Posted on May 24, 2024 in Appellate

In fall 2021, Silverman Thompson filed suit in federal court in Pennsylvania on behalf of a provider of inmate communication services for prisons. The suit alleged that just as Silverman Thompson’s client was about to finalize a contract with a county prison, the incumbent service provider and business rival used illegal, anti-competitive tactics to scuttle the deal and secure a renewal of its contract with the prison. After extensive preliminary motions practice, the district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim, but gave Silverman Thompson’s client the opportunity to amend. Confident in its claims as drafted by Silverman Thompson, the client elected to stand on the complaint and appealed the dismissal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

After briefing and oral argument in the Third Circuit led by Silverman Thompson attorneys, the client’s choice was vindicated in December 2023 when the appeals court issued an opinion vacating the dismissal and remanding for further proceedings in the district court to more fully evaluate whether the complaint stated claims under Pennsylvania common law.

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 Posted on May 21, 2024 in Real Estate

Senate Bill 19 requires the District Court to shield all court records relating to the filing of a Failure to Pay Rent Complaint within sixty (60) days after the final resolution of the nonpayment of rent case if the case did not result in a judgment for possession. Further, upon the filing of a motion by a tenant, the District Court may also shield court records relating to a failure to pay rent proceeding that did result in a judgment for possession if:

(1) The tenant demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that the paid the judgment amount prior to eviction and stayed in the property (i.e., the tenant exercised their right of redemption) and at least 12 months have passed since the entry of the judgment;

OR

(2) The court determines that there is otherwise good cause to shield the court records.

If there is a rent escrow case associated with a failure to pay rent case, only the records relating to the failure to pay rent case will be shielded.

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 Posted on May 17, 2024 in Dog Bites

Maryland has a comprehensive dog bite statute that imposes strict liability on dog owners for injuries caused by their pets, regardless of the breed. However, there are certain exceptions and nuances to this law, particularly concerning pit bulls.

Maryland’s Dog Bite Statute

Maryland’s dog bite law is codified in Section 3-1901 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code. This statute establishes strict liability for dog owners, meaning they can be held responsible for injuries caused by their dogs without the need to prove negligence or prior knowledge of the animal’s vicious propensities.

The key points of this law are:

• Dog owners are strictly liable for any personal injury or death caused by their dogs, regardless of whether they were aware of the dog’s tendency to bite or attack.

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 Posted on May 14, 2024 in Real Estate

What is the Tenant Safety Act of 2024?

Pursuant to House Bill 1117, effective October 1, 2024, the statute commonly known as the “rent escrow statute” will be amended to:

• Allow multiple tenants to join as plaintiffs in a Petition in Action of Rent Escrow (commonly known as a rent escrow action);
• Include a rebuttable presumption that a tenant is entitled to the adjudication of a request for rent abatement;
• Include a rebuttable presumption that a tenant is entitled to an abatement of prospective rent; and
• Allow a court who orders any relief to a tenant in a rent escrow matter to make a claim for recovery of attorney’s fees, costs and expenses related to litigation.

Permitting multiple tenants to join as plaintiffs in the same Petition in Action of Rent Escrow against a landlord will primarily affect multi-family properties with several units, where a group of tenants may make the same allegations in a rent escrow actions such as mold, flooding, rodents, or other similar issues that affect several units.

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 Posted on May 10, 2024 in Dismissal

This week, the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office dismissed all criminal charges against our client after the entirety of their evidence—incriminating statements coupled with the recovery of more than twelve pounds of cannabis and a loaded firearm—was suppressed by Circuit Court Judge Richard S. Bernhardt, following a three-hour suppression hearing held earlier this year.

In February 2023, our client was driving a rental car with California license plates and tinted windows when he was pulled over on I-95 for allegedly committing two traffic violations: (i) speeding and (ii) driving through a “gore area” of the Maryland House rest stop (the striped triangular area between the highway and the exit ramp). Upon initiating the traffic stop, the officer ordered our client to exit his vehicle and sit in the officer’s patrol vehicle, while the officer purportedly completed the traffic enforcement paperwork.

After isolating and detaining our client in the patrol vehicle, the officer delayed the traffic stop for several minutes, asking more than a dozen questions unrelated to completing the traffic stop paperwork and without ever advising our client of any Miranda warnings. During the interrogation, our client imprudently revealed that he was a cannabis farmer from California and that he possessed marijuana. Shortly thereafter, the officer asked for permission to search the vehicle, which our client refused.

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 Posted on May 06, 2024 in Real Estate

What is constructive eviction?

An actual eviction occurs when a commercial landlord brings legal action seeking possession of leased premises from a commercial tenant, is awarded possession in Court, schedules an eviction of the tenant with the sheriff’s office, and the eviction is carried out by the sheriff.

A constructive eviction occurs when a commercial landlord does not physically or legally evict a commercial tenant, but rather acts, or fails to act, in a manner that interferes with a tenant’s use and enjoyment of the leased premises significantly enough to constitute an eviction in fact. For there to be a “constructive eviction,” a commercial tenant must be deprived of possession or beneficial use of the leased premises, which results in the tenant’s abandonment of the premises within a reasonable time.

To establish that there has been a constructive eviction in a commercial tenancy, a commercial tenant must prove that:

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 Posted on May 02, 2024 in Real Estate

What is the Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024?

House Bill 693 made several substantial changes to existing Maryland landlord-tenant law:

Nonpayment of Rent Complaints

The cost for a landlord to file a Failure to Pay Rent Complaint has increased from $8 to $43 per case (plus an additional $10 in Baltimore City), along with the cost of service.

A landlord is not permitted to recover this cost from a tenant unless a court enters a judgment for possession in the landlord’s favor and the lease agreement provides that a surcharge may be assessed against the tenant.

Any deduction for this surcharge, if awarded by the court, may not be recovered from a tenant in an amount that exceeds the amount of the tenant’s security deposit.

Security Deposits

A landlord may not charge a security deposit in excess of one (1) month’s rent with very limited exception. This is a change from prior law which permitted a landlord to charge a security deposit of up to two months’ rent. The security deposit may not be forfeited to the landlord for breach of a lease, except in the amount the landlord is actually damaged by a breach, or the amount of a surcharge authorized by law.

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 Posted on April 22, 2024 in School Disciplinary Proceedings

On April 15, 2024, Judge Richard Bennett of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland permanently enjoined the University of Maryland from suspending or preventing the graduation of Silverman Thompson client John Doe, a second-semester senior at College Park. Doe was the subject of a formal complaint of sexual assault filed a year after he attended a fraternity party with a student from another university.  The State’s Attorney chose not to proceed with criminal charges against him, but the University proceeded with its internal disciplinary process against Doe and imposed the sanction of expulsion, later reduced to a one-year suspension through the school’s appeal process.

With Doe’s timely graduation and the start of his professional career hanging in the balance, Silverman Thompson sought relief on his behalf in federal court, filing a complaint under Title IX and accompanying emergency motion for injunction relief against College Park. On January 3, 2024, Judge Bennett granted the temporary restraining order, which allowed Doe to attended classes in the spring semester and remain on track to graduate.

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 Posted on April 18, 2024 in Fraud

Ippei Mizuhara, an interpreter for L.A. Dodger’s star Shohei Ohtani, was recently charged by federal authorities in California with one count of bank fraud related to his alleged theft of millions of dollars from Ohtani, which Mizuhara used to bankroll his prolific gambling habit. Though federal investigations often take a long time, the IRS was investigating the illegal gambling ring Mizuhara used to place his bets, so they had a substantial head start on their investigation.

News outlets often report the maximum penalties associated with criminal charges. But the reality is that the maximum penalties are seldom imposed. Instead, federal courts are required by law to calculate a range of imprisonment based on the sentencing guidelines. The federal sentencing guidelines are advisory – meaning the court need not impose a sentence within the guideline range – but they are the starting point for every federal sentence imposed. If a court decides to impose a sentence outside the guideline range, it must provide specific reasons for doing so. As a result, the guidelines provide a far more accurate estimate of the potential penalty that a federal defendant might face.

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 Posted on April 16, 2024 in Child Custody

This article discusses the application of constructive civil contempt in a recent child custody case. It is Part 3 of a three-part series. Part 1 provides an overview of the law of contempt in Maryland. Part 2 includes a summary and analysis of Breona C. v. Rodney D., 253 Md. App. 67 (2021), which clarified the law of civil contempt in child custody cases.

Lessons from the Breona C. Case

As discussed in Part 2, the opinion issued by the Appellate Court of Maryland in Breona C. v. Rodney D., 253 Md. App. 67 (2021) set forth important lessons regarding the application of constructive civil contempt in child custody cases:

1. An order finding a person in constructive civil contempt must include a valid sanction that is distinct from the purge provision and the requirement the Court seeks to enforce.

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