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In addition to any other power, duty, or responsibility assigned in this Chapter, the Director has the following duties:
(a) The Director may initiate investigations and conciliations of any alleged or apparent violation of this Chapter. In connection with this authority, all landlords must make available to the Director for inspection at reasonable times all rental housing and records necessary to enforce this Chapter or resolve any complaints filed under it.
(b) The Director must encourage landlords to meet with bona fide tenant associations or organizations upon a good faith request by an association or organization.
(c) In addition to any other duties, the Director must assist the Commission in carrying out its duties and implementing Commission regulations adopted under Section 29-10.
(d) In the case of condominium and cooperative rental units, the Director must encourage complaining parties to contact the council of unit owners or its designated agent or the board of directors of the condominium or cooperative, when appropriate, to attempt to resolve the dispute before filing a complaint under Article V.
(e) The Director may issue a subpoena to compel a landlord or tenant to produce relevant documents, papers, books, records or other evidence when a complaint has been filed under this Chapter.
(f) The Director must publish and maintain on the County website a model lease, drafted in clear language understandable to persons without legal training. The Director must make the model lease available in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other languages, as determined necessary by the Director.
(g) The Director must publish and maintain on the County website, in a printable format, a Landlord-Tenant Handbook to serve as a practical guide for landlords and tenants summarizing their respective rights and responsibilities. The Director must make the Landlord-Tenant Handbook available in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other languages, as determined necessary by the Director. The Director must review the handbook at least biennially and revise it as necessary.
(h) The Director must report on rental housing inspections to the Executive and the Council, by September 1 of each year. The report must include:
(1) the address of each property inspected during the prior fiscal year;
(2) the address of each property that has been inspected or is scheduled to be inspected on an annual or triennial basis during the current fiscal year;
(3) for each property inspected:
(A) a summary of violations by:
(i) number found;
(ii) number corrected; and
(iii) type of violation; and
(B) the status of any incomplete inspections.
(4) for each property required to have a corrective action plan under Section 29-22 in the prior fiscal year or during the current fiscal year, a list of:
(A) violations found;
(B) violations corrected; and
(C) the status of the corrective action plan;
(5) the number of citations issued to each landlord during the prior and current fiscal years;
(6) the amount of fines collected from each landlord during the prior and current fiscal years; and
(7) the number of calls to the County concerning rental housing complaints, by language of the caller.
(i) The Director must provide advocacy services and assistance to tenants in relation to their rights under this Chapter. (1972 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 11, § 2; 1983 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 3; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 30, § 2; 1985 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1; 1995 L.M.C., ch. 17, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 39, §1; 2017 L.M.C., ch. 12, §1; 2017 L.M.C., ch. 17, §1.)
Editor's note—1983 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 13, provides in part as follows: "The amendments to chapter 29 approved by this act shall be repealed and of no force or effect on or after March 8, 1985." This sentence was deleted by 1985 L.M.C., ch. 40, §1, thus giving the law permanent status.
The Commission, Department, and all County governmental agencies concerned with housing and real property must cooperate in the administration of this Chapter. The Commission and Department may, subject to the approval of the Chief Administrative Officer, use employees and facilities of other County departments in carrying out this Chapter, and these departments must make their resources available to the Commission and Department as approved by the Chief Administrative Officer. (1972 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 11, § 2; 1980 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1.)
(a) Any violation of this Chapter, unless expressly specified otherwise, is a class A violation.
(b) If enforcing this Chapter requires the County to initiate criminal or civil proceedings, the County Attorney must initiate those proceedings after receiving a referral from the Commission or the Department. After the Commission or the Department has referred a matter to the County Attorney, the County Attorney must initiate appropriate legal action, as provided under this Chapter or any other applicable law, against any person that the Commission or the Department finds to be in violation. However, if the County Attorney believes that additional information or action by the Commission or the Department is necessary to enable the County Attorney to take appropriate action, the County Attorney may refer the matter back to the Commission or the Department. Nothing in this Chapter limits the authority of the County Attorney to initiate prosecution or bring a civil action for violation of any County law or regulation whether or not the Commission or the Department has noted a violation of this Chapter. (1972 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1.)
*Cross references—Boards and commissions generally, § 2-141 et seq.; regulations of Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs, Appendix L.
(a) Creation. The County Executive must appoint, subject to confirmation by the County Council, a Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs.
(b) Composition.
(1) The Commission has 12 members and 3 alternate members. Each member must be a County resident.
(2) Four members and one alternate member each must be:
(A) an owner of rental housing located in the County;
(B) a manager, or an employee of a manager, of rental housing located in the County; or an attorney who primarily represents owners or managers of rental housing; or
(C) nominated by an organization that represents owners or managers of rental housing located in the County.
(3) Four members and one alternate member each must be:
(A) a tenant of rental housing in the County, or
(B) an attorney who primarily represents tenants of rental housing; or
(C) nominated by an organization that represents tenants of rental housing located in the County.
A member appointed under this paragraph must not derive a substantial portion of his or her income from rental housing.
(4) Four members and one alternate member must be selected from the public at large. A member appointed to represent the public at large must not be qualified for appointment under subparagraph (2)(A), (2)(B), (3)(A), or (3)(B), or otherwise derive a substantial portion of his or her income from rental housing or tenants of rental housing.
(5) As used in this subsection, an attorney primarily represents either owners and managers of rental housing, or tenants of rental housing, if at the time of appointment the attorney appeared in 10 or more landlord-tenant cases in any jurisdiction, and represented that type of client in more than 60% of the attorney's landlord-tenant cases, in the preceding 12 months. As used in this subsection, a "substantial portion" of a person's income means, measured at the time of appointment, either:
(A) $10,000 or more of that person's family income during the preceding calendar year, or
(B) the ownership of more than 5% of any rental housing unit, or any ownership interest in any business that owns or manages rental housing.
The Director must adjust the $10,000 amount in the preceding sentence each year by the increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA), as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the preceding calendar year, rounded to the nearest multiple of $10.
(c) Member disclosure.
Each member of the Commission must submit the financial disclosure statement required under Chapter 19A within 15 days after the Council confirms the member.
(d) Term. The term of each member of the Commission is 3 years. Each member continues to serve until a successor is appointed and confirmed.
(e) Compensation. Members of the Commission serve without compensation, except reimbursement for expenses as appropriated.
(f) Termination of Term. The term of a member terminates immediately if the member no longer qualifies to serve under subsection (b). In that case, the alternate for the category under which a member was appointed automatically succeeds to the remainder of that member’s term.
(g) Vacancy. The Executive must appoint a qualified person to fill each vacancy on the Commission within 30 days after the vacancy occurs. The Council must decide whether to confirm the person that the Executive appoints within 30 days after the Executive submits the appointment to the Council. A vacancy occurs when a member's term expires or a member resigns, dies, or is removed from office. (1972 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 1975 L.M.C., ch. 30, § 1; 1977 L.M.C., ch. 28, § 11; 1977 L.M.C., ch. 35, § 1; FY 1991 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1; 1995 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 2005 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 1; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 3, §1 .)
Editor's note—2001 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 3, states: Transition. Any amendment to County Code Section 29-9 made by Section 1 of this Act applies only to a member of the Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs appointed or reappointed after this Act becomes law [August 8, 2001].
In addition to any other power, duty, or responsibility provided in this Chapter, the Commission has the following powers and duties:
(a) The Commission may adopt regulations under method (2) as necessary to carry out this Chapter.
(b) The Commission may enforce this Chapter through any appropriate means, including:
(1) providing any services available through the Department;
(2) awarding money damages against a landlord or tenant for the benefit of either, as provided in this Chapter;
(3) ordering repairs by a landlord or tenant;
(4) investigating and conciliating any violation of or complaint filed under this Chapter, and investigating any matter relating to a license to operate a rental housing; and
(5) imposing a monetary penalty against a landlord or tenant when a penalty is specified in a law enforced by the Commission, including an award up to three times the amount of any part of a security deposit withheld by a landlord without a reasonable basis.
(c) The Commission must provide information that the County Council or County Executive may require. (1972 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 11, § 2; 1981 L.M.C., ch. 33, § 1; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 32; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1.)
Editor's note—The delegation of power to administrative body, other than the power to impose a fine, under a former County landlord-tenant law was upheld in County Council for Montgomery County v. Investors Funding Corp., 270 Md. 403, 312 A.2d 225 (1973).
(a) Officers. The Commission must elect from its members a chair, vice-chair, and any other officers the Commission deems necessary. Each officer serves at the pleasure of the Commission.
(b) Meetings.
(1) The chair calls all Commission meetings.
(2) The Commission must meet as often as necessary to perform its duties, but not less often than once each month.
(3) The chair must call a meeting within 10 days after receiving a request from a majority of the members.
(c) Quorum.
(1) A majority of the members of the Commission is a quorum for the transaction of business.
(2) Any official action of the Commission requires a majority vote of the members present at the meeting, but not less than 5 members.
(d) Alternates. If a Commission member is absent from a meeting, the alternate for the category under which the absent member was appointed may participate and vote at that meeting in place of the absent member. (1972 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 1979 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1.)
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