

(17) a felony offense under Title 3, Subtitle 11 of the Criminal Law Article;

(18) an attempt to commit any of the crimes listed in items (1) through (17) of this subsection; or

(19) assault with intent to commit any of the crimes listed in items (1) through (17) of this subsection or a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year.

MD Code PS 5-101 Definitions (Maryland Code (2022 Edition))

Further down in the definitions:

(g) "Disqualifying crime" means:

(1) a crime of violence;

(2) a violation classified as a felony in the State; or

(3) a violation classified as a misdemeanor in the State that carries a statutory penalty of more than 2 years.

(h)

(1) "Firearm" means:

(i) a weapon that expels, is designed to expel, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive;

(ii) the frame or receiver of such a weapon; or

(iii) an unfinished frame or receiver, as defined in § 5-701 of this title.

(2) "Firearm" includes a starter gun.

MD Code PS 5-101 Definitions (Maryland Code (2022 Edition))

Domestically related crime is defined under annotated code of Maryland criminal procedure 6-233 as follows:

§ 6-233. Domestically related crimes

(a) In this section, "domestically related crime" means a crime committed by a defendant against a victim who is a person eligible for relief, as defined in §4-501 of the Family Law Article, or who had a sexual relationship with the defendant within 12 months before the commission of the crime.

(b)

(1) If a defendant is convicted of or receives a probation before judgment disposition for a crime, on request of the State's Attorney, the court shall make a finding of fact, based on evidence produced at trial, as to whether the crime is a domestically related crime.

(2) The State has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the crime is a domestically related crime.

(c) If the court finds that the crime is a domestically related crime under subsection (b) of this section, that finding shall become part of the court record for purposes of reporting to the Criminal Justice Information System Central Repository under §10-215 of this article.

MD Code CP 6-233 Domestically related crimes (Maryland Code (2022 Edition))

Now you have to dig deeper. So what is a domestically related crime. It means a crime against a person who is eligible for relief. Who is a person eligible for relief, that is defined in the  Family Law Article 4-501 as follows:

"(m) "Person eligible for relief" includes:

(1) the current or former spouse of the respondent;

(2) a cohabitant of the respondent;

(3) a person related to the respondent by blood, marriage, or adoption;

(4) a parent, stepparent, child, or stepchild of the respondent or the person eligible for relief who resides or resided with the respondent or person eligible for relief for at least 90 days within 1 year before the filing of the petition;

(5) a vulnerable adult;

(6) an individual who has a child in common with the respondent;

(7) an individual who has had a sexual relationship with the respondent within 1 year before the filing of the petition; and

(8) an individual who alleges that the respondent committed, within 6 months before the filing of the petition, any of the following acts against the individual:

(i) rape or a sexual offense under §3-303, §3-304, §3-307, or §3-308 of the Criminal Law Article; or

(ii) attempted rape or sexual offense in any degree."

MD Code FL 4-501 Definitions (Maryland Code (2022 Edition))

The above is a lot to digest. The bottom line is that there are multiple criminal categories and multiple different persons eligible for relief that can cause you to lose your right to possess or ever acquire firearms for the rest of your life. When your rights are important to you contact experienced counsel to help you through this.