Lead Paint and Carbon Monoxide - Lead paint abatement requirements are becoming a costly burden for landlords. A Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that a tenant's child who ate lead paint was covered by the landlord's homeowner's policy. The U.S. Attorney has a notification program to landlords who rent to drug dealing tenants. Landlords who ignore the notices risk having their property seized under civil forfeiture laws. The area of debt collection is the only good news for landlords.
Creditors can garnish the wages of military and federal employees.
Skip tracing of tenants is made much easier through a wide number of computer databases. Attorneys must comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when handling evictions. Defamation - A landlord cannot be sued by a tenant for defamation for calling him an obscene name and threatening to evict him for odors emanating from his restaurant. Punitive Damages - Punitive damages are allowed and warranted in habitability cases only if there is clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence that the landlord's conduct was motivated by malice or so reckless or grossly negligent as to rise to the level of criminal disregard for the tenant's health and safety.