Attorney Lauren DiMartino, along with co-counsel Jim Ray of The Ray Legal Group, petitioned the Supreme Court of Maryland to bypass the Appellate Court to hear a case involving Maryland’s HOME Act. Lauren and Jim represent Katrina Hare, a participant in the Housing Choice voucher program that provides rental subsidy vouchers to low-income individuals. In applying for an apartment owned by David S. Brown Enterprises, Ms. Hare’s application for an apartment was denied because she did not satisfy a policy requiring applicants demonstrate an income equivalent to 2.5 times the full monthly market rent even though Ms. Hare would only be responsible for a small portion of it after her voucher was applied. This policy would exclude the majority of voucher holders in the State.
“In 2020, the State of Maryland passed a law forbidding landlords from discriminating against potential tenants based on their source of income,” Lauren said. “Because landlords can no longer place proverbial signs in their windows saying, ‘No Housing Vouchers Accepted,’ they are relying on a loophole that we are confident will not withstand scrutiny in the Supreme Court.”
Although the HOME Act requires landlords to accept housing vouchers, landlords are using minimum income criteria divorced from voucher holders’ share of the rent in a way that disproportionately harms tenants with rental subsidies. These policies are effectively operating as a loophole that defeats the remedial intent of the HOME Act, which bans housing discrimination based on source of income in order to decrease segregation and provide more opportunities for economic mobility.
The Circuit Court of Baltimore County granted summary judgment to the landlord, reasoning that the policy did not violate the HOME Act because it was applied in a neutral way.The Supreme Court of Maryland will review the Circuit Court of Baltimore County’s decision.
The Attorney General of Maryland submitted an amicus brief in support of the bypass petition.
“The State of Maryland and the Attorney General have a substantial interest in ensuring that the HOME Act is interpreted to protect low-income Marylanders from illegal housing discrimination,” Brown and Prater wrote in their amicus brief. “The Attorney General therefore supports the petition for a writ of certiorari, as the decision below would undermine that goal. […] The petition seeks review of a decision of the Circuit Court of Baltimore County that effectively negates the HOME Act’s remedial purpose.”
In addition to the amicus brief filed by the Attorney General, eight local and national organizations collectively joined as amici in the case, including The Public Justice Center, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, National Housing Law Project, Equal Rights Center, National Fair Housing Alliance, Homeless Persons Representation Project, Fair Housing Justice Center, and Disability Rights Maryland.
“It is beyond cavil that a remedial statute like the HOME Act must be liberally construed to effectuate its broad remedial purpose, yet allowing landlords to require renters to have income that is multiples of the full monthly rent would eviscerate that intent,” the amicus brief states.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments during the May session.
Learn more about BGL’s Appellate and Fair Housing practices.
LEARN MORE ABOUT LAUREN DIMARTINO
Lauren’s client-centered practice is focused on ensuring diverse communities can thrive, whether it’s through challenging various types of discrimination including in housing, holding government actors accountable, or advocating for local businesses embroiled in dispute. She has a robust practice involving the Fair Housing Act, utilizing it to assist individuals and non-profits impacted by discriminatory conduct and to challenge systems perpetuating segregation, with a particular interest in the intersection of housing and public education. Learn more about Lauren here.
Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, D.C. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.
