Bill > S824

This bill, titled "Promoting housing opportunity and mobility through eviction sealing (HOMES)", aims to promote housing opportunity and mobility by sealing court records related to eviction actions and other civil actions involving tenants or occupants of residential premises. The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Defining terms such as "consumer report", "consumer reporting agency", "court record", "eviction action", "fault eviction", "no-fault eviction", and "nonpayment eviction". 2. Requiring the automatic sealing of court records in eviction actions and other related civil actions, with limited exceptions where the records may be made available to the public after a certain period. 3. Prohibiting consumer reporting agencies from disclosing or using information from sealed court records in their reports, and providing remedies for consumers affected by such violations. 4. Restricting the ability of housing, employment, or credit applicants to be asked about their tenancy-related litigation history, with some exceptions, and providing remedies for violations. 5. Requiring parties who obtain a judgment reflected in a public court record to file a notice of satisfaction of the judgment, which would then lead to the sealing of the court records. 6. Mandating data collection and reporting by the courts on various aspects of eviction actions, and allowing municipalities to collect data on notices to quit or non-renewal of leases. Overall, the bill aims to promote housing opportunity and mobility by limiting the public availability and use of eviction-related court records, with the goal of reducing barriers to housing for individuals with past eviction histories.

Justice

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/S824