A state lawmaker from Maryland has introduced an act that would bar arrest warrants from being issued for tenants owing less than $5,000 in unpaid rent. The lawmaker named the bill the “Jared Kushner Act” after the president’s son-in-law.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Maryland against companies connected to the company owned by the family of Jared Kushner. The suit alleges they charged improper late fees, which is against Maryland law. Some tenants were threatened with eviction, and there were even reports of civil arrests of tenants who owed the company money.
Maryland State Delegate Bilal Ali named his bill after Kushner because he believes “people have a right to know who’s dragging them off to jail.” A spokesman for Kushner Cos., Kushner’s family company, called the naming of the bill after the Kushner a “petty” political move. The spokeswoman also clarified that the arrest warrants are known as “body attachments” and are only issued after there is a failure to honor two court orders.
Ali said Kushner has to take responsibility for the arrests of low-income residents who live in his properties. “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,” he said.
In investigating the problematic debt collection techniques, the Maryland Attorney General also alleges that one of the companies affiliated with Kushner Cos., failed to properly maintain seventeen locations.