Cedulie Renee Laumann

Attorney Cedulie Laumann is the managing attorney and founding member of small law firm in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The firm handles real estate, small business, and estate/trust matters.

She enjoys helping clients reach positive solutions to their legal needs. Her firm employs innovative "flat fee" billing arrangements and fee options outside the traditional hourly based approach.

"Legal Answers & Representation Relevant to YOUR needs!"

• General Civil

• Free Consultation
  10 minute no-cost free phone consult. Call 410-216-7000. We can answer many quick questions for free, or browse our website for common answers to deed, trust and other questions. Or schedule a private, in-depth consultation (1hr - 1.5 hrs) with Managing Attorney (10-20 years experience) for a flat $300 consult fee for most matters. 100% of the paid consult fee is applied towards estate planning
• Credit Cards Accepted
  Mastercard, Visa, Discover, American Express Credit cards are only accepted for attorney fees, not for any government fees, third party fees or taxes.
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  10 min no cost initial consult by phone or email. Flat fee consultations for up to 1.5 hour attorney meeting. Flat fee billing option for most matters we handle, including Estate Planning (Trusts, Wills, etc.), Business Formation (LLCs, etc.) and Real Estate (Deeds, contracts, etc.) See our pricing guide on our website for representative fees or call us. While all the firm's clients are given clear understanding of fees up-front, this list is not a promise to represent, some situations may require additional work and no attorney/client relationship is formed unless we meet and both agree.

Maryland

Since 2003

managing attorney

Arden Law Firm, LLC

Current

Adjunct Faculty

St. Joseph's University

Current

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Honors: Order of the Coif Top 10% of Graduating Class

Maryland State Bar

Member

2003 - Current

Q. I live in an apartment complex whose management has been negligent in areas of safety and cleanliness.

January 11, 2025

A: All of those conditions sound like a reason to consider moving at the end of a lease term, or possibly attempting to negotiate an early exit (which would require both parties to agree).

Things like a lack of security cameras and insufficient lighting wouldn't ordinarily be a breach of lease or legal excuse to leave before the lease is up unless the Landlord specifically promised to provide these things and didn't follow through. And unless the Landlord removed existing security cameras or failed to repair broken lights these conditions presumably existed before entering into the lease.

Maryland law does provide for a way to address unlivable conditions or code violations by something called "rent escrow" -- generally this is for situations where a property is rendered unfit to live in because of dangerous conditions under the Landlord's control (e.g., a Landlord fails to fix pipes and there is no running water or a rat infestation is unchecked). the Maryland Judiciary has a free class on rent escrow that might be helpful:

https://www.courts.state.md.us/legalhelp/webinars/rentescrow

While not legal advice I hope this general information helps. ... Read More

Q. What are the possible damages I can pursue for an Illegal Eviction?

January 11, 2025

A: It is very difficult to know what, if any, damages may be available without knowing exactly how the eviction was "illegal." A Landlord can lawfully ask a Tenant to leave if the lease is up, or if the tenant doesn't pay, or if a lease term is breached, etc., by giving written notice. What a Landlord cannot do in Maryland is physically change the locks or take out all the tenant's belongings and dump them on the yard without a court order.

The life impacts of stress caused by a move (such as possibly going into early labor) are not generally factored into a landlord/tenant matter. Instead the law looks more at the cut-and-dry: Was there a lease? Did either party break the lease? Did the Landlord follow MD law on giving notice, etc.?

If you have reason to believe that the Landlord broke specific Landlord/Tenant laws in Maryland, you may wish to sit down with a lawyer to discuss privately the facts and see what, if any, legal action may apply. For example you might reach out to an organization like Civil Justice at https://civiljusticeinc.org/faqs or the Maryland Volunteer Lawyer Service (MVLS) at https://mvlslaw.org/

While not legal advice I hope that this general information helps and that you and your baby are thriving. ... Read More

Q. I am the PR for my deceased husbands estate. There was no will and the kids were minors at the time of death. .

December 17, 2024

A: Assuming some or all of the funds will be payable to your late husband's estate, any additional funds will require filing a supplemental inventory and supplemental account (if a regular estate) or a supplemental schedule B (if a small estate). Basically a Personal Representative has an obligation to tell the Register of Wills about any additional assets and then show how the funds were disbursed. Where the funds will go depends on the intestacy laws in place when your husband died.

Where a Personal Representative lives does not impact the estate jurisdiction although if a Personal Representative lives out of state they will need to appoint a local Resident Agent in Maryland for the estate (usually if an attorney is assisting with the estate they will serve as the local Resident Agent for an out-of-state Personal Representative)

(NOTE: inheritance laws and percentage allocations between a spouse and children for people without a Will have changed in Maryland in 2023 but when it comes to figuring out allocation a Personal Representative needs to go by the laws in place when the Decedent passed even if they have since changed).

While not legal advice, I hope this general information helps. ... Read More