Maryland · State Pet and ESA Guide

Maryland Pet and ESA Laws: What Landlords Can and Cannot Charge

Maryland allows a pet deposit within its security-deposit cap – one month’s rent since October 1, 2024 – bars all fees for a service animal or ESA, and, unlike some states, has no criminal misrepresentation law. Here is how to stay compliant in 2026.

Animals in a Maryland rental fall into two very different legal buckets. An ordinary pet is governed by the lease and Maryland law, so a landlord can set pet rules and charge a pet deposit within any limit. A service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet under the federal Fair Housing Act, so the pet rules, fees, and breed limits do not apply – and confusing the two is where most landlord liability arises.

This guide covers Maryland pet deposits and fees, the difference between service animals and emotional support animals, the federal rule that an assistance animal is not a pet, the documentation you can request, and when you may deny an animal. If you are placing a new tenant, our overview of how to screen tenants step by step pairs well with the rules below.

▶

Video: a plain-language walkthrough of Maryland pet and assistance-animal rules – pet deposits, the Fair Housing Act, and emotional support animals.

Key Takeaways: Maryland Pet and ESA Laws

• Pet deposits count toward the deposit cap. Maryland limits the security deposit to one month’s rent under Real Property section 8-203(b)(1) for any lease entered on or after October 1, 2024 – down from two months – and a pet deposit is part of that total.
• No fees for an assistance animal. A service animal or ESA is not a pet, so no pet deposit, fee, or rent, and no breed or weight limit, may apply.
• No criminal misrepresentation law. A false ESA claim brings lease termination, eviction, and civil liability, but not a criminal charge.
• Documentation is the landlord’s tool – a letter from a licensed professional when the need is not obvious, with no registration or certification demanded.

Pet Policies and No-Pet Clauses in Maryland

For an ordinary pet, a Maryland landlord has broad discretion. You may adopt a no-pet policy, limit the number or type of pets, set reasonable rules on size or behavior, and require a pet agreement as part of the lease. A pet clause that is clear and applied consistently is enforceable, and a tenant who keeps a pet in violation of it can be required to remove the animal or face the lease consequences.

The critical exception, which the rest of this guide explains, is that an assistance animal – a service animal or an emotional support animal – is not a pet under federal law, so none of these pet rules apply to it. Our overview of how to screen tenants step by step is a useful companion when you place a new tenant in the unit.

Pet Deposits, Pet Fees, and Pet Rent in Maryland

For an actual pet, Maryland allows a pet deposit, but it counts against the security-deposit cap. Real Property section 8-203(a)(3) defines a security deposit broadly, and Maryland limits it to one month’s rent per dwelling unit for any lease entered on or after October 1, 2024, when the Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024 cut the cap from two months. A pet deposit is treated as part of that deposit, so the combined total may not exceed the one-month ceiling; charging more exposes the landlord to up to three times the excess plus attorney’s fees under section 8-203(b)(3). A landlord may also charge pet rent for a non-assistance animal if the lease provides for it.

Assistance animals sit outside these charges. Because a service animal or ESA is not a pet under the Fair Housing Act, a Maryland landlord may not charge a pet deposit, fee, or rent for one, or apply a breed or weight limit, even though pet deposits are otherwise allowed within the cap. Our overview of Maryland security deposit laws covers the one-month deposit cap in full.

Service Animals Versus Emotional Support Animals

Two kinds of assistance animal matter here, and the difference drives the rules. A service animal is a dog – or in some cases a miniature horse – individually trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability, such as guiding, alerting, or retrieving. An emotional support animal, or ESA, is an animal that provides therapeutic support for a person with a mental or emotional disability but is not trained to perform a specific task.

For housing, federal fair housing law treats both as assistance animals entitled to a reasonable accommodation – the service-animal versus ESA distinction matters more for public-accommodation access than for the rental unit. In the home, a landlord’s obligations to a service animal and to an ESA are largely the same, which is the key point this guide builds on.

An Assistance Animal Is Not a Pet in Maryland

Under the federal Fair Housing Act, an assistance animal is not a pet, and that single rule drives the housing analysis. A Maryland landlord must make a reasonable accommodation to a no-pet policy to allow a tenant with a disability to keep an assistance animal, and may not charge a pet deposit, a pet fee, or pet rent for it. Breed, size, and weight restrictions that apply to pets do not apply to an assistance animal either.

The tenant is still responsible for the animal. If the assistance animal causes actual damage beyond ordinary wear, the landlord may charge for that damage just as for any tenant-caused damage, and the tenant remains liable for the animal’s behavior. What the landlord may not do is charge a fee in advance simply because the animal is there. For the federal baseline on protected characteristics, see our Fair Housing Act guide for landlords.

Documentation You Can Request in Maryland

What you may ask for depends on how obvious the need is. If a person’s disability and the animal’s role are readily apparent – a guide dog for a tenant who is blind – you may not demand documentation. If the disability or the disability-connected need for the animal is not obvious, you may request reliable documentation that the tenant has a disability and that the animal provides support connected to that disability, typically a letter from a licensed health professional who knows the tenant.

What you may not do is demand a specific certificate, a registration number, or detailed medical records, or insist the animal be certified or professionally trained. There is no official assistance-animal registry, and an ESA needs no task training. Verify the disability and the need through a legitimate provider, then grant the accommodation.

When You Can Deny an Assistance Animal in Maryland

A reasonable accommodation is not unlimited. A Maryland landlord may deny a specific assistance animal if it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that cannot be reduced by another accommodation, or if it would cause substantial physical damage to property that cannot be reduced – based on that animal’s actual conduct, not on its breed or on speculation. A landlord may also decline a request that imposes an undue financial or administrative burden or fundamentally alters the housing.

The denial must rest on an individualized assessment of the particular animal, supported by objective evidence. A blanket refusal of a breed, or a denial because the landlord doubts the need without engaging the documentation process, is where liability arises. When in doubt, engage the interactive process rather than refusing outright.

Misrepresentation and Maryland Law

Maryland takes a different approach to misrepresentation than some neighboring states: it does not have a criminal statute penalizing service-animal or ESA misrepresentation. Instead, the consequences of a false claim are contractual and civil – a tenant who misrepresents a pet as an assistance animal can face lease termination, eviction, and civil liability, but not a criminal charge.

That makes the documentation process the landlord’s main tool. For a need that is not obvious, the landlord may request reliable documentation – a letter from a licensed mental health professional describing the disability and the animal’s role – and may verify that the provider is legitimate, but may not demand a registration or certification. Evaluating the documentation, rather than refusing the animal, is both the compliant and the practical course.

Pet Rules, Assistance Animals, and Fair Housing in Maryland

Assistance-animal rules are a subset of fair housing compliance. Refusing a reasonable accommodation, charging an assistance-animal tenant a fee a pet owner would pay, or applying a harsher standard because of disability is discrimination under the federal Fair Housing Act, which applies in Maryland regardless of the state’s own animal rules. The same is true if animal rules are used as a pretext to exclude families with children or another protected class.

The safeguard is a written policy applied uniformly: pet rules for pets, the accommodation process for assistance animals, and consistent treatment of every applicant. Apply the same even-handed discipline to animal requests that you apply to screening, and document each decision.

Screening and a Clear Animal Policy

A clear animal policy and good screening work together. Decide in advance how you handle pets and how you handle assistance-animal accommodations, put both in writing, and apply them the same way to everyone. That consistency is what keeps an animal decision defensible and a denial out of fair housing trouble.

Screening itself stays the same regardless of an animal: get written consent, pull a consumer report for a permissible purpose under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, and send an adverse action notice if the report drives a denial. Our Maryland tenant screening laws page and the broader tenant screening laws by state guide cover the screening half of the picture, whether you rent in Maryland or anywhere else.

A Compliant Maryland Pet and Assistance-Animal Process

Turn the rules into one repeatable sequence. First, set a written pet policy – whether pets are allowed, any deposit or fee within the legal limit, and the pet rules. Second, treat every assistance-animal request separately from the pet policy. Third, if the need is not obvious, request reliable documentation of the disability and the animal’s role, and nothing more. Fourth, grant the accommodation without a pet deposit, fee, or breed or weight limit, while holding the tenant responsible for any actual damage. Fifth, deny only on an individualized direct-threat or substantial-damage finding, and document it.

Handled this way, animal requests in Maryland are routine. The same discipline that keeps screening defensible – objective standards, applied uniformly, documented – keeps an assistance-animal decision defensible too, and it is the documented process, not an instinct about a particular animal, that decides a dispute.

Common Mistakes That Create Liability

The recurring Maryland errors are charging a pet deposit or pet rent for an assistance animal, applying a breed or weight limit to one, demanding certification or a registry number that does not exist, refusing an animal based on its breed rather than its actual conduct, and treating an ESA request as a pet request. Almost every one turns on the rule that an assistance animal is not a pet, which is where fair housing law actually bites.

Documentation and Recordkeeping in Maryland

Because Maryland animal decisions are measured against the Fair Housing Act, your records are what prove you complied. Keep the written pet policy, every assistance-animal request and the documentation you relied on, your accommodation decision and its basis, and a record of any damage the animal actually caused. That file is the answer to a tenant who alleges a refused accommodation or an improper fee.

Keep your denials especially well documented – the individualized assessment, the objective evidence of a direct threat or substantial damage, and the interactive process you followed. If a tenant or a fair housing investigator questions a decision, that record is your strongest rebuttal.

Set one animal policy and one accommodation process, and apply them to every tenant. A consistent record of requests, documentation, and decisions gives you the evidence to answer a complaint or a fair housing inquiry. Our guide to verifying tenant income rounds out the financial side of managing a tenancy in Maryland.

How Does a Pet Deposit Fit Inside Maryland’s Security-Deposit Cap?

A pet deposit in Maryland is a security deposit, so it sits inside the statutory ceiling rather than on top of it. Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203(a)(3) defines a security deposit as “any payment of money, including payment of the last month’s rent in advance of the time it is due, given to a landlord by a tenant in order to protect the landlord against nonpayment of rent, damage due to breach of lease, or damage to the leased premises, common areas, major appliances, and furnishings.” The definition turns on what the money does, not on what the lease calls it, and the words “pet deposit” and “pet fee” appear nowhere in § 8-203. A charge collected because an animal may damage the unit therefore counts against the cap in § 8-203(b)(1) — one month’s rent per dwelling unit, regardless of the number of tenants. A landlord who takes a full one-month deposit and then adds a pet deposit has exceeded it.

The one exception, and it is not a pet exception

Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203(b)(2) permits up to two months’ rent only where three conditions are all met: the tenant has qualified for utility assistance through the Maryland Department of Human Services, the lease requires the tenant to pay for utility services directly to the landlord, and both parties agree in writing to the amount. Owning an animal is not one of them. Separately, § 8-203(i)(3) allows a tenant to buy a surety bond in place of part of the deposit, but the bond and the deposit together may not exceed two months’ rent per dwelling unit. Section 8-203(l) closes the drafting workaround: “No provision of this section may be waived in any lease.” A pet addendum reciting the tenant’s agreement to a larger deposit does not create consent the statute will honour.

Remedy exposure for getting it wrong

Failure	Statute	Exposure
Deposit plus pet deposit exceeds one month’s rent	§ 8-203(b)(3)	Up to three times the extra amount charged, plus reasonable attorney’s fees
Surety bond plus deposit exceeds two months’ rent	§ 8-203(i)(3)(iii)	Up to three times the extra amount charged, plus reasonable attorney’s fees
No written receipt for the deposit	§ 8-203.1(c)	Liability to the tenant of $25
No itemized list of damages within 45 days of the end of the tenancy	§ 8-203(g)(2)	Forfeiture of the right to withhold any part of the deposit for damages
Deposit withheld without a reasonable basis past 45 days	§ 8-203(e)(4)	Up to threefold the withheld amount, plus reasonable attorney’s fees

The window is long. Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203(b)(4) allows an action at any time during the tenancy or within two years after its termination, so an over-cap pet deposit taken at move-in is still actionable two years after the tenant leaves. Animal money also carries the ordinary deposit mechanics: it must go into a dedicated, interest-bearing account at a Maryland branch of a federally insured financial institution within 30 days of receipt under § 8-203(d)(1).

Does Maryland Penalise a False Emotional Support Animal Claim?

No. As of the 2025 Maryland Code, no Maryland statute makes it an offence to misrepresent a pet as a service animal or as an emotional support animal. Maryland is one of the states that has not enacted a fake-assistance-animal penalty. This is a settled negative, not an open question.

The three places such a provision would be codified do not contain one:

• Md. Code, Human Services, Title 7, Subtitle 7 (§§ 7-701 through 7-709) is Maryland’s service-animal access law. Section 7-705(e) penalises a person who denies or interferes with the admittance of a service animal — a misdemeanour carrying a fine of up to $500 for each offence, and up to $25 for each offence involving an animal in training. It creates no offence against a person who falsely claims an animal.
• Md. Code, Criminal Law, Title 10, Subtitle 6 is the animal offences subtitle. Its only service-animal provision is § 10-626, “Killing or Harming Service Animals.”
• Md. Code, State Government, Title 20, Subtitle 7 is Maryland’s fair housing law. It bars discriminatory housing practices and requires reasonable accommodations, and contains no misrepresentation offence.

One Maryland criminal penalty is routinely mistaken for a misrepresentation law. House Bill 234 of the 2021 Regular Session, enacted as Chapter 178 and effective October 1, 2021, set penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to $2,500, or both, for willfully and maliciously killing, injuring, or interfering with the use of a service animal. That statute punishes harming a working animal. It has no application to a tenant who submits a questionable support letter.

Maryland’s fair housing statute does draw a definitional line. Md. Code, State Government § 20-706(a)(3) defines “service dog” as a dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability, and expressly excludes a dog that “provides only emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship.” That narrows the state service dog term only; it does not remove an emotional support animal from the reasonable-accommodation duty in § 20-706(b)(4) or from the federal Fair Housing Act. The practical consequence is that a false claim is answered through documentation, the lease, and civil remedies — never through a criminal referral.

When Can a Maryland Landlord Remove an Animal or End the Tenancy?

An accommodation can be denied or withdrawn when the specific animal is a direct threat or would cause substantial physical damage. The federal standard is stated at 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(9): “Nothing in this subsection requires that a dwelling be made available to an individual whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others.” The test is applied to the animal in front of the landlord, on evidence of its conduct.

An emotional support animal has no public-access right in Maryland

Maryland’s access rights run to service animals, not to emotional support animals. Md. Code, Human Services § 7-704(b) entitles individuals with disabilities and service animal trainers accompanied by a service animal to full and equal use of common carriers, places of public accommodation, and other places to which the general public is invited, and § 7-705 supplies the penalty for denying that access. An animal providing only comfort or companionship falls outside that framework. A landlord’s accommodation duty governs the dwelling; it is not a licence for the animal anywhere else.

The tenant stays liable for damage

Md. Code, Human Services § 7-704(c)(4) is explicit for housing: an individual accompanied by a service animal “may not be required to pay extra compensation for the service animal, but the individual may be liable for damages to the premises or facilities that the service animal causes.” Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203(f)(1)(i) then permits withholding from the deposit for damage by the tenant or the tenant’s family, agents, employees, guests, or invitees in excess of ordinary wear and tear.

Conduct that supports removal, and what to document

Maryland supplies an objective external marker for aggressive dogs. Md. Code, Criminal Law § 10-619 defines a “dangerous dog” as one that without provocation has killed or inflicted severe injury on a person, or one that a county or municipal unit has determined potentially dangerous and that afterwards bites a person, attacks without provocation, or kills or severely injures a domestic animal off the owner’s property. Section 10-619(c) requires the local unit to notify the owner in writing of the reasons for that determination — third-party evidence the landlord did not generate. A defensible file adds dated incident records: the time and place of each incident, signed statements from the neighbours or staff involved, medical or veterinary treatment, photographs of damage with repair invoices, and copies of every written notice with the accommodation decision and its basis.

The termination route under § 8-402.1

Terminating for animal conduct runs through Md. Code, Real Property § 8-402.1, the breach-of-lease action. The lease for a stated term must itself provide that the landlord may repossess before the end of the term if the tenant breaches; without that clause the action is unavailable. The landlord gives 30 days’ written notice that the tenant is in violation and that the landlord desires to repossess, then files a written complaint in the District Court for the county where the premises are located. The notice period shortens to 14 days where the breach involves behaviour by the tenant, or a person on the property with the tenant’s consent, demonstrating “a clear and imminent danger” of serious harm to the tenant, other tenants, the landlord, the landlord’s property or representatives, or any other person on the property.

The court does not simply confirm that a rule was broken. Under § 8-402.1(b)(1) it must find both that the tenant breached the lease and that the breach was substantial and warrants an eviction before awarding possession, which is why a documented pattern carries a case that a single unrepeated complaint does not. Under § 8-402.1(c)(1), accepting a payment after the notice but before eviction does not waive the notice of breach or a judgment for possession unless the parties specifically agree otherwise. Where the animal is an assistance animal, none of this suspends the fair housing analysis: the removal must still rest on an individualized assessment of that animal’s conduct against the direct-threat or substantial-damage standard in 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(9).

Maryland Pet and ESA Laws: FAQ

Can a Maryland landlord charge a pet deposit?

Yes, for an actual pet, but it counts toward the security-deposit cap in Real Property section 8-203(b)(1), so on a lease entered on or after October 1, 2024 the security deposit and any pet deposit together may not exceed one month’s rent. No fee may be charged for an assistance animal.

Can a Maryland landlord charge a fee for an emotional support animal?

No. An ESA is an assistance animal, not a pet, so no pet deposit, fee, or rent may be charged, and no breed or weight limit applies. The tenant remains liable for actual damage.

Does Maryland have a criminal law against ESA misrepresentation?

No. Maryland does not criminalize service-animal or ESA misrepresentation. A false claim can lead to lease termination, eviction, and civil liability, but not a criminal charge.

How much can a Maryland landlord hold in deposits with a pet?

No more than one month’s rent on a lease entered on or after October 1, 2024 – the security-deposit cap in Real Property section 8-203(b)(1) – counting the security deposit and any pet deposit together. Leases entered before that date were subject to the older two-month ceiling.

What documentation can a Maryland landlord request for an ESA?

When the need is not obvious, reliable documentation – a letter from a licensed mental health professional describing the disability and the animal’s role. Registration or certification may not be demanded.

Can a Maryland landlord apply a no-pet policy to a service animal?

No. A service animal is not a pet, so the landlord must make a reasonable accommodation to a no-pet policy and may not charge a fee or apply a breed or weight limit.

Can a Maryland landlord deny an assistance animal?

Only on an individualized basis – if the specific animal poses a direct threat or would cause substantial damage that cannot be reduced – not because of its breed or general doubts about the need.

Can a Maryland landlord charge for damage caused by an assistance animal?

Yes. No advance pet deposit or fee may be charged, but the tenant remains liable for actual damage the animal causes beyond ordinary wear, like any tenant-caused damage.

Can a Maryland landlord charge a pet deposit for an emotional support animal?

No. An emotional support animal is an assistance animal, not a pet, under the Fair Housing Act, so a Maryland landlord may not charge a pet deposit, pet fee, or pet rent for it. The tenant still remains liable for any actual damage the animal causes.

Can a Maryland landlord apply a no-pet policy to a service animal?

No. A service animal is not a pet, so a Maryland landlord must make a reasonable accommodation to a no-pet policy to allow it, without a pet fee or a breed or weight restriction.

Related Maryland Pet and ESA Guides

• Pet and ESA laws by state – compare Maryland to the rest of the country.
• Maryland security deposit laws – limits, deductions, and the return deadline.
• Maryland habitability laws – the repairs a landlord must make.
• Maryland rent increase laws – notice periods and the limits on raising rent.
• Maryland eviction notice laws – notice periods and the eviction timeline.
• Tenant screening laws by state – screen the tenant before they move in.
• Maryland tenant screening laws – what you can check before renting.

Screen Maryland Tenants Before They Move In

Pets or not, the right tenant matters most. Order FCRA-ready credit, criminal, and eviction reports and rent with confidence in Maryland.

Start Tenant Screening Compare Report Options

About the Author

Published by Tenant Screening Background Check · Editorial Team

Established 2004. Our editorial team has spent two decades helping landlords and property managers run lawful, FCRA-compliant tenant screening across all 50 states. We translate state landlord-tenant codes and federal screening rules into processes you can actually follow.

Updated 2026

Legal Disclaimer

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Maryland and federal laws change, and how they apply depends on your specific facts. Before acting on any screening, fee, deposit, or fair housing question, consult a licensed attorney in Maryland. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.