State v. Goldberg

In this case, a re-match of sorts1 between the General Assembly and certain Baltimore landlords, we revisit the *196nature of Maryland’s “ground lease” system. A group of plaintiffs-lessors holding ground leases brought this action against the State challenging, on Maryland Constitutional grounds, Chapter 286 of the Laws of Maryland, which 2007 legislation replaced ejectment with a lien-and-foreclosure process for defaulting lessees of ground leases when more than six months of rent is overdue. The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County determined that the Legislature exceeded its powers and held…