Baltimore’s Axel Brewers Hill Apartment Building Unlicensed to Collect Rent Since November 2023, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges the property owner and management company for the Axel Brewers Hill building in Baltimore have unlawfully collected rent from tenants while the property is unlicensed.

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According to the 14-page lawsuit, the 372-unit apartment building has been unlicensed since its previous rental license expired on October 30, 2023. The case explains that under Baltimore City regulations, all rental properties must be properly licensed, and landlords are prohibited from collecting or attempting to collect rent for any period in which a building is unlicensed, even if a license is subsequently obtained.

The class action suit claims the defendants—property owner Excelsior Communities, LLC and management company Brewers Hill Realty, LLC—are well aware that Axel Brewers Hill is unlicensed and have knowingly charged rent they have no right to collect.

The plaintiff, an Axel Brewers Hill tenant since 2021, contends that the companies acted deceptively when they repeatedly charged her rent and, in April 2024, induced her to renew her lease while they apparently knew the property was unlicensed. The woman claims she has wrongfully paid monthly rent, utilities, taxes, parking fees and other expenses in response to the defendants’ allegedly unlawful debt collection efforts.

As the complaint tells it, the companies have also failed to address numerous health and safety concerns and maintenance issues throughout the building’s unlicensed period. For example, the filing alleges, there have been frequent, inadequately addressed incidents of dogs defecating, urinating and attacking residents and other animals in the property’s common areas, and the elevators, trash chutes and parking garage doors are frequently inoperable.

In addition, the suit mentions water leaks, “cracks in walls where insects come in,” and insufficient building security.

“As a result of [the defendants’] inadequate management, non-residents can easily gain access to [sic] building,” the case asserts. “The lack of security has resulted in packages being regularly stolen from the mailroom, as well as on at least one occasion a non-resident of the building being found sleeping on the couch in the lobby.”

The complaint also charges that the plaintiff and other tenants incurred additional living expenses as a result of an emergency evacuation late last month after the property’s swimming pool “collapsed.”

The lawsuit against Excelsior Communities and Brewers Hill Realty alleges that the companies are liable to the plaintiff and other tenants under Maryland’s debt collection and consumer protection laws.

The suit looks to represent any Axel Brewers Hill tenants who were legally responsible for payment of rent under a lease during the unlicensed period between November 1, 2023 and the present.

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