The Maryland Supreme Court will hear arguments Friday in a case that could reshape tenant rights across the state, testing whether unlicensed landlords can collect rent through the courts.

The legal battle involves a former tenant of a low-income apartment complex in Riverdale, a Prince George’s County community, who alleges he lived under unsafe conditions that his landlord refused to repair. The former tenant is represented by CASA, a national immigrant and Latino advocacy group based in Maryland.

“It is a very important case for tenants who are living in properties that have dangerous conditions and the landlord is unlicensed,” said Jonathan Riedel, supervising attorney at CASA. “When both of those conditions are present, under current law, a tenant has no recourse to get those conditions fixed. This case aims to change that.”

The hearing will mark the first time a CASA case will be argued before the state Supreme Court. The case could affect thousands of tenants statewide, Riedel said.

Horrible conditions are alleged at a low-income housing complex

The case arises from allegations by residents of a low-income apartment complex. In court papers, tenants alleged that the Park Tanglewood Apartments in Riverdale was plagued with “roaches, water damage, broken exterior doors, inconsistent hot water, broken elevators, fire hazards, and general filth.”

In July 2023, Gary Wilson and 21 other tenants — all of whom were members of CASA —separately filed individual actions with the Maryland District Court in an effort to force their landlord to make repairs.

Nearly two years before the tenants submitted their filings, in October 2021, the Town of Riverdale sent the landlord a letter saying officials intended not to renew its rental license because of code violations. In January 2022, town officials denied the landlord’s renewal application for a rental license.

A District Court judge ruled that the tenants would not have to pay into the escrow for any prior pay periods, including July and August 2023, but they would have to pay going forward, starting in September 2023.

The tenants declined to put their rent funds into an escrow account, and, in a November 2023 hearing, the judge dismissed the tenants’ petitions. The judge didn’t explicitly rule on the issue of a tenant having to pay rent to the court at the request of an unlicensed landlord, according to court records.

One tenant, Gary Wilson, appealed his dismissal to the Circuit Court.

A month earlier, Wilson had left the apartment. By that time, the original District Court actions filed by the other tenants had been resolved. Some tenants settled with the landlord, some moved away, and some decided not to pursue their claims, Riedel said.

CASA attorneys asked the state Supreme Court to consider the issue, and in June, the state’s highest court agreed to do so.

Tanglewood and its attorneys did not respond to phone calls and emails requesting comment.

In court filings, attorneys for Tanglewood argue that the case is moot because tenants never paid any money into escrow, and no longer live at the apartment complex. “There is no relief for the court to fashion,” attorneys for the landlord said.

Attorneys for the landlord also argue that tenants did not suffer any harm, and that CASA attorneys did not say how many of the thousands of rent escrow actions filed annually involved an unlicensed landlord.

“Here, the tenants did not pay any of the money they argued they were incorrectly ordered to pay, and Tanglewood did not collect any of the rent the tenants argue Tanglewood is not entitled to,” attorneys for the landlord argue.

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