MARYLAND (WBFF) — Maryland lawmakers will return to Annapolis in January facing a projected $1.4 billion budget deficit, a challenge expected to dominate the 2026 legislative session. But some lawmakers say the state cannot afford to sideline another growing problem: the rise of unlicensed senior living facilities.
A Spotlight on Maryland investigation has found more than 115 suspected unlicensed assisted living facilities in Baltimore, with many older adults found living in substandard and sometimes unsafe conditions — often with no trained medical staff and little to no state oversight. Many residents end up in these homes in exchange for their Social Security or disability checks, a practice some attorneys have described as a form of senior “trafficking.”
Although Maryland passed a law in 2023 that made operating an unlicensed assisted living facility a felony, enforcement has lagged. Some homes continue to operate in violation of the statute, raising questions about whether regulators and prosecutors are using the tools available to them…