Hallowell v. Citaramanis

GARRITY, Judge.

This unusual landlord-tenant dispute arose when the tenants, Tammy and Michael CitaraManis, sued their former landlords, Eustace and Portia Hallowell, under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act (CPA) for restitution of all rent paid during their eighteen-month tenancy.

Confronted with the CPA in the residential lease context, the Circuit Court for Howard County (Dudley, J.) granted the CitaraManises’ motion for summary judgment and awarded them restitution for $15,450, 100 percent of the rent they had paid during the tenancy. Appealing from the judgment, the Hallowells present…