Free Maryland Landlord Forms
Every Maryland landlord form we publish, organised by the stage of the tenancy it belongs to, each one paired with the Real Property section and the deadline that triggers it — including the notice you must now give before you can file, and the deposit cap that halved in 2024.
Every form linked on this page is free, fillable in your browser, and downloadable as a PDF with no account, no membership and no paywall. Maryland tenancies run on Real Property Article Title 8, and the last two legislative sessions changed it more than the previous decade did. Two of those changes are so recent that a large part of the published guidance — including at least one major legal publisher — is still serving the old rule.
The short version
- Nonpayment — you must give a ten-day written notice of intent to file before you can bring a failure-to-pay-rent case. This is new since October 2024.
- Breach of lease — thirty days, or fourteen where the behaviour shows a clear and imminent danger of serious harm — and only if the lease says you may repossess for breach.
- Month-to-month — sixty days from the landlord.
- Security deposit — the cap is now one month’s rent, not two.
- Entry — Maryland now has an entry statute: twenty-four hours’ written notice, between seven in the morning and seven in the evening, Monday to Saturday.
- Late fees — capped at five per cent of the rent for the delinquent period.
- Redemption — the tenant may pay and stay right up to execution, unless three possession judgments have been entered against them in the past twelve months.
The Notice You Must Give Before You Can File
This is the single most consequential change to Maryland landlord practice in years, and it is the one commercial forms sites are slowest to reflect.
Since 1 October 2024, a Maryland landlord must give the tenant written notice of intent to file a failure-to-pay-rent case, and the tenant must have failed to cure “within 10 days after the written notice is provided” (Real Property § 8-401(c)). Three details matter:
- The notice must be on a Maryland Judiciary-approved form.
- Delivery must be by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, by affixing it to the door, or — only where the tenant has elected it — by email, text or a tenant portal with proof of transmission.
- The complaint must affirm when the notice was given. The tenant may challenge that, and the court may dismiss.
This came in with the Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024. A landlord who files without it is filing a case that can be thrown out on the tenant’s word alone.
Our Maryland ten-day notice to pay rent or quit is drafted to that ten-day period. Because the statute requires a Judiciary-approved form, treat ours as the working draft that tells you what has to be said, and check the current approved version with the clerk before you file.
Once the case is filed, the timetable is fast: trial is set five days after filing, the court orders possession within four days (extendable to fifteen for health reasons), the warrant of restitution follows after seven days of noncompliance, and an unused warrant expires after sixty days. See our Maryland eviction notice laws guide.
Notice Periods for Everything Else
| Situation | Notice | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Failure to pay rent | 10 days before filing | § 8-401(c) |
| Breach of lease | 30 days — or 14 days where the breach involves behaviour demonstrating a clear and imminent danger of serious harm | § 8-402.1(a)(1) |
| Month-to-month, or a written lease for a stated term over one week | 60 days before expiration | § 8-402(c)(2)(i) |
| Week-to-week | 7 days with a written lease; 21 days without one | § 8-402(c)(2)(iv) |
| Year-to-year | 90 days; 180 days for other farm tenancies | § 8-402(c)(2)(ii)–(iii) |
| Foreclosure-related termination | 30 days month-to-month or week-to-week; 60 days year-to-year, with local carve-outs | § 8-402(c)(4) |
The breach-of-lease route has two preconditions people miss. First, it applies only where “an unexpired lease for a stated term provides that the landlord may repossess the premises prior to the expiration of the stated term if the tenant breaches the lease”. No such clause, no such remedy. Second, the court must find that the breach “was substantial and warrants an eviction”. A technical breach will not carry it.
One useful protection runs the other way: accepting rent after the notice but before the eviction is not a waiver unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.
A Maryland tenant may give notice orally. Under § 8-402(c)(3) a tenant’s notice may be given “by parol” — at least thirty days, ninety for year-to-year — and where the tenant does so, the landlord need give no written notice at all. Note the carve-out in the statute’s own words: “This paragraph shall not apply in Baltimore City.”
One citation warning. The notice periods live in § 8-402(c)(2). The section was reorganised, and any source citing “§ 8-402(b)(3)” for notice periods is working from a pre-reorganisation copy — that subsection is the warrant of restitution.
Every Maryland Landlord Form, by Stage of the Tenancy
An alphabetical list is the least useful arrangement, because a landlord arrives knowing what has happened, not what the document is called. The index below is ordered by where you are in the tenancy.
Starting the tenancy
- Maryland residential lease agreement — the master document. It must carry the deposit receipt required by § 8-203.1, it must not contain the provisions § 8-208 prohibits, and if you offer five or more dwelling units in the State you may not rent without one at all.
- Lead-based paint form — required by federal law for any dwelling built before 1978. Maryland layers its own registration and risk-reduction regime on top for affected properties.
- Move-in / move-out condition checklist — the record that makes a forty-five-day itemisation defensible, and the natural companion to the tenant’s right to attend the move-out walk-through.
During the tenancy
- Notice to enter the property — drafted to § 8-221, which did not exist before October 2025. Twenty-four hours, in writing, with the date, approximate time and specific purpose.
- Rent increase notice — the sixty-day period is the operative constraint for a month-to-month tenancy. Several Maryland counties add their own rules; see below.
- Late rent notice — a courtesy reminder, and a sensible precursor to the ten-day notice of intent to file.
- Lease Extension Agreement
- Rental Application
- Sublease Agreement
When the tenant breaches
- Ten-day notice to pay rent or quit — the § 8-401(c) notice of intent to file.
- Notice to cure or quit — thirty days for a breach of lease, fourteen where the conduct shows a clear and imminent danger of serious harm.
- Unconditional quit notice — for the tenant holding over route under § 8-402.
Ending the tenancy without fault
- Notice of non-renewal — sixty days before expiration for a month-to-month tenancy or a written lease for a stated term over one week.
- Tenant notice to vacate — thirty days from the tenant, and note that outside Baltimore City the tenant may give it orally.
After the tenant moves out
- Security deposit itemisation — the itemised list of damages with the cost actually incurred, mailed within forty-five days.
- Security deposit return letter — the covering document, and the place to show the interest calculation.
Security Deposits: The Cap Halved, and Most Sources Have Not Caught Up
Maryland’s security deposit cap is ONE month’s rent per dwelling unit, regardless of the number of tenants (§ 8-203(b)(1)). It was reduced from two months by the Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024, effective 1 October 2024. At least one major legal publisher is still serving the two-month figure on a page labelled as current. Taking two months’ rent today exposes you to up to three times the excess plus reasonable attorney’s fees, claimable during the tenancy or within two years after it ends.
There is one narrow exception permitting two months: the tenant qualifies for utility assistance through the Department of Human Services, the lease requires the tenant to pay utilities directly, and the parties agree in writing. All three, or the cap is one month.
| Rule | Value | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Where it is held | A federally insured institution doing business in Maryland, in an in-state branch, in an account devoted exclusively to deposits and bearing interest; deposited within thirty days of receipt. Insured certificates of deposit or government securities are an alternative | § 8-203(d) |
| Interest | Simple interest at the greater of the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for one-year constant maturity, or one and a half per cent per annum. Not compounded. Only on deposits of fifty dollars or more, and none for a holding period under six months | § 8-203(e)(1) |
| Return | Forty-five days after termination, with accrued interest, less damages rightfully withheld | § 8-203(e)(1) |
| Itemisation | A written itemised list of damages with the cost actually incurred, mailed within the forty-five days. Failure forfeits the right to withhold for damages. The statement must include documentation identifying materials and services; estimates are permitted, but on completion you must send the final invoice and return any excess within thirty days | § 8-203(g), (j), (k) |
| Penalty | Withholding without a reasonable basis: up to three times the withheld amount plus reasonable attorney’s fees | § 8-203(e)(4) |
| Move-out walk-through | The tenant may attend. The tenant gives fifteen days’ certified-mail notice of intent to move; the landlord notifies by certified mail of the time; it happens within five days before or after move-out. Landlord noncompliance forfeits the right to withhold for damages | § 8-203(f)(1) |
| Waiver | No provision of § 8-203 may be waived in any lease | § 8-203(l) |
The surety bond alternative is real but tightly bounded. A tenant may buy a surety bond instead of, or alongside, a deposit — but the landlord may not require one and is not required to accept one. The bond may not exceed two months’ rent, and bond plus deposit combined may not exceed two months’ rent. Before claiming on it the landlord must send the damage list at least ten days in advance; the tenant may dispute in writing within ten days; and the surety may not report a disputed claim to a credit agency before judgment. See our Maryland security deposit laws guide.
Entry: Maryland Got a Statute in 2025
For years the correct answer was that Maryland had no landlord entry statute. That is no longer true. Real Property § 8-221 was created by House Bill 1076 (2025, chapter 564) and took effect 1 October 2025. It requires twenty-four hours’ written notice, and limits entry to seven in the morning until seven in the evening, Monday through Saturday — or another time the tenant agrees to in writing.
Two cautions about what you will read elsewhere. Several pages cite the entry rule to “§ 8-203.1”, which is the security deposit receipt section, and describe the twenty-four hours as having been “reduced from forty-eight”. Both are wrong: the correct citation is § 8-221, and it created the rule from nothing — there was no prior standard.
The notice must state the date, the approximate time and the specific purpose of entry. The permitted purposes are enumerated: repairs, maintenance, modifications, renovations or improvements; inspecting; showing the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants or contractors; ensuring the protection and safety of the property and its occupants; work ordered by a governmental entity; and, if appropriate, responding to any other written request of the tenant.
No notice is needed “in the event of an emergency to ensure the imminent protection or preservation of the property, the imminent protection and safety of any occupants, or the health, safety, and welfare of other tenants and staff”. Where the rule is broken, the court may issue an injunction, assess damages for breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment, or both. See our Maryland landlord entry laws guide.
Redemption: Pay and Stay, With a Three-Strike Limit
Maryland’s right of redemption is generous and it runs late. The tenant may redeem by tendering all past-due amounts plus court costs at any time before the eviction order is actually executed, and a payment made by government cheque has the same legal effect as any other.
But it is not unlimited. Section 8-401(h) provides that the subsection “does not apply to any tenant against whom three judgments of possession have been entered for rent due and unpaid in the 12 months prior to the initiation of the action”. If you are dealing with a chronic non-payer, that count is worth tracking, because it is the one thing that closes the door.
At the other end, the landlord owes the tenant a further notice. Under § 8-407 the landlord must give written notice at least six days before the sheriff’s scheduled repossession date — by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, plus a posted notice with a photograph, plus electronic notice if the landlord holds the contact details. The landlord may charge the tenant up to five dollars for the expense. Local jurisdictions may set the period as long as fourteen days or as short as four.
Late Fees, Prohibited Clauses and the Written-Lease Rule
Maryland frames its late-fee limit as a prohibited lease provision rather than as a standalone cap, which is a useful signal about how seriously it is taken.
- Five per cent of the rent due for the rental period for which the payment was delinquent.
- Where rent is paid weekly: not more than three dollars per week, and not more than twelve dollars per month in total.
- There is no statewide statutory grace period in Real Property Title 8. Local ordinances may impose one — and the widely circulated “fifteen-day Maryland grace period” is not a state rule.
Section 8-208 also voids a set of lease provisions including a jury-trial waiver, a confessed-judgment clause, penalties for calling emergency services, late fees above the caps, automatic renewal without notice of it, and retaliation provisions. And under § 8-208(a) a landlord offering five or more dwelling units in the State may not rent without a written lease; noncompliance presumes a one-year tenancy from first occupancy, which the tenant may end earlier on one month’s written notice. See our Maryland late fee laws guide.
On bounced cheques, the general commercial statute applies: notice of dishonour may be sent after the cheque has been unpaid ten days, and if it remains unpaid thirty days after that notice the holder may recover the cheque amount, a collection fee of up to thirty-five dollars, and damages of up to twice the cheque capped at one thousand dollars. Paying in full plus costs within thirty days is a complete defence.
The County Layer Nobody Explains
Maryland is one of the most locally variable landlord-tenant regimes in the country, and a page that stops at the state code is only half an answer. Baltimore City, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Howard County each add their own licensing requirements, and several operate rent stabilisation and their own forms and offices — Montgomery County’s Office of Landlord-Tenant Affairs being the best known. Baltimore City also carries express carve-outs written into the state statute itself, including on the tenant’s oral notice and on the foreclosure notice periods.
We have not published county-level rules here because we could not verify them to the standard we apply to statutes. Check your county’s housing office before you rely on any statewide figure on this page, and treat licensing as a precondition rather than a formality.
What Changed, and When
| Act | Effective | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024 (House Bill 693, chapter 124) | 1 October 2024 | Deposit cap two months to one month; the ten-day pre-suit notice; summary ejectment surcharge raised from eight dollars to forty-three; other civil filings from eighteen to twenty-eight; a tenant right of first refusal for properties of three units or fewer; a Tenants’ Bill of Rights and an Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs |
| House Bill 1076 (2025, chapter 564) | 1 October 2025 | Created § 8-221, the landlord entry statute |
| Senate Bill 335 (2026, chapter 773) | 1 October 2026 — NOT YET IN FORCE | Income-based housing subsidy discrimination and positive rental-history reporting. It is approved but does not govern today |
Four 2026 bills are widely described online as if they had passed. None of them is law. House Bill 80 (on stating rental fees up front) died in a Senate committee; House Bill 434 (a ban on algorithmic rent-setting) died in a House committee; and House Bill 774 and Senate Bill 462 (local good-cause eviction) both failed, House Bill 774 having passed the House before dying in Senate Rules. A search summary presenting all of them as enacted is reading first-reader documents.
Which Maryland Form Do I Need?
- The tenant has not paid rent. The ten-day notice of intent to file, on an approved form, delivered by one of the three permitted methods — then the complaint, affirming when the notice was given.
- The tenant has broken the lease. Thirty days — but check first that the lease actually reserves the right to repossess for breach, and be ready to show the breach was substantial.
- The conduct shows a clear and imminent danger of serious harm. Fourteen days.
- The term is ending and you do not want to renew. Sixty days before expiration.
- It is a week-to-week tenancy. Seven days with a written lease, twenty-one without one.
- You need to get into the property. Twenty-four hours in writing, seven in the morning to seven in the evening, Monday to Saturday, stating the date, approximate time and specific purpose.
- The tenant has moved out. Itemised list with the cost actually incurred, plus the balance and the accrued interest, within forty-five days.
How to Fill Out the Maryland Ten-Day Notice
- Confirm you are using an approved form. The statute requires a Maryland Judiciary-approved form, which is unusual and is easy to miss.
- Name every tenant and describe the premises exactly as the lease does.
- State the amount of rent unpaid and the period it covers.
- State that you intend to file if the amount is not cured within ten days after the notice is provided.
- Choose a permitted delivery method — first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, affixing to the door, or the tenant’s elected electronic method with proof of transmission. Keep the certificate or the proof.
- Record the date it was provided. Your complaint has to affirm it, and the tenant may challenge it.
- Wait the full ten days. Filing early is the most straightforward way to have the case dismissed.
- Diarise the follow-on steps — trial five days after filing, warrant after seven days of noncompliance, warrant expiring at sixty days.
What Happens If the Form Is Wrong
The distinctively Maryland failure right now is filing without the ten-day notice, or filing before it has run. The statute puts the affirmation in the complaint and gives the tenant a route to challenge it, so this is not a defect that goes unnoticed.
The second is taking two months’ rent as a deposit because a publisher said you could. The exposure is treble the excess plus fees, and it survives for two years after the tenancy ends.
The third is a breach-of-lease notice on a lease with no repossession clause. The remedy is conditioned on the lease, not just on the breach.
And the fourth is the deposit itemisation. Missing the forty-five days forfeits the right to withhold for damages entirely — and so, separately, does failing to comply with the move-out walk-through rules when the tenant has asked to attend.
Court, Costs and Forms
Maryland evictions are heard in the District Court of Maryland. The small claims limit is five thousand dollars, and the District Court has exclusive civil jurisdiction to that figure, with concurrent jurisdiction above it.
The forms are the DC-CV family: DC-CV-082 for failure to pay rent, DC-CV-080 for tenant holding over, and DC-CV-085 for breach of lease. We give those numbers as titles we found in circulation rather than as documents we could read — see the next section.
We publish Maryland’s filing SURCHARGES but not a base filing fee. The surcharges are statutory and verifiable: forty-three dollars per summary ejectment case, twenty-eight dollars per other District Court civil case, a Real Property Records Improvement Fund charge of three dollars on ejectments and eight on other civil cases, and up to ten dollars more in Baltimore City. The base fee sits on a Judiciary page that blocked every attempt to read it, so we do not publish a total. Note also that the surcharge may be deducted from the deposit only if judgment for possession was entered for the landlord, the lease provides for it, and the deduction does not exceed the deposit.
What This Page Does Not Have
We would rather scope this honestly than promise documents we do not host. Maryland landlords also commonly want a rental application, a month-to-month agreement, a sublease, a roommate agreement, a commercial lease, a lease extension notice, a mould addendum, a pet addendum, a rent receipt and an adverse action notice. Those are not published here as Maryland-specific forms.
We have also deliberately left out several things we could not verify: a District Court base filing fee; DC-CV numbers beyond the three above; the exact unit threshold in the foreclosure carve-out at § 8-402(c)(4); the mechanics of how deposit interest accrues between payments (the rate is solid, the interval is not); the full enumerated list of prohibited lease provisions; and the internal lettering of § 8-402.1, which is why we cite that section generally rather than to a specific clause.
One thing we specifically will not publish is an add-three-days-for-mailing rule. Maryland Rule 1-203(c) does add three days where a party must act within a prescribed period after service by mail — but we found no evidence that it extends the ten-day pre-suit notice or the notice-to-quit periods, which are statutory rather than post-service deadlines. Treating it as a buffer on those notices would be an assumption, not a rule.
Common Maryland Landlord Form Mistakes
- Filing a failure-to-pay-rent case with no ten-day notice, or before the ten days have run.
- Using a notice that is not a Judiciary-approved form.
- Taking two months’ rent as a deposit. The cap has been one month since October 2024.
- Serving a breach-of-lease notice on a lease with no repossession clause.
- Treating a technical breach as enough. The court must find it substantial.
- Giving thirty days on a month-to-month tenancy. The landlord’s period is sixty.
- Entering on a phone call, or after seven in the evening, or on a Sunday.
- Citing the entry rule to § 8-203.1, or repeating that it was reduced from forty-eight hours.
- Missing the forty-five-day itemisation, which forfeits the right to withhold for damages.
- Ignoring a tenant’s request to attend the move-out walk-through. Noncompliance carries the same forfeiture.
- Forgetting deposit interest, or paying it on a deposit under fifty dollars or a holding under six months where none is due.
- Requiring a surety bond. You may not, and you need not accept one.
- Charging a late fee above five per cent, or relying on a fifteen-day grace period that does not exist statewide.
- Ignoring county licensing. In several Maryland jurisdictions it is a precondition, not paperwork.
Free Fillable Forms Versus the Paid Maryland Form Sites
Maryland is the one state in this group where the results page is dominated by government and legal-aid sites rather than template vendors — the Judiciary, the housing department, the People’s Law Library, Montgomery County and Harford County together take most of the top positions. The deepest ranker is a legal-aid topical index of about two thousand six hundred and seventy words.
That tells you what Maryland searchers are really being handed: authority without documents, or documents without authority. What none of those pages does is connect the two — explain the ten-day notice of intent to file and give you something to fill in, or warn that the deposit cap halved and show you the itemisation that has to follow. Where an official page is the better source, we say so and point at it rather than competing with it.
Every form linked from this page is free, fills in the browser, and downloads as a finished PDF. There is no account, no trial and no upsell attached to the documents themselves. What we ask in return is straightforward: if you are about to hand keys to someone, run the screening first, because nearly every dispute described on this page is cheaper to prevent than to litigate.
Maryland Landlord Forms: FAQ
Does Maryland require notice before filing an eviction for unpaid rent?
Yes, since 1 October 2024. Real Property § 8-401(c) requires written notice of intent to file, with the tenant failing to cure “within 10 days after the written notice is provided”. It must be on a Maryland Judiciary-approved form, delivered by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, by affixing it to the door, or by a tenant-elected electronic method with proof of transmission — and the complaint must affirm when it was given.
How much notice does a Maryland breach of lease need?
Thirty days, or fourteen days where the breach involves behaviour demonstrating a clear and imminent danger of serious harm, § 8-402.1(a)(1). Two conditions apply: the lease must provide that the landlord may repossess before the end of the term if the tenant breaches, and the court must find the breach was substantial and warrants an eviction.
How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Maryland?
Sixty days before expiration from the landlord, for a month-to-month tenancy or a written lease for a stated term over one week, § 8-402(c)(2)(i). Week-to-week is seven days with a written lease and twenty-one without one; year-to-year is ninety days. A tenant may give notice orally under § 8-402(c)(3) — except in Baltimore City.
What is the security deposit cap in Maryland?
One month’s rent per dwelling unit, regardless of the number of tenants, § 8-203(b)(1) — reduced from two months effective 1 October 2024. Two months is permitted only where the tenant qualifies for utility assistance through the Department of Human Services, the lease requires the tenant to pay utilities directly, and the parties agree in writing. Exceeding the cap exposes the landlord to up to three times the excess plus reasonable attorney’s fees.
How long does a Maryland landlord have to return a deposit?
Forty-five days after termination, with accrued interest, less damages rightfully withheld, § 8-203(e)(1). A written itemised list of damages showing the cost actually incurred must be mailed within the same period, and failure to send it forfeits the right to withhold for damages.
What interest is owed on a Maryland security deposit?
Simple interest at the greater of the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for one-year constant maturity or one and a half per cent per annum, not compounded. It is owed only on deposits of fifty dollars or more, and not for a holding period under six months.
Does Maryland have a landlord entry statute?
Yes, since 1 October 2025. Real Property § 8-221, created by House Bill 1076 (2025, chapter 564), requires twenty-four hours’ written notice stating the date, approximate time and specific purpose, and limits entry to seven in the morning to seven in the evening, Monday through Saturday, unless the tenant agrees otherwise in writing. Pages citing “§ 8-203.1” or saying the period was reduced from forty-eight hours are wrong on both counts.
Can a Maryland tenant pay and stay?
Yes. Under § 8-401(h) the tenant may redeem by tendering all past-due amounts plus court costs at any time before the eviction order is actually executed. But the right does not apply to a tenant against whom three judgments of possession for unpaid rent have been entered in the previous twelve months.
Must a Maryland landlord give notice before the sheriff arrives?
Yes. Section 8-407 requires written notice at least six days before the scheduled repossession date — first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, plus a posted notice with a photograph, plus electronic notice if the landlord holds the contact details. The landlord may charge the tenant up to five dollars. Local jurisdictions may set as many as fourteen days or as few as four.
What is the late fee limit in Maryland?
Five per cent of the rent due for the rental period for which the payment was delinquent, framed as a prohibited lease provision under § 8-208(d). Where rent is weekly, not more than three dollars per week and not more than twelve dollars per month. There is no statewide grace period in Real Property Title 8, and the widely published fifteen-day grace period is not a Maryland rule.
Can a Maryland landlord require a surety bond instead of a deposit?
No. A tenant may choose one, but the landlord may not require it and is not required to accept it. The bond may not exceed two months’ rent, and bond plus deposit together may not exceed two months’ rent. Before claiming on the bond the landlord must send the damage list at least ten days beforehand, and the tenant may dispute it in writing within ten days.
Does a Maryland landlord need a written lease?
If you offer five or more dwelling units in the State, yes — § 8-208(a) forbids renting without one. Noncompliance presumes a one-year tenancy from first occupancy, which the tenant may end earlier on one month’s written notice.
Related Maryland Guides
- Maryland landlord-tenant laws — the full statutory overview.
- Maryland eviction notice laws — the ten-day notice and the summary ejectment track.
- Maryland security deposit laws — the one-month cap, interest and itemisation.
- Maryland lease termination laws — sixty days, and the tenant’s oral notice.
- Maryland breaking lease laws — early termination and the one-year presumption.
- Maryland rent increase laws — state rules and the county layer.
- Maryland late fee laws — five per cent, and the weekly caps.
- Maryland landlord entry laws — the new § 8-221 in detail.
- Maryland habitability laws — repair duties and rent escrow.
- Maryland pet and ESA laws — pets, deposits and assistance animals.
- Maryland tenant screening laws — background checks and adverse action.
Published by Tenant Screening Background Check · Editorial Team
Established 2004. Our editorial team has spent two decades helping landlords and property managers run lawful tenant screening and follow state landlord-tenant codes across all fifty states. Maryland’s official code site publishes no amendment notes, so for this page we read the statute text and then reconstructed every effective date from the bill status pages — which is how we can say the deposit cap halved in 2024, that the entry statute is new in 2025, and that the four 2026 bills circulating as law all failed.
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Last reviewed 2026. This page is general information about Maryland landlord-tenant law, not legal advice. The security deposit cap changed in October 2024 and the entry statute was created in October 2025, so older guidance is out of date, and at least one major publisher is still serving the repealed cap. Maryland’s rules vary substantially by county. We have deliberately omitted figures and clause references we could not verify. Confirm the current requirements with the clerk of your District Court, your county housing office, or a Maryland attorney before you serve a notice or file a case.
