Heather Hill Lawsuit: $11.2M Settlement and Tenant Restitution

The Heather Hill lawsuit refers to two related actions against the owner and operator of Heather Hill Apartments, a 459-unit complex at 5837 Fisher Road in Temple Hills, Maryland. In September 2025, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced an estimated $11.2 million settlement — the largest landlord-tenant restitution ever obtained by the state’s Consumer Protection Division — covering rent and fees charged while the property operated without a required rental license.¹ A separate federal class action brought by tenants over living conditions is still moving through the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.²

What the Lawsuit Is About

Prince George’s County requires landlords of multifamily properties to hold a valid rental housing license before leasing units or filing to evict tenants. The current owners bought Heather Hill in February 2022 but did not obtain that license until January 12, 2025. During roughly 28 months of unlicensed operation, the property signed leases, collected rent, and filed evictions it was not legally entitled to pursue.¹

In November 2024, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division charged Heather Hill Property Company LLC and Heather Hill Operating Company LLC with violations of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act and the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act. The charges rested on three theories: leasing without the county license, acting as a debt collector without a Maryland license, and attempting to collect rent that under state law was not legally owed during the unlicensed period.³

The unlicensed operation ran alongside serious habitability complaints. Tenants reported black mold heavy enough that mushrooms grew from under cabinets and through floors, rodent and bat infestations, cockroaches, sewage backups, water damage, and broken heating and air conditioning.⁴ A June 2024 county inspection found housing and fire code violations in every residential building.⁵ The Attorney General’s amended charges alleged that during an August 2024 fire inspection, an employee was seen moving fire extinguishers from one building to the next to fake compliance across the property.

Even without a license, the property filed more than 130 failure-to-pay-rent actions in June 2024 and over 240 more in May 2025.⁶ Heather Hill denied any wrongdoing or liability in the consent order that resolved the case.³

What the $11.2 Million Settlement Gives Tenants

The Final Order by Consent, signed September 3, 2025, breaks down roughly like this:

$8.8 million in debt forgiveness. Rent and fees charged between February 22, 2022, and January 12, 2025, that tenants did not pay are deemed not owed. Heather Hill cannot collect on them and cannot report them to credit agencies.
$2.6 million in direct restitution. This covers payments tenants actually made during the unlicensed period. Current tenants get dollar-for-dollar credits, applied first against any rent owed since licensing, then to future rent. Former tenants are entitled to cash payments.
$150,000 for public use and $75,000 for investigation costs paid to the state.
A $7.25 million suspended civil penalty that only comes due if Heather Hill violates the order.¹³

The order also protects tenants from the fallout of the earlier eviction filings. Heather Hill has to dismiss the May 2025 failure-to-pay-rent actions for tenants whose debts fall under the restitution, and ask the Hyattsville District Court to shield both the June 2024 and May 2025 filings from public view.³ The company also has to tell credit reporting agencies that any debts reported from the unlicensed period are satisfied and is barred from sharing that rental debt information with prospective landlords.⁶

Going forward, Heather Hill must keep a valid multifamily dwelling license and a Maryland collection agency license, cap late fees at 5% of unpaid rent, and apply tenant payments first to current rent, then delinquent rent, utilities, and other fees in that order. If the company defaults, files bankruptcy, or breaks the order, the full unpaid balance plus the $7.25 million suspended penalty becomes immediately due, and Heather Hill has pre-authorized a court to enter a confession of judgment for that amount.³

How to Get Your Restitution if You Lived at Heather Hill

Payment is handled by Heather Hill directly, not through a third-party claims administrator, so there is no claim form to file.

Current tenants should see credits applied automatically to their accounts. Former tenants are owed cash payments calculated from what they paid during the unlicensed period. As of September 2025, the company was auditing rental ledgers to determine individual amounts.⁶ Within 60 days of the order, Heather Hill had to give the Consumer Protection Division a detailed spreadsheet of every tenant entitled to restitution, with updated reports due every 12 months for three years.³

Tenants with questions about restitution, missing credits, or a former-tenant payment can call the Consumer Protection Division at (410) 528-8662.¹

The Federal Class Action Over Living Conditions

The Attorney General’s settlement addresses money paid during unlicensed operation. It does not compensate tenants for the harm of living in the conditions themselves. That is what the tenants’ own lawsuit is trying to do.

Tenant Charlene Hall filed a class action in December 2024 through the firm Justly Prudent, first in Prince George’s County Circuit Court.⁷ The case was refiled in federal court, and on June 16, 2025, Hall and co-plaintiff Keshia Marshall moved for class certification in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. They are asking to represent 500 to 600 current and former tenants who lived at Heather Hill since April 2022.⁸

The complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the alleged failure to maintain habitable conditions — sewage backups, toxic black mold, pest infestations, and non-functioning essential systems — and alleges that property management deliberately deleted maintenance request logs to hide evidence of neglect. Hall herself alleged that her unit lacked heat starting in November 2023 and that mold and water damage caused respiratory problems, headaches, and ear infections needing specialist care.⁸⁴

On February 3, 2026, Judge Adam B. Abelson granted in part and denied in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss. Class certification is still pending, with oral argument set for August 6, 2026, in Baltimore federal court.² Because certification has not been granted, no class notice or claim process is open yet. Tenants who want to be considered as class members if the case is certified can contact plaintiffs’ counsel at Justly Prudent.

1
Maryland Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Brown Announces Multi-Million Dollar Settlement With Heather Hill
2
PACER Monitor. Hall v. Heather Hill Property Company LLC et al.
3
Maryland Office of the Attorney General. Heather Hill Settlement Final Order by Consent
4
The Daily Record. Maryland Landlord Settlement Heather Hill
5
UC Law Review. Closing the Gaps: Lessons From Heather Hill for Maryland Housing Policy Reform
6
Capital News Service. State Settles Landmark Case for Prince George’s Tenants
7
Justly Prudent. Heather Hill Class Action Lawsuit Filed
8
Justly Prudent. Heather Hill Tenants Seek Class Action Status