In the News
Act Now! Protect Debtors, Homeowners, and Tenants This Legislative Session!
Monday, March 23 is crossover day for Maryland’s General Assembly. This means that legislation needs to pass out of one chamber and cross to the opposite chamber by midnight on that date to have a good chance of passing this legislative session. Almost all of the bill hearings are done, so the next few days are crucial. Advocates are racing to ensure priority legislation makes it onto committee voting lists, moves out of committee, and passes on the House or Senate floor. All the while, monied interests are working hard to ensure bills die in committee, are weakened to the ...
Take Action — Let’s Stop Coerced Debt in Maryland!
One form of control that an abuser exerts over a victim is financial abuse. Many individuals who exert control - whether emotional, psychological, or physical abuse - also control their victims' finances. This financial abuse can take many forms including incurring coerced or fraudulent debt in a survivor’s name. Financial abuse is the main reason why many people are too afraid to leave a domestic abuse situation.HB1198 establishes a process for survivors to state that a debt is coerced and allows debt collectors to consider dropping the court case and to possibly pursue the abuser for the coerced debt instead. ...
Working to Keep People Housed in Maryland
Across Maryland, renters struggle to find safe, clean, affordable housing. Currently, landlords and property managers operate within a powerful, often under-regulated system with weak enforcement, loopholes, and structural power imbalances. Economic Action works to provide direct assistance to renters as well as pass legislation in Maryland to expand protections, assistance, and affordability for tenants statewide. This year, we've combined our Fair Housing and Tenant Advocacy programs into one program -- Housing Services, so we'll be able to better coordinate with our Securing Older Adult Resources (SOAR) program and policy work. We have a new Fair Housing Guide for Maryland Landlords. ...
News Articles
2026 WBAL TV 11: Maryland utility shutoff moratorium to end as BGE addresses customer complaints July 8, 2026Baltimore Beat: Maryland has a new AC law for renters, but many Baltimore tenants are still left out June 16, 2026 Maryland Matters: Economic policy experts, whistleblower urge House to oppose captive insurance tax pause April 9, 2026 Maryland Matters: House speaker’s energy efficiency proposals get mixed reviews March 3, 2026 Maryland Matters: Moore, Peña-Melnyk make rare committee appearances to testify for ‘dynamic pricing’ bills March 3, 2026 Maryland Matters: Maryland utilities fight bill that would regulate employee bonuses January 28, 2026 2025 ...
Keep People Housed — Take Action to Pass Key Reforms in 2026!
This past weekend marked the halfway point in Maryland’s 90-day legislative session. As we cross that benchmark, another, more critical deadline looms: March 23. This is crossover day, which means a bill has to have passed out of one chamber and crossed over to the opposite chamber to have a good chance to make it across the finish line this session. Several critical housing bills haven’t been voted on, and we need your help to get them on the vote lists and out of committee as the clock ticks down. Take action today! Corporate landlords and property managers are trying ...
Guide to Fair Housing for Maryland Landlords
Written by our Fair Housing Manager, LaToya McKay, A Guide to Fair Housing for Maryland landlords is now available on our website, at no charge. The guide will assist landlords with all phases of the tenancy process: Advertising, Application, Choosing a Tenant, and During the Tenancy. There's also a handy income and affordability calculation method to screen tenants with Housing Choice Vouchers or other forms of housing assistance. You'll learn more about Federal fair housing law, Maryland fair housing law, and we've included a handy cheat sheet that shows all of the Federal, state, and local protected classes. You can ...
Take Action — Stop Rent Price Fixing in Maryland!
We believe that everyone has the right to safe, affordable housing. For far too many renters across Maryland, prices are out of control. One reason: private equity firms are working with landlords to stack the deck against hard-working Maryland tenants. Private equity firms are using technology to fix prices to squeeze every dollar from renters to increase millionaires' profits. Technology is used to collect data on rental prices and each day it recommends a new price for each empty rental unit using private data. This drives up prices and means one renter may pay a lot more for their apartment ...
Take Action! Stop Predatory Grocery Pricing in Maryland!
Marylanders work hard to put food on the table for their families. But that is getting more and more difficult, as the cost of food continues to rise. Food prices have gone up 29% since February 2020, so it’s no wonder everyone is feeling the strain. Prices are higher and the amount of food purchased is much smaller. Take action to stop predatory pricing today! While there are a number of factors for this, one is simple: corporate greed. Grocery store chains are using reams of personal data to charge people different prices for the same bag of groceries. With ...
Action Alert: Put Maryland Utility Customers Before Company Profits!
As temperatures plummet, Maryland utility customers should be able to heat their homes without being forced to choose between utility bills and groceries or prescriptions, yet multi-million dollar utilities keep raising rates for customers while service outages continue. As a regulated monopoly, residents have few choices on how to heat and light their homes. Today, utility companies shift many of their business expenses onto our utility bills. Economic Action Maryland Fund is working to pass HB1/SB2, which would help lower energy bills and protect ratepayers. This bill would: Cap the amount of executive salaries and bonuses that are passed onto ...
Action Alert: Help Put a Stop to Zombie Mortgages in Maryland!
Everyday Marylanders are struggling with the skyrocketing costs of basic goods and services. As many costs soar out of control, it makes everything else harder to afford too. Many Maryland homeowners are having a hard time paying their mortgages. In fact, Maryland has the sixth-highest foreclosure rate in the country. Some Maryland homeowners have also faced a terrifying zombie foreclosure. In the early 2000s, lenders were qualifying some home buyers for mortgages using an 80/20 loan, where the homeowner holds a first and second loan simultaneously. When the mortgage bubble crashed, these second loans became worthless and many homeowners thought ...