Five tenants at Yorkewood Apartments in Baltimore's Glen Oaks neighborhood have settled a lawsuit accusing the complex's owner and management company of letting trash and rat infestations fester for years, but the resolution has come with an unsettling twist: several of the tenants who sued say they've since received notices to vacate their homes. The settlement, reached under undisclosed terms, closes out a legal fight that began with overflowing dumpsters and ended with questions about whether landlords can quietly push out the tenants who spoke up against them.
The lawsuit, filed July 21 by five residents against Ark Yorkewood LLC and its property manager Pratum Companies, described a 285-unit complex where garbage piled up for so long that it drew rats into apartments and forced families to keep their windows shut, according to court filings released by the Public Justice Center, which represented the tenants alongside law firm Gallagher Evelius & Jones. Tenant Danielle Kent told WBFF she began notifying property management about rodents back in June 2024 and has filed 311 complaints about overflowing dumpsters every month since November 2025. The lawsuit alleged that rats chewed through her daughter's underwear and destroyed hundreds of dollars worth of clothes and shoes.
Another tenant named in the suit, Brandi Murphy, said mice got into her bedroom closet and that rats moved from the dumpsters to live under bushes and behind residents' parked cars, per the same account. Danielle Kent, who the station reports is currently between jobs while caring for two young children and an older son preparing to leave for college, said the infestation and unsanitary conditions made daily life at the complex increasingly difficult.
License Revoked, Then Reissued Days After Suit Was Filed
Baltimore's Department of Housing and Community Development revoked Yorkewood's rental license in September 2025 after the property accumulated city violations, according to Lea Aldana Dwyer, who was quoted in the WBFF report. Outstanding violations initially prevented the city from issuing a new license even after the property owner applied for one in April 2026, and the complex did not become actively licensed again until August 11, 2026 — nearly three weeks after the tenants filed suit.
Under Baltimore City Code Article 13 Subtitle 5, expanded by a 2018 ordinance, landlords operating without a valid rental license forfeit the legal right to collect rent or pursue eviction actions in court, according to the Maryland People's Law Library. That statute is part of why the tenants' complaint sought not just court-ordered repairs but financial damages and rent abatement for the period Yorkewood operated unlicensed, per the Public Justice Center's filings. DHCD said the outstanding violations were resolved and the required licensing documentation was ultimately submitted, according to WBFF's reporting.
Vacate Notices Raise Retaliation Questions
Danielle Kent received a notice to vacate, and other tenants named in the lawsuit received similar notices, WBFF reported. Aldana Dwyer said the timing of the notices raises concerns about retaliation against tenants who filed suit. All five tenants who sued remain residents of Yorkewood Apartments, but the notices leave the question of their long-term housing unresolved.
Maryland Real Property Code § 8-208.1 prohibits landlords from issuing notices to vacate, terminating tenancies, or reducing services in retaliation for tenants filing housing complaints or lawsuits, with courts empowered to award tenants up to three months' rent plus attorney's fees, according to the Maryland General Assembly. Separately, Ark Yorkewood said each of the five suing tenants is delinquent on rent, a claim the tenants and their lawsuit dispute. Landlords seeking to end a month-to-month tenancy without cause must generally provide at least 60 days' written notice before pursuing a holdover case in court, per Maryland Real Property Code § 8-402.
Owner Disputes Allegations, Points to Repairs
Ark Yorkewood LLC and Pratum Companies have disputed the tenants' allegations, with the ownership group saying the lawsuit's claims lack merit and do not accurately reflect the actions taken by ownership and Pratum. The companies said they've spent tens of thousands of dollars addressing illegal dumping and maintaining the property, and that Yorkewood spent approximately $56,000 removing illegally dumped trash, bulk items and debris over a recent three-month span, according to figures cited by Charlie Blackmon in the WBFF report.
Pratum and Ark Yorkewood also said they invested in improvements including more frequent trash collection, fencing around dumpsters, and contracted additional trash-removal services; the complex's dumpsters are now serviced twice a week. The companies said they worked with Baltimore Police and City Councilman Mark Conway's office to address illegal dumping and trespassing on the property, though unauthorized dumping remains an ongoing challenge. Conway's office has worked with residents and city agencies for more than a year on trash, rodent, property condition and public safety issues at the complex, and Conway himself called the lawsuit's allegations deeply concerning.
Part of a Broader Enforcement Push in Baltimore
Ark Yorkewood acquired Yorkewood Apartments in 2021, and Pratum Companies — a Gaithersburg-based trade name for Full Circle Real Estate Partners LLC — now manages more than 150 communities and 15,000 apartment homes across eight states and Washington, D.C., following acquisitions including Edgewood Management Corporation in 2023, according to Multifamily Dive. The Yorkewood dispute lands amid heightened city scrutiny of large apartment complexes: Baltimore's Strengthening Renters' Safety Act, which took effect January 1, 2026, allows the city to designate multi-family properties with 20 or more units and recurring code violations as priority dwellings subject to twice-yearly inspections and civil fines up to $1,000 per day, according to Ben Frederick Realty.
Hoodline recently reported on a similar case involving the city's legal action against other apartment owners accused of operating without valid rental licenses amid severe code violations. Yorkewood Apartments sits in Glen Oaks, a neighborhood roughly 10 miles north of Downtown Baltimore near Chinquapin Run Park that the Baltimore City Department of Planning classifies as a Middle Market Choice housing zone with a population of around 3,000 to 3,500 residents. It remains unclear how the confidential settlement addresses rent accrued during the period Yorkewood operated without a valid license, an open question that has not been resolved publicly.
