Zafar
@zafarshah.bsky.social
Housing policies, impact of evictions, and the rights of people first. Coming to you from Maryland, USA.
Pinned
Zafar
@zafarshah.bsky.social
· Jul 19
Read the 2025 Out of Reach report for Maryland. nlihc.org/sites/defaul...
Seems like everything is a rip-off these days... But not civil legal aid. If you see a person or ad impersonating Maryland Legal Aid or Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and offering services for a fee, please report it! www.msba.org/site/site/co...
Scam Alert: Beware of Fraudulent Websites Impersonating Maryland Legal Aid and MVLS
We're issuing an urgent alert regarding a deceptive scam targeting individuals seeking legal assistance in Maryland.
www.msba.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Seems like everything is a rip-off these days... But not civil legal aid. If you see a person or ad impersonating Maryland Legal Aid or Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and offering services for a fee, please report it! www.msba.org/site/site/co...
Reposted by Zafar
“Judges are required to stay proceedings if the tenant... appears in court and proves that they are a federal, state or local employee who is involuntarily furloughed due to a government shutdown.”
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/10/23/f...
By @baltimoresun.bsky.social’s @danbelson.bsky.social
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/10/23/f...
By @baltimoresun.bsky.social’s @danbelson.bsky.social
Furloughed federal workers are protected from evictions, foreclosures in Maryland
Government employees who have been involuntarily furloughed due to the federal shutdown can have evictions paused in Maryland, thanks to a state law passed after the last major funding lapse.
www.baltimoresun.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:04 PM
“Judges are required to stay proceedings if the tenant... appears in court and proves that they are a federal, state or local employee who is involuntarily furloughed due to a government shutdown.”
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/10/23/f...
By @baltimoresun.bsky.social’s @danbelson.bsky.social
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/10/23/f...
By @baltimoresun.bsky.social’s @danbelson.bsky.social
Ending the 30-day eviction notice in fed-regulated properties "is a part of a larger push from corporate landlords who have lobbied the Trump administration to reduce eviction protections for tenants."
It's a public-private partnership for war on the poor.
It's a public-private partnership for war on the poor.
Trump the Landlord Plans to Speed Up Evictions From Public Housing
The Trump administration is pushing a rule change that would speed up the eviction process by providing tenants less notice.
theintercept.com
August 17, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Ending the 30-day eviction notice in fed-regulated properties "is a part of a larger push from corporate landlords who have lobbied the Trump administration to reduce eviction protections for tenants."
It's a public-private partnership for war on the poor.
It's a public-private partnership for war on the poor.
Maryland legislators are already cranking up new proposals for 2026 to "stop squatters" -- such as a "peace order" style process to evict people on a moment's notice and worry about due process later.
“There’s no real evidence of any significant squatting crisis despite what the industry claims,” says Eric Dunn, director of litigation at the National Housing Law Project (NHLP).
More: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
More: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
August 12, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Maryland legislators are already cranking up new proposals for 2026 to "stop squatters" -- such as a "peace order" style process to evict people on a moment's notice and worry about due process later.
"ALEC-aligned legislators... used the anti-squatter push in Texas to unsuccessfully advance a broad-based attack on the rights of tenants, and in Maryland, to successfully push back against Good Cause Eviction reforms."
Maryland has some explaining to do...
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Maryland has some explaining to do...
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Red States Are Suddenly Cracking Down on Squatters -- Despite No Evidence of a Crisis
Several Republican states have recently passed anti-squatting bills that resemble model legislation pushed by the right-wing group ALEC.
www.rollingstone.com
August 12, 2025 at 1:06 PM
"ALEC-aligned legislators... used the anti-squatter push in Texas to unsuccessfully advance a broad-based attack on the rights of tenants, and in Maryland, to successfully push back against Good Cause Eviction reforms."
Maryland has some explaining to do...
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Maryland has some explaining to do...
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Our housing movement can learn a lot from the worker cooperative movement. And you could say fairly that they are one movement. We have to work outside the silos.
How Baltimore became a rising star in America’s worker cooperative movement
baltimorebeat.com/how-baltimor...
baltimorebeat.com/how-baltimor...
How Baltimore became a rising star in America's worker cooperative movement
On a sweltering August afternoon at Red Emma’s, the anarchist bookstore, cafe, and community organizing space in Baltimore’s Waverly neighborhood, something that would have seemed impossible two…
baltimorebeat.com
August 8, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Our housing movement can learn a lot from the worker cooperative movement. And you could say fairly that they are one movement. We have to work outside the silos.
Maryland law now requires rescheduling of evictions during extreme (aka excessive) heat warnings. But Wednesday's scorcher is a heat advisory, meaning the heat index will reach only 105-109F instead of the requisite 110F.
Is it really progress that we're putting folks out at 105F?
Is it really progress that we're putting folks out at 105F?
Extreme heat advisory, air quality alert issued as Marylanders brace for scorching temps
Extreme heat advisory, air quality alert issued as Marylanders brace for scorching temps
Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Fredrick, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s counties are under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m....
buff.ly
July 30, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Maryland law now requires rescheduling of evictions during extreme (aka excessive) heat warnings. But Wednesday's scorcher is a heat advisory, meaning the heat index will reach only 105-109F instead of the requisite 110F.
Is it really progress that we're putting folks out at 105F?
Is it really progress that we're putting folks out at 105F?
Reposted by Zafar
Texas housing policy & wide empty spaces may result in more housing production for the mid-class but it falls just as short as blue states in affordable housing for those most impacted by the housing crisis who are left unprotected by Texas’ weak social safety net & landlord-tenant laws.
High rents and low wages have created the housing gap for low-income renters. In Texas, a worker must earn $29.64 per hour to afford a modest 2 bedroom rental home or $24.87 for a 1 bedroom.
Plainly stated: We need more affordable housing. #oor25 @nlihc.org
texashousers.org/2025/07/17/2...
Plainly stated: We need more affordable housing. #oor25 @nlihc.org
texashousers.org/2025/07/17/2...
2025 Out Of Reach report shows slight wage increases aren't keeping pace with costs to fix affordable housing crisis - Texas Housers
NLIHC has released the 2025 edition of its Out of Reach report, which chronicles the gulf between the wages people earn and the price of decent rental housing in every state, metropolitan area, and co...
texashousers.org
July 17, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Texas housing policy & wide empty spaces may result in more housing production for the mid-class but it falls just as short as blue states in affordable housing for those most impacted by the housing crisis who are left unprotected by Texas’ weak social safety net & landlord-tenant laws.
Read the 2025 Out of Reach report for Maryland. nlihc.org/sites/defaul...
July 19, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Read the 2025 Out of Reach report for Maryland. nlihc.org/sites/defaul...
Antoine Lovell at Morgan State U:
Maryland "needs an audacious, justice-based housing agenda that prioritizes that all individuals, no matter income levels, have a safe and secure place they can call home.
Squatting is not an epidemic. Inequity is the epidemic." 🔨
Maryland "needs an audacious, justice-based housing agenda that prioritizes that all individuals, no matter income levels, have a safe and secure place they can call home.
Squatting is not an epidemic. Inequity is the epidemic." 🔨
Squatting in Maryland is not a crime epidemic — it's a housing crisis - Maryland Matters
Recent news stories may indicate otherwise, but squatting is not an epidemic, writes Antoine Lovell, and it's not a crime: It's a sign of housing inequity that forces people to make desperate choices,...
marylandmatters.org
July 7, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Antoine Lovell at Morgan State U:
Maryland "needs an audacious, justice-based housing agenda that prioritizes that all individuals, no matter income levels, have a safe and secure place they can call home.
Squatting is not an epidemic. Inequity is the epidemic." 🔨
Maryland "needs an audacious, justice-based housing agenda that prioritizes that all individuals, no matter income levels, have a safe and secure place they can call home.
Squatting is not an epidemic. Inequity is the epidemic." 🔨
'Big Beautiful' $45B for detention centers could instead finance an estimated 163,600 new affordable apartments through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.
It could prevent imminent eviction for between 9.8M and 16.6M households.
It could prevent around 59M utility shutoffs.
It could prevent imminent eviction for between 9.8M and 16.6M households.
It could prevent around 59M utility shutoffs.
July 6, 2025 at 4:00 PM
'Big Beautiful' $45B for detention centers could instead finance an estimated 163,600 new affordable apartments through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.
It could prevent imminent eviction for between 9.8M and 16.6M households.
It could prevent around 59M utility shutoffs.
It could prevent imminent eviction for between 9.8M and 16.6M households.
It could prevent around 59M utility shutoffs.
The budget for ICE (not including all other parts of DHS) is now $55B.
'Big Beautiful' funding for detention centers alone is $45B.
How much for the housing crisis? The entire proposed FY26 HUD budget is $38B.
$0 to prevent evictions. $0 for community dev block grant.
The budget for ICE (not including all other parts of DHS) is now $55B.
'Big Beautiful' funding for detention centers alone is $45B.
How much for the housing crisis? The entire proposed FY26 HUD budget is $38B.
$0 to prevent evictions. $0 for community dev block grant.
July 6, 2025 at 3:41 PM
The budget for ICE (not including all other parts of DHS) is now $55B.
'Big Beautiful' funding for detention centers alone is $45B.
How much for the housing crisis? The entire proposed FY26 HUD budget is $38B.
$0 to prevent evictions. $0 for community dev block grant.
The budget for ICE (not including all other parts of DHS) is now $55B.
'Big Beautiful' funding for detention centers alone is $45B.
How much for the housing crisis? The entire proposed FY26 HUD budget is $38B.
$0 to prevent evictions. $0 for community dev block grant.
If Realtors want more customers (i.e., young adults leaving the family home), they should lobby for those customers to have higher wages, universal healthcare, affordable childcare, and investment in public education.
July 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
If Realtors want more customers (i.e., young adults leaving the family home), they should lobby for those customers to have higher wages, universal healthcare, affordable childcare, and investment in public education.
Here's the real story:
For Baltimore, MD --
* Income Needed to Afford Rent, 04/2025: $75,158
* Change in Needed Income Since 04/2020: 29.6%
Did young Baltimore renters see 30% earnings increases over the past 5 yrs? This isn't even factoring new student debt policy and rising healthcare costs.
For Baltimore, MD --
* Income Needed to Afford Rent, 04/2025: $75,158
* Change in Needed Income Since 04/2020: 29.6%
Did young Baltimore renters see 30% earnings increases over the past 5 yrs? This isn't even factoring new student debt policy and rising healthcare costs.
Number of markets where renters need to earn $100K to afford rent has doubled since 2020 - May 12, 2025
zillow.mediaroom.com
July 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Here's the real story:
For Baltimore, MD --
* Income Needed to Afford Rent, 04/2025: $75,158
* Change in Needed Income Since 04/2020: 29.6%
Did young Baltimore renters see 30% earnings increases over the past 5 yrs? This isn't even factoring new student debt policy and rising healthcare costs.
For Baltimore, MD --
* Income Needed to Afford Rent, 04/2025: $75,158
* Change in Needed Income Since 04/2020: 29.6%
Did young Baltimore renters see 30% earnings increases over the past 5 yrs? This isn't even factoring new student debt policy and rising healthcare costs.
This story gives terrible advice based on a 2.3% YOY dip in 1BR rents. Worse, the talking point of "see, rents are falling on their own" pops up in serious policy conversations. Reality is this: from 2020 to 05/2025 median rents rose 29% (43% for single-family homes) while renters' wages rose 23%.
The Case for Moving Out: Why Adult Kids Still Living With Their Parents Should Get Their Own Place—Now
Rents are falling for the first time in years, but millions of young adults aren’t moving out. Experts say the delay might be costing them.
www.sfgate.com
July 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
This story gives terrible advice based on a 2.3% YOY dip in 1BR rents. Worse, the talking point of "see, rents are falling on their own" pops up in serious policy conversations. Reality is this: from 2020 to 05/2025 median rents rose 29% (43% for single-family homes) while renters' wages rose 23%.
How Socialists Solved The Housing Crisis
YouTube video by The Gravel Institute
youtu.be
July 5, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Here's some data:
3,636 "wrongful detainer" cases filed vs. alleged squatters in 2024.
4,806 cases filed vs. renters bc their leases were non-renewed without cause.
For media & many MD legislators, only the first one reflects a crisis.
*Waiting for Sun stories on eviction w/out cause*... 7/7
3,636 "wrongful detainer" cases filed vs. alleged squatters in 2024.
4,806 cases filed vs. renters bc their leases were non-renewed without cause.
For media & many MD legislators, only the first one reflects a crisis.
*Waiting for Sun stories on eviction w/out cause*... 7/7
June 19, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Here's some data:
3,636 "wrongful detainer" cases filed vs. alleged squatters in 2024.
4,806 cases filed vs. renters bc their leases were non-renewed without cause.
For media & many MD legislators, only the first one reflects a crisis.
*Waiting for Sun stories on eviction w/out cause*... 7/7
3,636 "wrongful detainer" cases filed vs. alleged squatters in 2024.
4,806 cases filed vs. renters bc their leases were non-renewed without cause.
For media & many MD legislators, only the first one reflects a crisis.
*Waiting for Sun stories on eviction w/out cause*... 7/7
We've also not heard any data on the supposed squatter crisis. Anecdotes, tweets & TV news clips, yes. But numbers? This is a rare instance in which bill proponents could not show the scope of the problem, still passed their bill on the first try & now seem to want to keep legislating the issue. 6/7
June 19, 2025 at 12:13 AM
We've also not heard any data on the supposed squatter crisis. Anecdotes, tweets & TV news clips, yes. But numbers? This is a rare instance in which bill proponents could not show the scope of the problem, still passed their bill on the first try & now seem to want to keep legislating the issue. 6/7
The Sun itself reported on the fraud against scammed would-be renters. Is a 2-3 week eviction process fair to them? We've heard nothing from Delegate Nawrocki, Senator Watson & other tough-on-squatter folks about how they want to address the revictimization caused by expedited evictions. 5/7
June 19, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The Sun itself reported on the fraud against scammed would-be renters. Is a 2-3 week eviction process fair to them? We've heard nothing from Delegate Nawrocki, Senator Watson & other tough-on-squatter folks about how they want to address the revictimization caused by expedited evictions. 5/7
Is 4 weeks too long for due process in a busy court system? Note that judges could (and likely will) issue warrants within 2 days after trial & sheriffs could schedule these evictions the next day if they want (or if pressured to). SB46 could often look more like a 2-3 week eviction process. 4/7
June 19, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Is 4 weeks too long for due process in a busy court system? Note that judges could (and likely will) issue warrants within 2 days after trial & sheriffs could schedule these evictions the next day if they want (or if pressured to). SB46 could often look more like a 2-3 week eviction process. 4/7
The anti-squatter bill requires trial as early as 5 business days after filing in court & not more than 10. Let's assume it takes 10 biz days and also assume 5 days for issuance of a warrant and 1 week to schedule eviction, all of which are commonplace: That's eviction ~4 weeks after filing. 3/7
June 19, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The anti-squatter bill requires trial as early as 5 business days after filing in court & not more than 10. Let's assume it takes 10 biz days and also assume 5 days for issuance of a warrant and 1 week to schedule eviction, all of which are commonplace: That's eviction ~4 weeks after filing. 3/7
The Sun's estimate of 7 weeks for eviction under SB46 is actually the outer limit, likely extended by appeal or by a sheriff's delay. Appeals would be an exceedingly rare delay bc the 'squatter' must pay a cash bond to stop eviction while waiting for the appeal to be heard. 2/7
June 19, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The Sun's estimate of 7 weeks for eviction under SB46 is actually the outer limit, likely extended by appeal or by a sheriff's delay. Appeals would be an exceedingly rare delay bc the 'squatter' must pay a cash bond to stop eviction while waiting for the appeal to be heard. 2/7
In April the Maryland General Assembly passed SB46 to expedite the eviction process for suspected squatters... The Sun reports: "Observers say the legislation... might still take at least seven weeks to reach a point where law enforcement can serve an eviction."
That's misleading. Here's why 🧵 1/7
That's misleading. Here's why 🧵 1/7
Maryland woman associated with squatter homes refuses interview
During the past month, alleged unauthorized occupants, or squatters, in properties throughout the Baltimore region have repeatedly pointed Spotlight on Maryland to the Instagram account “nayo…
www.baltimoresun.com
June 19, 2025 at 12:13 AM
In April the Maryland General Assembly passed SB46 to expedite the eviction process for suspected squatters... The Sun reports: "Observers say the legislation... might still take at least seven weeks to reach a point where law enforcement can serve an eviction."
That's misleading. Here's why 🧵 1/7
That's misleading. Here's why 🧵 1/7
Reposted by Zafar
Sponsored podcast: Learn how tenant screening protections can break down barriers for renters and protect fair access to housing for the most vulnerable.
nextcity.org/podcast/unlo...
nextcity.org/podcast/unlo...
Unlocking Housing Access: Why Tenant Screening Protections Matter
Sponsored podcast: Learn how tenant screening protections can break down barriers for renters and protect fair access to housing for the most vulnerable.
nextcity.org
June 12, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Sponsored podcast: Learn how tenant screening protections can break down barriers for renters and protect fair access to housing for the most vulnerable.
nextcity.org/podcast/unlo...
nextcity.org/podcast/unlo...
Tenant vouchers will merge with Public Housing, Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA), Section 202 Housing for the Elderly + Section 811
Housing for Persons with Disabilities into a $31.79B State Rental Assistance Block Grant program.
The prior administration funded tenant vouchers alone at $32B.
Housing for Persons with Disabilities into a $31.79B State Rental Assistance Block Grant program.
The prior administration funded tenant vouchers alone at $32B.
June 3, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Tenant vouchers will merge with Public Housing, Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA), Section 202 Housing for the Elderly + Section 811
Housing for Persons with Disabilities into a $31.79B State Rental Assistance Block Grant program.
The prior administration funded tenant vouchers alone at $32B.
Housing for Persons with Disabilities into a $31.79B State Rental Assistance Block Grant program.
The prior administration funded tenant vouchers alone at $32B.