Maryland § 14-133

§ 14-133.

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

        (2)    “Complaint” means a complaint filed under Title 7, Subtitle 1 of this article, § 8–401, § 8–402, § 8–402.1, or § 8–402.2 of this article, or § 14–132 of this subtitle.

        (3)    “Department” means the Department of Housing and Community Development.

        (4)    “Eviction data” means, for each premises subject to a warrant, regardless of whether an eviction occurs, the following information:

            (i)    The name of the landlord of the premises;

            (ii)    The street address, city, county, and zip code of the premises subject to the warrant;

            (iii)    The date of filing of the complaint and the type of action;

            (iv)    For a hearing or trial relating to the complaint:

                1.    Whether the tenant appeared at the hearing or trial; and

                2.    Whether the tenant had legal representation;

            (v)    The date of entry of a judgment for possession;

            (vi)    If applicable, whether the right of redemption was foreclosed at the time of the entry of judgment for possession;

            (vii)    The date of issuance of the warrant; and

            (viii)    The outcome of the issuance of the warrant, including:

                1.    An eviction executed by a sheriff’s office;

                2.    The cancellation of the warrant;

                3.    The expiration of the warrant; and

                4.    Any other outcome.

        (5)    “Publicly disclosable data” means data that is not required to be withheld from disclosure under the Public Information Act or any other law.

        (6)    “Warrant” means a warrant of restitution, a warrant issued to a sheriff or constable commanding a tenant to deliver possession to a landlord, or a writ of possession, issued as the result of a judgment for possession of residential property.

    (b)    (1)    Each month, the Judiciary shall collect, compile, and share complete eviction data from the immediately preceding month with the Department in the manner required by the Department.

        (2)    If the Judiciary discovers that eviction data shared with the Department for any collection period is inaccurate or incomplete, the Judiciary shall notify the Department of the inaccuracy or incompleteness and provide the Department with updated eviction data.

    (c)    The Department shall:

        (1)    Organize and format the data received under subsection (b) of this section;

        (2)    Publish the publicly disclosable data in a data dashboard on the Department’s website and update the dashboard monthly;

        (3)    Make the publicly disclosable data available for download in open data sets that allow automated searching, spatial analysis, visualization, and processing, on request by:

            (i)    A State agency;

            (ii)    An agency of a county or municipal corporation; or

            (iii)    An academic institution located in the State; and

        (4)    On or before August 31, 2023, and each year thereafter, submit a report on the eviction data to the Governor and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly.