Renters and landlords in Maryland have a whole new set of laws to understand and implement each year Here is a summary of the changes in Maryland effective as of October 1, 2025.
RENTERS’ RIGHTS AND STABILIZATION ACT (HB 693)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
General
Q: When does the Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act (RRSA) go into effect?
A: The provisions of the RRSA that directly affect renters and landlords go into effect on October 1, 2024.
Some provisions involving collection of data on eviction filings in District Court go into effect on October
1, 2025.
Q: What does the RRSA do?
A: The Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act creates a number of additional protections and rights for
residential tenants in Maryland, including:
- Capping the maximum allowable security deposit at one month’s rent for most Maryland renters. This has the effect of eliminating pet deposits in most circumstances. Renters and landlords need to adjust the security deposit if the landlord is holding more than one month’s rent.
- Increasing Maryland’s lowest-in-the-nation eviction filing fees to bring them closer to the
regional average; - Prohibiting landlords from passing eviction filing fees on to tenants, in most cases;
- Creating the Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs within the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development;
- Requiring the new Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs to publish annually a Maryland Tenants’ Bill of Rights, summarizing existing rights and protections enjoyed by residential tenants, to be included as an addendum to every residential lease in Maryland;
- Establishing a tenant right to purchase/right of first refusal for 1-, 2- and 3-unit residential rental properties;
- Lengthening the amount of time that must pass between a judgment in favor of a landlord in an eviction case and execution of the eviction; and
- Prohibiting execution of evictions during extreme weather conditions.
Other actions by the State of Maryland Legislature include the following:
- HB273: Impacts renters and landlords because it alters a prohibition concerning the maximum penalty for the late payment of rent that a landlord may charge in a residential lease to prohibit a penalty in excess of 5% of the amount of the unpaid rent rather than of the amount due.
- HB767: Requires a landlord to provide certain notice to a tenant when a court has issued a warrant of restitution for a failure of a tenant to pay rent, a breach of lease, or a tenant holding over under certain circumstances and establishes procedures and requirements for the execution of a warrant for repossession.
- HB785: Prohibits documents of certain cooperative housing corporations from prohibiting or restricting the establishment or operation of certain family child care homes and prohibiting documents of certain cooperative housing corporations from limiting the number of children for which certain family child care homes provide family child care below the number authorized by the State Department of Education
- HB1076: Requires a landlord to provide a tenant with written notice in a certain manner at least 24 hours in advance of when the landlord intends to enter a leased premises, except in the event of an emergency.
- HB1367: Establishes a civil penalty of up to $50,000 for a person who falsifies information that is submitted in a report of the results of lead-contaminated dust testing or visual inspection of an affected property.
- HB872/SB606: Clarifies that the circumstances under which liability for the failure to comply with certain requirements relating to a tenant’s right of first refusal to purchase residential property is restricted to the owner of the property and does not attach to the property.
- SB46: Requires a hearing to be held not more than 10 business days after a wrongful detainer complaint is filed and alters requirements relating to service of process in a wrongful detainer action.
Property Law
- HB124/SB160: Authorizes a seller or assignee of residential property to rescind a contract of sale without penalty at any time before closing if a certain seller does not provide a notice that they hold an equitable interest in the property and may not be able to convey property and establishes that an assignee is entitled to a refund of any deposit paid in connection with the assignment of a contract of sale of the residential property if the seller does not provide such notice.
- HB347: Alters certain provisions related to the filing, maintenance, and transmittal of land records, and defines a “land record” as any document recorded by a clerk of the circuit court relating to property.
- HB755/SB540: Prohibits a cooperative housing corporation, condominium association, or homeowners association from requiring certain sensitive information of certain individuals as a condition for access to a recreational common area. It defines “sensitive information” as an individual’s Social Security card or Social Security number, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, birth certificate, racial or ethnic origin, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, religious or philosophical beliefs, or medical records.
- HB796/SB566: Increases the filing fee that must accompany an order to docket or a complaint to foreclose on a residential mortgage or deed of trust from $300 to $450.
- HB1018/SB689: Requires banking institutions, credit unions, mortgage lenders, mortgage lending businesses, and mortgage loan originators to include a provision in certain conventional home mortgage loans authorizing a borrower to purchase the property interest of another borrower in connection with a decree of absolute divorce if the lending entity determines that the assuming borrower qualifies for the loan.