Federal Judge Weighs Injunction Over Adelphi Condo Evacuation Order

Prince George's County plans to forcibly remove dozens of low-income families within the next two weeks from the Marylander Condominiums on Riggs Road in Adelphi, and a federal magistrate in Greenbelt is now standing between those residents and the door.

Magistrate Judge Ajmel A. Quereshi heard arguments this week in a lawsuit seeking to block the county from forcibly ejecting residents of the Adelphi-area complex, and pledged to rule by Friday on the Marylander Condominium owners association's request for a preliminary injunction. The county has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the condo association lacks standing to sue in federal court. Judge Quereshi pledged to address that motion after ruling on the request to halt evacuations.

At the heart of the dispute is a crippled boiler. The condo association's complaint accuses the county of fostering the crisis by providing services to a homeless encampment on a neighboring vacant lot, allowing it to flourish with open-air fires and tents. Calvin Saunders, a county code officer for multifamily units who inspected the Marylander, testified that a boy was severely burned while playing near a jerry-rigged electrical system last month and was treated at a hospital. "It was a steam pipe coming from a boiler," Saunders told Judge Quereshi.

County officials accuse property manager Quasar of delaying repairs and insist there is no evidence of homeless people vandalizing the boiler. Mr. Lyles, speaking for the county, insisted that "life, safety, and health issues" are the only reasons the county plans to eject any remaining residents this month. The condo association's attorney, Duane Demers, has a different explanation for the repair delays: Judge Bereano acknowledged that the lag in repairs stemmed from "lack of money," not negligence, and declined to hold Quasar in contempt of court. Demers told 25 unit owners and family members after a March 17 hearing that Quasar cannot afford repairs without a bank loan.

The federal lawsuit is only one front in this legal battle. In an enforcement order last month, Maryland District Court Judge Bryon Bereano directed that property managers begin repairs and authorized county officials to evacuate the condos. Bereano urged deputies to "step up" the evacuations during a status hearing last week, and scheduled an April 21 follow-up hearing on repair progress, though he acknowledged he could lose jurisdiction over the case before then.

At the March 17 hearing, Bereano expressed concern that families in only 50 of 108 affected units had evacuated the complex. Meanwhile, the county's Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement filed paperwork asking a circuit court as early as March 31 to place the Marylander in receivership, an arrangement that would allow the court to appoint a neutral third party to take over the complex's operations, pay bills, and make repairs while residents are evacuated.

The federal complaint seeks a jury trial and $25 million in damages, blaming the county for creating the crisis by encouraging the homeless encampment. It also invokes 14th Amendment protections against property seizure without due process. Underpinning the residents' suspicions about the county's motives is the complex's location: the Marylander has just $600,000 to address as much as $17 million in property damage, and the property sits on nearly 20 "prime acres" near a planned Purple Line Metrorail station on Riggs Road, with the county already in talks with companies about redevelopment. Condo board president Beverly Habada, a former city manager in both Takoma Park and Glenarden, accuses the county in the filing of supporting the homeless encampment and ignoring condo owner complaints for years.

With a receivership petition imminent and a federal ruling days away, the Marylander's remaining residents are watching two courtrooms at once.