Many jurisdictions, including Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia, have faced court closures and other logistical issues surrounding the current COVID-19 emergency. This is in addition to proclamations and orders issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that have placed a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions for millions of Americans with FHA-insured mortgages for a period of 60 days. This article highlights the temporary changes to the foreclosure and eviction process in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia.

Maryland

In Maryland, foreclosures, evictions and other ejectment proceedings are stayed during the pendency of the COVID-19 emergency. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Barbera has signed two administrative orders regarding the foreclosures, evictions and other ejectments. Both of these orders are in coordination with the Order of Governor Hogan Temporarily Prohibiting Evictions of Tenants Suffering Substantial Loss of Income Due to COVID-19.

The first order, signed March 18, 2020, was entered, in part, due to concerns that foreclosures of residential property, foreclosures of the right to redeem residential property sold in a tax sale, and residential evictions presented the strong likelihood of creating undue hardship if completed during the pendency of the COVID-19 emergency. The March 18 Order primarily did three things: (1) immediately stayed foreclosures of residential properties and foreclosures of the rights of redemption of residential properties pending in the circuit courts; (2) immediately stayed residential eviction matters pending in Maryland’s district courts and all pending residential eviction orders; and (3) provided that any and all new foreclosure of residential property, foreclosure of rights of redemption after a tax sale, and residential evictions are stayed upon filing.

The second order, signed March 25, 2020, which rescinded the March 18 Order, was entered to expand upon the first order and did three things: (1) immediately stayed all proceedings related to foreclosures of residential properties, foreclosures of the rights of redemption of residential properties after a tax sale, executions on residential real property under levy or subject to a lien, and actions for possession of residential properties by ground lease holders pending in the circuit courts; (2) immediately stayed all residential eviction matters pending in the District Court of Maryland and all pending residential eviction orders; and (3) provided that any and all new actions for foreclosures of residential property, foreclosures of rights of redemption of a residential property after a tax sale, actions for possession of residential properties by ground lease holders, and executions on residential real property under levy or subject to a lien are stayed upon filing.

However, the March 25 Order also permits parties who demonstrate that a delay of a residential foreclosure will place an undue burden on the defendant to file a consent motion to lift stay to allow ratification so long as the consent motion is signed by the defendant. In these cases, the courts shall consider the consent motion on an expedited basis.

District of Columbia

Evictions and foreclosures are effectively stayed until May 15, 2020, in the District of Columbia. The Superior Court of the District of Columbia issued its first court order on March 15, 2020. That order continued all hearings and trials in landlord and tenant matters. The order also stayed all evictions of tenants and foreclosed homeowners set for May 1, 2020, or before.

However, the Superior Court issued an Amended Order on March 19, 2020. This order suspended, tolled, and extended filing deadlines that would otherwise expire before May 15, 2020, during the time period of the current COVID-19 emergency. The order also stayed all evictions of tenants and foreclosed homeowners on or before May 15, 2020.

Additionally, on March 17, 2020, the Council of the District of Columbia passed emergency legislation, the COVID-19 Response Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Act”), which was signed by Mayor Bowser on the same date. Some key parts of the Act are as follows:

• Section 308 (Eviction Prohibition) of the Act applies to effectively prevent both residential and commercial evictions while the public health emergency declaration is in effect, as the Council’s Act modifies the availability of serving summons for all evictions under Section 16-502 of the DC Code. 
• Section 312 (Tenant Rights) of the Act extends the time for tenants to exercise certain rights, but importantly, the Act expressly states that this change modifies the “Rental Housing Conversion and Sale Act of 1980,” DC Code sec. 42-3401.01 et seq. This subchapter is applicable solely to residential tenants. Sec. 42-3401.02, for example, lists the purposes of the Rental Housing Conversion and Sale Act, and it is exclusively phrased in terms of rental housing and housing providers. See Sec. 45-2503(33) (defining a “rental unit” as a housing accommodation that is “rented or offered for rent for residential occupancy.”); see also Sec 42-3501.03(15) (defining “housing providers” defined as a party receiving “rents or benefits for the use or occupancy of any rental unit within a housing accommodation.”).

Virginia

On March 16, 2020, Chief Justice Lemons of the Supreme Court of Virginia signed an order declaring a judicial emergency in response to the COVID-19 emergency. The order continued all civil matters with limited exceptions. Thus, all eviction and foreclosure proceedings were suspended, and all deadlines tolled and extended, for a period of 21 days, until April 6, 2020. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, it is unclear whether the Supreme Court of Virginia will extend the continuance of all civil matters beyond April 6, 2020.

Summary

If you are seeking an eviction or foreclosure, all deadlines in Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia have been tolled and extended. If you currently have a foreclosure or eviction case in any of these jurisdictions, you are unlikely to obtain relief until the courts re-open to the public. Should you have any questions regarding evictions or foreclosures, please get in touch with Bradford S. Bernstein, John T. Farnum and/or Joshua R. Chazen, all attorneys in Miles & Stockbridge’s Real Estate Litigation & Title Insurance Defense practice group.

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