By Adam Pagnucco.
Delegate Gabriel Acevero, one of the most vocal delegates in the General Assembly on the issue of tenant rights, is being sued by his landlord for thousands of dollars in unpaid rent and fees. The suit is the third of its kind against him in the last year and a half.
Acevero lives in an apartment building in Gaithersburg. His landlord sued him for $2,804.25 in rent and fees for the months of July and August of 2022; $2,737.76 for the months of October and November of 2022; and $3,082.50 for the months of December 2023 and January 2024. The first two suits were dismissed while the most recent one is open at this writing.
The landlord complaints are shown below. I have redacted Acevero’s home address as it is not relevant to this column; however, it is available in courthouse records and his campaign finance registration.
Acevero has long been active on tenants’ rights. He voted in favor of just cause eviction bills, which make it harder for landlords to evict tenants, in 2019, 2020 and 2021. He introduced a bill that prohibited landlords from requiring renters insurance in 2020. He appeared at a 2021 Annapolis rally against evictions and offered testimony in favor of Montgomery County’s rent control legislation last year. In 2021, he told the Democratic Socialists, of whom he is a member, that he intended to introduce rent control legislation at the state level, although he has not yet done so.
Acevero was advertised as appearing at a rent control town hall last year.
I asked Acevero the following questions through email and Facebook messenger: “Do you have any comment on the suits by your landlord? And do you have plans to recuse yourself from landlord-tenant issues until you resolve your legal matters with your landlord?”
He did not respond.
Acevero has had issues in the past. He was once employed by MCGEO, the county employees union, but was fired after a confrontation with union President Gino Renne. MCGEO and his fellow District 39 state legislators tried to defeat him in the last election and failed. More recently, Acevero accused Israel of genocide in its war against Hamas and attacked Montgomery County state senators who criticized immigrant rights group CASA over its statements on Israel’s war in Gaza.
Apparently his issues continue.