ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland lawmaker has sponsored the “Jared Kushner Act,” a bill that would prevent state judges from issuing arrest warrants for tenants who are being sued for less than $5,000 in unpaid rent.
Del. Bilal Ali, a Baltimore Democrat, said Wednesday he named the bill after President Donald Trump’s son-in-law because Kushner’s apartment management company was the state’s most aggressive landlord in obtaining civil arrest warrants against tenants.
“I think that people have a right to know who’s dragging them off to jail,” Ali said. “I mean, he has to take ownership for that.”
Christine Taylor, a spokeswoman for Kushner Cos., said the company’s local counsel in Maryland handled matters consistent with other attorneys in similar situations in the state and in accordance with Maryland law. The arrest warrants are known as “body attachments,” and Taylor noted that they are not issued by a court unless there is a failure to abide by two court orders.
Ali said he filed the bill to protect his constituents. Four other Democrats in the Maryland House of Delegates are co-sponsors.
“My thoughts around this particular bill were that a lot of my constituents were being penalized because they were poor, and we’ve always had these regressive policies that have always impacted poor people,” Ali said.
Taylor said the bill was politically motivated.
“For a couple of local politicians to sponsor a bill called the Jared Kushner Act when neither Kushner Companies nor Jared Kushner, when he worked at Kushner Companies, had anything to do with these issues is petty,” Taylor said.
Kushner stepped down as CEO of Kushner Cos. before becoming an adviser last year to the president. Garden apartment complexes in Baltimore are owned by Westminster Management, a subsidiary of Kushner Cos.
Kushner has sold off some real estate investments in the family company since joining the White House. A financial disclosure report released in July said he still owns a stake in Westminster Management. The report showed he received $1.6 million in income from the holding.
Great move, Mr. Ali!
Love it! Decriminalize poverty.
Well as a person who’s wife, brother in law and sisters in law inherited rental property, $5000 could be a shit load of money especially if the property is old and needs constant upkeep and is already in the hole from previous repair. I can appreciate people being poor and having a hard time paying rent, but some of us landlords ain’t got enough money to be able maintain a place to let people stay for free. If it weren’t for the fact that this rental property is supposed to provide money for my wife’s stepmother we all be ready to sell the property and be done with the constant drain it’s been financially and mentally. A lot of renters suck!
You can be jailed for, essentially, owing money? WTF?!?
It’s quaint that Taylor would absolve the Full Metal Jackass of any participation yet Westiminster is a subsidiary of Kushner Companies. To think Kushner Cos. was unaware of these strong-arm tactics is pretty rich. And then use the “they all do it” defense.
Still, the most precious bit of information is that Kushner received $1.6 million from his holding in what can only be described as a vicious, callous company.
Now I wonder, Did Ivankatoinette always want to marry a humanitarian or did she just get lucky?
Tossing tenants in arrears into prison is sort of counterproductive. (If they’re in prison, they won’t earn any money to try and pay off the rent they owe.) Part of owning rental real estate is deciding on the likelihood that the prospective tenant will be able and willing to pay the rent. At some point, if you don’t get your rent, you go to court and get an eviction order. This is a nuisance (even after you’ve evicted the tenant, you need to try to collect the rent and most people in this situation have no assets to collect.
This isn’t some small landlord. This is a large company which can make decisions about balancing the various policies. Arresting people doesn’t give Kushner any extra rent. The likelihood of a tenant not paying and the cost and delay of evicting the tenant are something you take into account. Unless you are a gangster from a family of gangsters.