Baltimore juries award $1.4M in Maryland Legal Aid housing case

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Baltimore juries in late January and early February awarded more than $1.4 million in two separate trials over substandard housing at apartment buildings with unlicensed landlords.

The plaintiffs, represented by Maryland Legal Aid, sued in Baltimore City Circuit Court in the summer of 2023 to redress poor living conditions. Their apartment buildings, which are federally subsidized and serve seniors and people with disabilities, lacked heat and had mice, cockroaches and mold. The buildings were unsecured and lacked needed accommodations for people with disabilities.

They originally filed multiple rent escrow actions in Baltimore City District Court, but those produced little meaningful change, according to Legal Aid.

Key to the lawsuit — and rare in a housing case — was a claim of fraud and deceit, an allegation that the landlords illegally collected rent while knowingly lacking licenses and maintaining substandard units. They also alleged violations of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act and the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act.

Five current or former residents of two apartment buildings were awarded a total of $1,434,981 on Jan. 28 and Feb. 2. The judgments are against the Reginald and Marguerite Daniels Housing for the Elderly and the Bellevieu-Manchester apartments, both in West Baltimore. It was a single lawsuit, but there were separate trials for each building. The plaintiffs will be reimbursed for unlawfully collected rent, and will receive punitive damages and compensation for emotional distress.

One of the plaintiffs, Margaret Little, played an active role in organizing her fellow tenants.

“We just wanted a place to live decently,” Little, who won $281,513, said in a news release. “I’m not a young girl. I’m in my seventies and I just wanted quality of life.”

“They fought so hard for us,” she said of Maryland Legal Aid lawyers Theda Saffo and Kyle Coleman. When she found out she would be compensated, she said, “it was like, ‘Oh my God. Jesus, is this true?’ ”

Last year, Little was able to move to a new apartment.

Baltimore City Circuit Judge Paul Cucuzzella presided over the trials.

The landlords are not listed as having a lawyer since August 2024. Gina Sammons is listed as the resident agent for both apartment buildings; she did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

A third defendant, Towner Management Company, was removed from the case in late January and Maryland Legal Aid said it reached an “amicable settlement” with the company.

“This case is about accountability, but it is also about human dignity,” Saffo stated in a news release.

“Older adults and people with disabilities deserve safe, secure homes that meet basic health and safety standards. The law is a critical tool to enforce those protections. At its core, however, this case underscores a simple principle: no one should have to live in conditions that compromise their health, safety, and basic sense of security.”