County Refuses Loan Guarantee, Judge Orders Evacuation of Marylander Condos

About 100 of the Marylander Condominiums’ roughly 200 units in the Hyattsville area lost heat after vandals allegedly sabotaged the building’s boiler room in November 2025, prompting county inspectors to declare affected units unfit for human habitation and to issue vacate notices. A Prince George’s County District Court judge gave property managers 14 days to evacuate the complex and begin repairs, and court papers authorized police to begin evictions later in February if owners remained.

Financing for repairs collapsed after Mainstreet Bank issued a term sheet dated Feb. 4 that made approval conditional on county backing. The term sheet states, “The approval is subject to Prince George's County unconditional guaranty of the loan.” County officials refused to provide that unconditional guaranty when the matter was brought to court the next day, leaving Quasar, the property manager, unable to secure lender financing for work estimated at at least $4.7 million.

County inspectors first responded to a complaint on Dec. 9 and recorded indoor temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, a threshold the agency says determines habitability. A county code violation notice dated Jan. 12, 2026 formally declared the Marylander Condominiums “unfit for human habitation.” Avis Thomas-Lester, communications manager for the Prince George’s County Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement, said, “To date, the property is still in violation for the two notices,” and added agency inspectors “are ‘not involved in the investigation of the encampment.’” The department has said it will not remove the violation notices until the heating system is repaired.

Quasar’s managing director Phil Dawit was photographed pointing to the Jan. 12 notice, and the company’s CEO, identified only as Mr. Brown, has publicly argued that the county’s posture blocks repair financing. Mr. Brown said he cannot secure loans for the repairs until the county stops the homeless encampment from sabotaging his efforts, and he summed up the situation bluntly: “The county has created a catch-22.” Residents report prolonged cold and unsanitary conditions; longtime occupant Lynette Vanhorne said what she “craves most when she returns to her Hyattsville area condo after work is heat in her unit — and for vagrants from a nearby homeless encampment to stop using the building’s laundry room as a toilet.”

The office of County Council member Wanika Fisher, through chief of staff Shanika Griffith, said the office had “no knowledge of MS-13 activity at the property” and noted, “Homelessness remains an ongoing challenge countywide. The county continuously offers services, though some individuals decline assistance. On private property, individuals may be asked to leave, and [county police] can enforce trespassing laws; however, individuals often return after release.”

With the code violations in place and Mainstreet Bank’s conditional term sheet unmet, residents face both displacement and an uncertain timeline for repairs estimated at $4.7 million. The county’s refusal to guarantee the loan and its insistence on completed repairs before lifting notices have created a standoff that will determine whether the Marylander’s evacuated owners can return this year.