Safe and Healthy Homes for All Act, the official text

WES MOORE, Governor                                Ch. 632

Chapter 632

                   (House Bill 1218)

AN ACT concerning

Department of Housing and Community Development – Severe Health and
                         Safety Risk Properties – Intervention Plan
                              Safe and Healthy Homes for All Act

FOR the purpose of requiring the Department of Housing and Community Development,
         Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs, in collaboration with the Attorney General,
         to develop a plan to identify certain severe health and safety risk properties in the
         State and take related actions; requiring the Department to submit the plan and
         certain recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before a
         certain date; requiring the Department to publish a certain list publicly on the
         Department’s website; and generally relating to severe health and safety risk
         properties.

         SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND,
That:

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

                  (2) “Office” means the Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs in the
Department of Housing and Community Development.

                  (3) (i) “Severe health and safety risk property” means a rental property
that routinely fails to meet basic health and safety standards.

             (ii) “Severe health and safety risk property” includes:

                                    1. a rental property that is in continued noncompliance with
local housing codes, resulting in chronic unsafe housing conditions;

                   2. a severely distressed rental property;

                                    3. a rental property that has repeated cycles of violations,
citations, and failures to remediate; and

                   4. a persistently hazardous rental property.

(b) This section applies only to properties with 50 or more units.

         (c) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Office focus on the most
severe, serious, and high–volume violations and that the planned interventions be limited
to the most severe health and safety risk properties.

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Ch. 632                         2026 LAWS OF MARYLAND

         (d) (1) The Office, in collaboration with the Attorney General, shall develop a
plan to:

         (1) (i) identify severe health and safety risk properties in the State;

                  (2) (ii) expand the structure of the Office to address severe health and
safety risk properties in the State; and

                  (3) (iii) provide effective interventions to mitigate predatory,
noncompliant, and negligent landlords of multi–unit rental properties in the State.

                  (2) The Office shall communicate and coordinate with counties and
municipalities in interventions and identify ways to leverage county resources.

                  (3) The Office shall seek input from renters, renter advocates, property
owners, housing providers, housing associations, and other stakeholders to develop the plan
required under paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(c) (e) The plan required under subsection (b) (d) of this section shall:

         (1) create a process for identifying:

         (i) severe health and safety properties; and

         (ii) predatory landlord practices;

         (2) develop methods for the referral of properties to the Office, including:

         (i) by residents that currently live in a property;

         (ii) through coordination with municipal and county agencies;

         (iii) by tenant associations; and

         (iv) by other organizations that serve renters and communities;

                  (3) determine appropriate interventions to protect the health and safety of
residents living in severe health and safety risk properties, including:

                           (i)  financial consequences, fines, and liability for investigation and
intervention costs;

         (ii) legal interventions such as injunctions and legal proceedings;

         (iii) required tenant escrow;

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                WES MOORE, Governor                                 Ch. 632

                (iv) the issuance of corrective action plans with deadlines;

                (v) mandatory follow–up inspections;

                (vi) required timelines for addressing violations;

                (vii) mandatory pest eradication plans;

                (viii) structural repair requirements;

                (ix) temporary relocation plans for tenants in units that are unsafe

for occupancy;

                           (x) requirements for landlords to submit remediation plans and
records of completed repairs; and

                (xi) any other mitigations; and

                  (4) identify costs and options for containing costs, including leveraging
collaboration with the county or local housing agency and the utilization of county
inspectors versus the hiring of State inspectors; and

                  (5) make recommendations for statutory changes to provide effective
mitigation and relief for tenants.

         (d) (f) (1) On or before August 31, 2027, the Department of Housing and
Community Development shall submit the plan and recommendations developed under this
section to the Governor and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article,
the General Assembly.

                  (2) On or before December 31, 2027, the Department of Housing and
Community Development shall submit a report to the Governor and, in accordance with §
2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly that includes:

                (i) the properties identified under subsection (d) of this section;

                (ii) the types of violations identified;

                           (iii) the reason a property is included in the plan required under
subsection (d) of this section;

                           (iv) any interventions undertaken and the status of violations as a
result of the plan; and

                (v) any other helpful information.

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Ch. 632  2026 LAWS OF MARYLAND

         (g) The Department of Housing and Community Development shall publish the
list of severe health and safety risk properties, including the names of properties, publicly
on the Department’s website.

         SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July
1, 2026. It shall remain effective for a period of 1 year and 6 months and, at the end of
December 31, 2027, this Act, with no further action required by the General Assembly, shall
be abrogated and of no further force and effect.

Approved by the Governor, May 26, 2026.

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