Just after 10 a.m. Wednesday, a small group of demonstrators gathered outside Baltimore City District Court with a message for the city’s housing authority: “Halt evictions now.”

“Fight, fight, fight,” they chanted, signs in the air. “Housing is a human right.”

Within a few hours, the activists got their wish: The Housing Authority of Baltimore City had dismissed the nearly 200 eviction cases against public housing tenants set to be heard that day.

The dismissals followed criticism of the planned evictions by members of the Baltimore Renters United coalition, which includes housing advocacy groups, legal organizations and nonprofits. During a routine monitoring of the district court docket this month, the group noticed hundreds of eviction cases scheduled in May against tenants living in Baltimore public housing properties alleging nonpayment of rent. Those facing eviction lived in public housing complexes or resided in scattered site properties throughout the city.

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