Are apartment complexes able to evict residents right now

Question

My leasing office emailed me a letter stating “ Please be mindful that in the month of February an Absolute Eviction was granted due to repeated judgement in a twelve month time frame. This does mean that eviction will proceed regardless of payment which was granted prior to COVID. ”  my complex first gave me a 30 day notice saying I have 30 days to pay, thn sent this letter where it looks as if I’m getting evicted even if I pay.

Mark Oakley · Answer

If your landlord has twice obtained judgments for nonpayment of rent in the preceding 12 months before this last time they filed (in Baltimore City it's 4 prior judgments; in Baltimore County, PG and Howard it's 3 prior judgments), then you lose your right to redeem the property and prevent eviction by simply paying all past due rent by the court imposed deadline.  The tenant's right of redemption is a statutory right, that allows a tenant to pay their back rent and prevent the landlord from evicting.  However, the right of redemption is only available a limited number of times, which varies by county.  Once you've exceeded the number of "cure" events, the landlord, at their option, can reject your offer to redeem the promises by payment of all past due rent, late fees and court costs, and still go through with the eviction.  You should be aware that a judgment granting eviction does not automatically result in an eviction.  Only the Sheriff is legally allowed to remove you from the leased premises (the landlord cannot use self-help means).  The Sheriff schedules evictions typically several weeks out from any court order, and given the huge backlog of eviction cases in the system due to the suspension of court evictions, that lag time is likely to extend into months.  Also, you have defenses to an eviction during the COVID-19 pandemic that were not available before.  Thus, notwithstanding that the emergency court stay has been lifted as of July 25, Governor Hogan issued an emergency order that temporarily prohibits Maryland courts from ordering the eviction of a tenant who can show that their failure to pay rent was due to a substantial loss of income resulting from COVID-19 or the related state of emergency. Read the governor’s emergency order.  https://governor.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Evictions-Repossessions-Foreclosure-AMENDED-4.3.20.pdf 
 
This includes substantial loss of income due to job loss, reduction in compensated hours of work, or the need to miss work to care for a school-aged child. 
This is a temporary order that ends when Maryland's state of emergency and catastrophic emergency is rescinded. 
This order applies to residential and commercial tenants. 
This order does not waive rent payments. 
Landlords have remedies other than eviction, such as actions for money judgments. 
See the Maryland Courts website for information about extended deadlines for warrants of restitution related to landlord/tenant matters.

Q: Are apartment complexes able to evict residents right now