A year after 17 residents of Baltimore's Sharp-Leadenhall Apartments sued their landlord over rodent infestations, water leaks and electrical problems, tenants say the complex finally looks and feels different. Repair crews have been showing up. Mold has been removed. A judge has even started dismissing some of the tenants' individual cases after the work got done. But for longtime resident Paula White, progress has come with an asterisk: a wall in her townhouse that workers already repaired once has started leaking again.
White, who has lived at Sharp-Leadenhall for eight years, was part of the original lawsuit and says she believes a deck off her third-floor bedroom is the source of water intrusion and flooding that has plagued her unit. As reported by WBAL NewsRadio, she has now filed another lawsuit even as repair work remains underway at her home. The recurring leak is a reminder that not every fix at the 191-unit complex has held.
The August 2025 lawsuit, filed by 17 tenants against Sharp-Leadenhall Apartments and its management company, claimed residents were living in dangerous, unsafe, uninhabitable and unsanitary conditions. Tenants complained of water leaks, electrical problems and extensive rodent burrowing throughout the property, and said management had ignored their complaints for months. The suit leaned on Maryland's Tenant Safety Act of 2024, a state law that took effect that October and, according to the Maryland General Assembly, allows groups of tenants to file collective rent escrow actions in district court without first putting up individual deposits.
A Long Road Before Court
The legal fight didn't come out of nowhere. Residents had formed the Historic Sharp Leadenhall Tenant Council in 2024 with support from Maryland Legal Aid, sending formal complaint letters in February 2025 before turning to litigation after an April 2025 meeting produced only minimal repairs, according to Equal Justice Works. Court filings from that period cited persistent pest infestations, structural water leaks, broken windows and trash accumulation, including one account of a resident caring for a mother with Stage 4 cancer next to uncollected dumpster piles, per the Maryland Daily Record.
The original lawsuit named both property owner Hudson Valley Property Group and California-based FPI Management, the firm responsible for the complex's day-to-day operations. Sharp-Leadenhall's property owner has said the company has focused on investing in the property to improve residents' quality of life, and told WBAL NewsRadio it has completed significant repairs and improvements throughout the community over the past year, including investment in extermination work to address the rodent problems tenants experienced inside their homes.
Attorney Cites Real Progress, With Caveats
Caroline Tripp, an attorney with Maryland Legal Aid, said the property has seen major successes and improvements, and that a judge has dismissed tenants' cases after mold removal and other repairs were completed. Tripp said the majority of tenants are happy with the repair results — though White's fresh leak, and her decision to file again, shows that satisfaction isn't universal across all 191 units spread across the six-story midrise and 13 townhome buildings that make up the complex.
Baltimore City Councilman Zac Blanchard, who represents District 11 and has toured Sharp-Leadenhall multiple times, said ownership has responded and become more involved since the lawsuit. Blanchard credited the tenants' tenacity, consistency and organization for the shift, and said he was proud of the small role he played in getting conditions turned around. He continued monitoring the Sharp-Leadenhall situation alongside other properties in his district, noting that some things are moving in the right direction while other issues still need resolution. Blanchard has also backed broader legislative efforts to strengthen tenant protections across South Baltimore, work Hoodline detailed in its coverage of his push for tenant protections and his separate proposal on Baltimore's vacant-property tax plan.
Part of a Citywide Pattern
Baltimore's 11th District has had the most properties on what officials describe as a problem list, and Sharp-Leadenhall's struggles echo a broader legislative push across the city. In 2026, Baltimore City enacted the Strengthening Renter's Safety Act following public City Council hearings where subsidized housing residents reported widespread heat outages, vermin and landlord retaliation, according to The Baltimore Sun. When Hudson Valley Property Group first acquired the complex in late 2021 for roughly $18 million in partnership with the nonprofit Hearthstone Housing Foundation, it publicly committed $1.8 million to $2 million in upgrades, including security cameras, lighting and building modernization — promises that took on new weight once habitability problems surfaced years later.
The neighborhood immediately around the complex has also drawn scrutiny. Baltimore Police in May 2026 launched an investigation into a shooting on the 1000 block of Leadenhall Street, adjacent to the apartments, where tenants had previously voiced outdoor security concerns, a case Hoodline covered as police hunted for leads. Whether Sharp-Leadenhall's landlord sustains the current pace of repairs once active court supervision winds down remains an open question — one that residents like White, still waiting on a wall to finally stay dry, are watching closely.
