Housing advocates want to know why Baltimore Mayor Jack Young fired the city’s housing commissioner Michael Braverman last week as renters will soon face a mass eviction crisis. 

“We are here to demand that Mayor Jack Young speaks to the city,” John P. Comer, founder of Architects for Justice, said at a press conference Wednesday morning in front of City Hall. “Theconcerned citizens who are renting every day and may not know where their next home will be.”

Courts will resume hearing new eviction cases for failure to pay rent on Aug. 31. Comer said homelessness is likely to skyrocket. 

“People are losing their homes and evictions are becoming backed up,” he said. 

Tisha Guthrie, treasurer of the Bolton House Residents Association, said she and other housing advocates had been collaborating with Braverman to stave off mass evictions and homelessness. 

“We have been working side by side with Michael and really making some progress,” she said. 

She said it’s the mayor’s duty to explain why he fired the commissioner. 

“What we're asking for is, is not unreasonable. We're asking for transparency,” Guthrie said.