J. MILLARD TAWES, Governor                     1571

CHAPTER 915
(House Bill 14)

AN ACT to repeal Sections 9 through 39, inclusive, of Article 53 of
the Annotated Code of Maryland (1964 Replacement Volume),
title "Landlord and Tenant," subtitle "Distress for Rent," and to
enact new Sections 9 through 39M, inclusive, in lieu thereof, to
stand in the place of the sections so repealed, Sections 9 through
39A, inclusive, thereof, to be under the subtitle "Distress for Rent,"
Sections 39B through 39E, inclusive, thereof, to be under the
subtitle "Distress for Grain or Produce," Sections 39F and 39G
thereof to be under the subtitle "Rent Reserved as Crops," Section
39H thereof to be under the subtitle "Stripping and Marketing of
Tobacco," and Sections 39-1 through 39M, inclusive, thereof, to be
under the subtitle "Miscellaneous Provisions," to revise the law of
distress for rent and for grain, crops and produce; and relating
generally to the procedure for filing and enforcing actions of dis-
tress in the State of Maryland; and to repeal related obsolete local
laws and inconsistent laws.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Sections 9 through 39, inclusive, of Article 53 of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1964 Replacement Volume), title "Landlord and
Tenant," subtitle "Distress for Rent," be and they are hereby re-
pealed, and that new Sections 9 through 39M, inclusive, be and they
are hereby enacted in lieu thereof, to stand in the place of the sections
so repealed, Sections 9 through 39A, inclusive, thereof, to be under
the subtitle "Distress for Rent," Sections 39B through 39E, inclusive,
thereof, to be under the subtitle "Distress for Grain or Produce,"
Sections 39F and 39G thereof to be under the subtitle "Rent Reserved
as Crops," Section 39H thereof to be under the subtitle "Stripping
and Marketing of Tobacco," and Sections 39-1 through 39M, inclusive,
thereof, to be under the subtitle "Miscellaneous Provisions," and to
read as follows:

Distress for Rent

9.   Action at law; jurisdiction; cases for which action may be
brought.

(a)    Distress for rent is hereby declared to be an action at law
which shall be brought as provided herein.

(b)    Jurisdiction in all cases of distress for rent shall be vested
exclusively in the several People's Courts and in the trial magistrates,
having civil jurisdiction, by whatever name known, regardless of the
amount of rent for which distress is brought and notwithstanding
any limitation imposed by law on the civil monetary jurisdiction
of such court or magistrates.

(c)    An action of distress shall be brought only for unpaid rent
under a lease in writing for a term of more than three months, or
under a tenancy at will or a periodic tenancy that has been continued
for more than three months.

10.   Venue of actions.

An action of distress shall be brought in the county or in Baltimore
City in which the leased premises lie.