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Maryland state lawmaker files ‘Jared Kushner Act’ to prevent tenant arrests

by Morgan Gstalter - 01/31/18 3:34 PM ET

A Maryland state lawmaker on Wednesday introduced the “Jared Kushner Act,” legislation aimed at blocking state judges from issuing arrest warrants for tenants being sued for under $5,000 in unpaid rent.

Del. Bilal Ali from Baltimore joined four other Democrats in the Maryland House of Delegates in filing the bill, which is named after President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, according to The Associated Press.

Ali said Kushner is the namesake of the bill because his apartment management company was aggressive in obtaining civil arrest warrants against tenants who owe rent.

“I think that people have a right to know who’s dragging them off to jail,” Ali said.

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Kushner Cos. spokeswoman Christine Taylor called the naming of the bill a “petty” political move.

“For a couple of local politicians to sponsor a bill called the Jared Kushner Act when neither Kushner Companies nor Jared Kushner, when he worked at Kushner Companies, had anything to do with these issues is petty,” Taylor said.

The spokeswoman added that all legal issues were handled properly under Maryland law. The arrest warrants are known as “body attachments” and are only ordered after there is a failure to abide by two court orders.

Kushner stepped down as CEO of Kushner Cos. before Trump became president. He now serves as a senior White House adviser along with his wife, first daughter Ivanka Trump.

Ali said Kushner still has to “take ownership” for the arrests of low-income residents.

“My thoughts around this particular bill were that a lot of my constituents were being penalized because they were poor, and we’ve always had these regressive policies that have always impacted poor people,” he said.

His bill comes days after a U.S. district judge ruled that Kushner Cos. must identify its business partners at multiple Maryland properties by Feb. 9.

A report surfaced in October that Maryland’s attorney general is investigating whether the company used questionable debt collection practices. The report also alleges Westminster Management, an affiliate of Kushner Cos., didn’t properly maintain 17 locations.

A financial disclosure report released in July showed that Kushner still owns a stake of Westminster Management and made $1.6 million from the holding, according to AP.