For some Maryland landlords, filing for eviction is a monthly routine. Tenants pay the price

For five years, Robert Trammel would routinely pass by his mailbox on the way out of his three-story, pale brick apartment complex in Anne Arundel County to find a yellow slip of paper Scotch-taped to his mailbox. The notice was always the same: an order to appear in court for “failure to pay rent.” But by the time the court dates arrived, Trammel had already paid his rent, along with about $70 in eviction filing and late fees, he said. He stayed put.