The University of Maryland SGA passed a resolution Wednesday in support of College Park enacting a policy that would limit how early landlords can request tenants resign their leases.

The resolution, which passed 27-0-1, stated that the Student Government Association will provide guidance and support to the College Park City Council student liaisons in order to pursue the passing of an early lease ordinance.

Nicholas DiSpirito, the student liaison to the City of College Park, said the early lease ordinance is necessary because landlords have made students and residents feel pressured into signing their leases early in the year.

[Here’s what UMD SGA leaders hope to accomplish this year]

“This affects everybody who rents in the city, and effectively, this ordinance would put an end to that practice completely,” the junior public policy major said.

Gavin Neubauer, the resolution’s sponsor, said he was asked to resign his lease at The Standard after only two weeks of living there.

“When people are respected and treated like adults, they are not asked to resign a lease for a place that they just moved into,” the senior public policy major and public policy representative said.

If passed, the ordinance would prohibit landlords from asking tenants to release their apartments until 180 days before their current lease expires, DiSpirito said. It is modeled after a similar policy in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan, according to city documents.

SGA president Dhruvak Mirani said an ordinance of this kind has been in the works since he introduced the policy to the council during his term as student liaison from 2023-2024.

“Right now the current pair of city council liaisons are doing a really phenomenal job bringing it to the forefront of the city council’s attention,” Mirani said.

DiSpirito added that passing the resolution in SGA is important because it represents support from the entire student body.

[UMD College Park student liaisons plan to focus on housing issues, civic engagement]

He’s also encouraging students to come to the council’s public hearing on Nov. 12 to testify about their own experiences with landlords. The city council values when residents share personal stories, he added.

Prior to the passage of the resolution, SGA authorized tabling events across campus to encourage students to testify in person or provide a written testimony that will be read aloud at the hearing, DiSpirito said.

The association also created a post on their Instagram account that provides information about the early lease ordinance and the link to a Google Form that allows students to sign up to testify.

Mirani said he will be testifying on behalf of SGA at the public hearing to share why the association is in favor of the ordinance.

“The support that we’re going to be providing is really summoning the stakeholders involved in proving to the city council why this is so important,” Mirani said.

The public hearing for the early lease ordinance will be on Nov. 12. The city council will likely vote on the ordinance that same night.