Condos near homeless encampment revive federal lawsuit against Prince George's County
- Frozen 11 months: Half of Marylander Condos' 200 units have been heat-less since Thanksgiving Eve, yet 58 owners play homestead holdout against a county eviction order.
- Cold Cash Grab: Homeowners' new board is suing Prince George's County for $100M, claiming the county wants their prime Purple Line-adjacent land more than it wants them warm.
- Judge's Chill Pill: Feds pause the amended complaint 30 days for a settlement chat, while a state court eyes a receivership trial on Nov. 10—just in time for another frigid holiday.
- Wire Woes: County officials are peeved that contractors left high-voltage space-heater wires ungrounded, triggering an Oct. 27 contempt hearing for a building that can't pay its bills.
- Hobson's Choice: Residents with pending immigration cases face 'irreparable harm' from forced removal, but the county says the place is literally unsafe for human habitation.
Brief Summary
A posse of embattled condo owners at Marylander Condominiums has dusted off a federal lawsuit demanding a cool $100 million and an injunction to keep Prince George's County deputies from booting them out of their heatless hovels. The county slapped a 'vacate immediately' notice on the Riggs Road complex back in December, and a judge agreed the place is an icebox with an 'unsafe for human habitation' sticker—but that hasn't thawed the resolve of 58 households who'd rather freeze than flee. A magistrate judge hit pause on the amended compliant for 30 days to let the new homeowners board and county lawyers kiss and make up, while a separate state receivership trial looms in November to hand the keys to a third-party babysitter.
Why This Matters
This is your classic 'can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em' housing melodrama, but it's not just about a broken boiler—it's a referendum on how far local governments can go to push out residents when a transit-friendly redevelopment prize is in play. If the county wins, you can bet other municipalities will use 'safety hazards' as a backdoor to clear out low-income properties near future train stations, and your own neighborhood could be next on the gentrification chopping block. On the flip side, if the condo owners win, expect every moldy HOA with a grudge to drag counties into federal court for the crime of enforcing building codes.