Baltimore's small businesses don't just create jobs — every $100 spent at a local Baltimore business keeps $48 circulating in our local economy. At a national chain? Less than $14 stays here. Independent businesses are the tax base, the community anchors, and the soul of neighborhoods across this city — from Fells Point to Hampden, Federal Hill to Waverly. And right now, they have almost no legal protection against a landlord who decides to push them out. There are many reasons small businesses struggle and storefronts go dark. But the absence of basic legal protections for commercial tenants is a massive piece of the puzzle — and it's one Baltimore City Council can actually fix.
The Rules Are Rigged Against Us
Right now in Fells Point, beloved businesses are being pushed out by landlords while owners have zero meaningful legal protection. Small business owners pour tens of thousands of dollars into buildouts, equipment, and staff and can be pushed out on a whim. In Baltimore, that investment simply disappears.
Drive down Fleet Street in Fells Point, W. 36th Street in Hampden, or Greenmount Avenue in Waverly. Count the vacant storefronts — many have been dark for years. When residential rent upstairs already covers the mortgage, leaving commercial space empty costs landlords almost nothing while avoiding the obligations that come with a tenant. Add in tax write-offs for vacancy losses and the incentive to sit on empty storefronts becomes clear. A broken incentive structure is hollowing out our neighborhoods block by block.
Many of Baltimore's commercial properties are owned by people who don't live here, don't shop here, and have no stake in this community. They prioritize tax write-offs and speculative returns over the businesses and neighbors who actually make Baltimore worth living in. When our city suffers, they don't feel it.
"There is more money to be made keeping a Baltimore storefront dark than renting it to a small business. That is a broken system, and it is hollowing out our neighborhoods block by block."
NYC passed this law because landlords were shutting off heat in winter and burying tenants in bogus court filings to make them give up and leave. None of that is illegal in Baltimore. We're calling for civil penalties up to $50,000 for bad-faith tactics designed to push tenants out.
Require landlords to give small businesses at least 90 days notice before any rent increase over 8% or lease termination, so they have a real chance to plan and stay.
Baltimore City just passed a vacancy tax on abandoned residential properties — 3 times the normal tax rate, escalating each year. We're calling on City Council to extend that same logic to commercial storefronts left vacant for more than 6 months. The rate needs to make vacancy unprofitable. Revenue goes into a Baltimore Small Business Assistance Fund, providing grants to local businesses for buildouts, equipment, and first-year costs — prioritizing vacant corridors and underserved neighborhoods.
In Baltimore, a landlord can write a commercial lease that sticks a small business with a $15,000 AC repair bill or a burst water main that shuts you down for weeks. There's no floor. Residential tenants have baseline protections that can't be signed away — any commercial lease should require landlords to maintain the systems that keep a space legally operable. Heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical. Not cosmetics. The basics.
When a building sale or redevelopment project forces a small business to vacate, the developer is responsible — not the city, and not the tenant. We're calling for developers to provide direct relocation assistance covering moving costs and first-month expenses at a comparable space within a half mile of the original location — a standard used in Denver's relocation assistance program. When the redeveloped space is reoccupied, the displaced business has a right of first return at a comparable market rate. The people who profit from redevelopment shouldn't be doing it on the backs of the businesses and communities that made those neighborhoods worth investing in.
No one should have to sign a contract they can't fully understand. Landlords should provide Spanish lease translations for tenants whose primary language is Spanish, using a city-provided template. Baltimore is authorized to expand to additional languages based on community need.
Commercial property owners who do not pay Maryland income taxes should pay a higher property tax rate on commercial holdings. This requires action from the Maryland General Assembly — and we're calling on Baltimore's delegation to lead that fight. If you profit from Maryland communities without contributing to the tax base, you pay your fair share back. This targets the same behavior as an absentee landlord tax but is built around tax status rather than residency — a cleaner legal framework that other jurisdictions have used successfully. We welcome investment that activates properties. This targets those who sit on them.
This Isn't a New Idea. Baltimore Is Just Behind.
Commercial Tenant Anti-Harassment Law bans bad-faith tactics with civil penalties up to $50,000, plus free legal aid through the Dept. of Small Business Services.
Our neighbor 40 miles south requires landlords to provide written notice before filing eviction and bans self-help evictions entirely — protections Baltimore businesses don't have.
Made commercial tenant protections permanent in 2022 for businesses with 9 or fewer employees, including full anti-harassment provisions.
Businesses That Support This
These Baltimore small businesses stand behind the Small Business Bill of Rights. Is your business in? Get in touch to add your logo here.
Add Your Name
Adding your name tells Baltimore City Council that real constituents — across every district — are demanding change. The more names we have, the harder this is to ignore.
Thank You, Baltimore.
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