5292

COUNTY LOCAL LAWS

have reason to believe that the rent control legislation
has not been complied with, you may contact the Executive
Director of the Montgomery County Office of
Landlord—Tenant Affairs and provide him with a copy of
the notice of the proposed rent increase and a written
statement of why you believe there has been a failure to
comply with those rent control laws.

(4)    Any proposed rent increase, notice
of which you have received, which conforms to Section
29—64 of the Montgomery County Code 1972, as amended,
will go into effect as of the date specified in the
notice. However, if it is later determined that all or
any part of the increase is illegal or is reduced, the
amount of any excessive payment will be refunded to you
within 30 days of the date of the determination that the
increase was illegal or excessive of final review of the
proposed increase, whichever last occurs.

(5)    It is illegal for us to evict you
for filing a complaint with any public agencies,
including the office of Landlord and Tenant Affairs, or
for filing a lawsuit against us or for joining any
tenant's organization, and we will not evict you for any
of those reasons.

(6)    It is hereby declared that the
foregoing statements and facts are true to the best of
our knowledge and belief; and that to the best of our
knowledge and belief the increase in your rent is not in
violation of the Montgomery County rent control laws.

f. The notice may be delivered to the
tenant by any reasonable means. However, unless the
notice is mailed to the tenant's dwelling unit, delivery
is not considered to have been made unless a signed
receipt is obtained from the tenant or his
representative. If the tenant is notified by mail, other
than registered or certified mail, the landlord shall
certify, by affidavit, that he has mailed the notice, and
he shall retain a copy of the affidavit in his records.

29—65. Payment of rent increase.

If a tenant is notified of a proposed increase
in accordance with Section 29-64, the tenant shall pay
the rent increase, as specified in the notice, until the
completion of all the rent increase procedures, including
all appeal procedures and regardless of the initial
action of the Executive Director. If all or any part of
an increase is determined to be illegal or is reduced,
the landlord shall refund the amount determined to be
illegal or excessive to the tenant within thirty (30)
days after the date of the determination or of final