Posted on March 21, 2024 in Construction

Silverman Thompson recently represented a contractor who was hired to renovate a large residential property in Baltimore County. The plaintiff, a subcontractor, filed a lawsuit against the client’s company and the client, individually, alleging that the company and the client individually breached a contract and that our client violated the Maryland Construction Trust Act and the Maryland Prompt Pay Act.

Silverman Thompson moved to dismiss or in the alternative for summary judgment on all claims.

Based on the evidence and legal arguments presented in our brief, the Plaintiff voluntarily dropped 3 of his 4 claims against our client, including those claims against the client in his personal capacity and the claims that could have potentially allowed the plaintiff to recover its attorneys’ fees and any enhanced damages.

The firm handles a wide range of construction-related litigation. If you would like to inquire about a similar matter, please contact the Firm at 410-385-2225 or reach out directly to:

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 Posted on March 14, 2024 in Real Estate

How can you register a rental property in Baltimore City? Effective January 1, 2019, all non-owner-occupied dwelling units, regardless of whether it is a single-family or multi-family dwelling, must be licensed and registered in Baltimore City.

What are the steps to receive a rental license from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)?

• The Property must be registered with DHCD.
• The Property must be lead certified and registered with the Maryland Department of the Environment.
• The Property be inspected by a State-licensed, Baltimore City-registered home inspector.
• The Property must be licensed by Baltimore City with an active license number.

How do you register a rental property with DHCD in Baltimore City?

The Baltimore City Code, Article 13, Subtitle 4-2, requires every owner of a non-owner-occupied dwelling unit, “whether occupied or vacant, whether it is producing revenue or not producing revenue, whether habitable or not habitable,” to file a registration statement with the Housing Commissioner. This must be done within 10 days of any transfer of the property and renews each January 1st thereafter.

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 Posted on March 12, 2024 in Child Abuse

“Moving forward, our office will continue to pursue stiff penalties [for child pornography cases] …”

That was the strong message delivered by Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy on November 20, 2023, following the sentencing of Patrick Wojahn. Wojahn, the former mayor of College Park, pled guilty to 140 counts of possession and/or distribution of child pornography and was subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison. The prosecutor assigned to that case explained during the sentencing hearing, “The reason why he pled to 140 counts was because our office is not going to take a position as to which child deserves to have their rape—that was memorialized on video and forever lives on the internet—pled to.”

So, you can imagine the angst my client felt when he learned on December 7, 2023—just a little over two weeks after the Wojahn sentencing—that he had been indicted with the same criminal offenses, in the same jurisdiction, by the same prosecutor. Like Wojahn, my client had no prior criminal record, was well-educated, a devoted family man with a good paying job. Yet here he was facing the possibility of decades in prison.

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 Posted on March 06, 2024 in Real Estate

How do you remove a squatter in Maryland? When an empty residential unit or vacant buildings become occupied by a person other than an authorized tenant, they are often referred to as a squatter. Squatter law in Maryland does not allow you to remove the unauthorized person without utilizing the legal process.

What is a squatter?

 A squatter is person who has taken physical possession of real property that they do not own, and who has not signed a lease or paid rent for the property. If a person refuses to leave the request of the property owner, they are considered a squatter and may be removed through filing a Complaint for Wrongful Detainer in the District Courts of Maryland.

What is a Complaint for Wrongful Detainer?

Under Section 14-132 of the Real Property Article, a Complaint for Wrongful Detainer is the right cause of action in situations where an individual holds possession of real property without the legal right of possession. A person may not hold possession of property unless the person is entitled to possession of the property under the law. A Complaint for Wrongful Detainer will not be successful if (1) the person in actual possession of the property has been granted possession under a court order, (2) a remedy is available through a Failure to Pay Rent, Breach of Lease and/or Tenant Holding Over action, or (3) there is any other means to recover possession of the property.

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 Posted on March 01, 2024 in Corporations

What is the Corporate Transparency Act?

In 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) as part of the sprawling National Defense Authorization Act.[1] The law, which took effect January 1, 2024, “packs a significant regulatory punch, requiring most entities incorporated under State law to disclose personal stakeholder information to the Treasury Department’s criminal enforcement arm.”[2]  Entities covered by the law include, with some exceptions, corporations, limited liability companies, and similar entities created in the United States by filing documentation with the secretary of state or similar office, or formed under foreign law and registered to do business in the United States.[3]  Failure to report can result in both civil and criminal penalties.[4]

Case Ruling the Corporate Transparency Act Unconstitutional

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 Posted on February 14, 2024 in Uncategorized

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

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 Posted on February 09, 2024 in Uncategorized

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

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 Posted on January 23, 2024 in Uncategorized

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumyeirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diamvoluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

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 Posted on December 20, 2023 in Real Estate

New Maryland Landlord-Tenant Law Effective October 1, 2023

Rental License Needed for ALL Eviction Cases

Pursuant to Senate Bill 100, effective October 1, 2023, if a county or municipality requires a rental license, a landlord MUST have a rental license to file any of the following actions:

• Failure to Pay Rent
• Tenant Holding Over
• Breach of Lease.

If a landlord does not have the required license, the landlord cannot seek eviction of a tenant. The only exceptions are:

(1) the landlord is not licensed because of a wrongful act of the tenant (regardless of intention), that caused the licensing authority to suspend, revoke, or refuse to grant or renew the rental licenses.
(2) the landlord is not licensed because of an administrative error or omission by the local licensing authority that caused the licensing authority to suspend, revoke, or refuse to grant or renew the rental license.
(3) the unit is part of a multi-unit property where there is one license for multiple units, and the entire multi-unit property is unlicensed because of a condition affecting another unit (and not the unit at issue).

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 Posted on October 18, 2023 in Employment Law

Employers must be aware of, and revise their employment-related documents to reflect, the recent changes to Maryland and federal law.  One of a Company’s most powerful way to deter future litigation is by ensuring that its agreements, handbooks, and policies are legally compliant.

Companies often face claims of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation by their employees.  As such, it is imperative that employers are cognizant of the Maryland legislature’s substantial expansion of anti-discrimination and harassment laws.  With the passage of SB 450, the Maryland legislature adopted a less stringent standard of determining harassment, allowing employees to establish that they have been the subject of harassment based on the “totality of the circumstances.” Additionally, Maryland has imposed greater requirements for employers to reasonably accommodate not only employees’ disabilities but also an applicants’ disabilities.  Finally, the Office of the Attorney General can now independently initiate investigations of federal and state civil rights violations and file a lawsuit on behalf of the employees in Maryland, making it even more essential that employers properly handle complaints of discrimination. 

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