Opinion: How Maryland Avoided an Eviction Tsunami

In early 2020, tenant lobbyists began to warn of an imminent eviction tsunami that could cause as many as 100,000 evictions and decimate Maryland’s economy. That tsunami never arrived. Even as evictions remained at historical lows into 2021, predictions of an eviction tsunami reached a crescendo in Annapolis during the state legislative session. Stoking fears of a tsunami became the most popular method to push extreme and unprecedented housing policies that would have exponentially inflated rent prices and decimated affordable housing across the state.