2024 Eviction Process in Maryland: Laws for Landlords & Property Managers

Maryland eviction laws vary depending on your location within the state. Despite that, they all follow the same general eviction process:

• Send a clear written notice
• Fill out the forms
• Serve the tenant
• Attend the trial
• Wait for judgment

Every eviction process is different and dependent on the lease/rental agreement signed by the tenant and the landlord. It is always best to exercise meticulous file-keeping to avoid errors that the tenant could exploit.

This article details a summary for landlords to refer to when evicting a tenant. Confirm procedures with your local justice court to make sure the entire process goes as smoothly as possible.

Download the Landlord’s Guide to Eviction Laws Whitepaper

Get the quintessential guide to eviction laws on the go from DoorLoop’s “Landlord’s Guide” series. 

‍Click here or on the banner above to download the whitepaper and get all our best tips (by the book).

Now, let’s dive in. 

Eviction Reasons

1. Failure to pay rent on time

Rent is usually considered late a day past its due date. A grace period may be available if stated in the lease/rental agreement.

A landlord is not required to give tenants written notice before proceeding with the eviction process for failing to pay rent on time. But if a tenant can pay their overdue rent before they are forcibly evicted, they can stay in the rental property.

2. Violation of the lease/rental agreement

The rental lease agreement has to be upheld by both tenant and landlord for the entire duration of the tenant’s stay. Agreements may vary from tenant to tenant.

If a tenant violates any terms of the lease agreement, the landlord must issue a 60-Day Notice to Quit.

However, if the tenant engages in behavior that is considered dangerous or harmful to anyone within the property, they are given a 14-Day Notice to Quit.

Lease violations may include:

• Damaging rental property
• Conducting illegal activity
• Smoking in non-smoking areas
• Keeping pets in pet-free properties, etc.
• Disturbing the other tenants with loud activity

Landlords are not legally obligated to allow the tenant to resolve the violation before presenting them with the notice to quit.

3. Non-renewal of the lease after the rental period ends

In Maryland, landlords cannot evict tenants or force them to vacate the property without probable cause. As long as the tenant does not violate any rules, they can stay until their rental period ends.

Outlined below is how long of a notice period a landlord should give a tenant, depending on the type of tenancy. These notices include a 7-Day Notice to Quit, a 60-Day Notice to Quit, and a 90-Day Notice to Quit.

If the rental property is located in Baltimore City or Montgomery County, these notice periods are not applicable.

In the case that the tenant is in Montgomery County and has a tenancy that is renewed monthly but is less than a year, they need to receive a 2-Month Notice to Quit.

If the tenant does not vacate the premises after their allotted time, the landlord can continue filing for eviction.

To download your own Maryland lease agreement, visit DoorLoop's Forms Page to quickly download an example lease agreement.

Filing a Complaint

1. How to File a Complaint

The eviction process can only begin after the issuance of the Notice to Vacate. The landlord must have allowed enough time to pass before filing for eviction.

The eviction process is as follows:

1. Proceed to the justice court the rental property belongs to
2. File a complaint
3. Pay the fees

Filing fees may cost the landlord about $15 if the eviction is about failure to pay rent and $46 for other types of evictions. This excludes the city of Baltimore.

If the rental property is in Baltimore, the filing fees are $25 and $46, respectively.

2. Timeline

It takes about 5 to 60 days from the issuance of the Notice to Quit, depending on the reason for eviction and the lease agreement.

<table style="width:100%"><tr><th>Reason for Eviction</th><th>Timeline</th></tr><tr><td>Failure to Pay Rent</td><td>4 days</td></tr><tr><td>Lease-Related (Violation, Hold-over, Non-Renewal)</td><td>10 days</td></tr></table>

Notice to Comply

Before filing for an eviction with the court, you need to issue the tenant a notice to comply. You can either download the free Word template, or create your Maryland eviction notice from here using a step-by-step wizard that guides you through the entire process to make sure you are submitting the legally correct notice.

Keep in mind, the step-by-step wizard will ask you to pay a small fee at the end - it's a small price to pay to ensure legal compliance and protection. The last thing you want is to go to court only to find out you did the first process incorrect.

Serving the Tenant

1. How to Serve a Tenant

The sheriff or constable is tasked with serving the Summons and Complaint to the tenant. There are several methods to accomplish this:

• Personal Service: The sheriff/constable delivers the Summons and Complaint to the tenant in person
• Posting and Mailing: The sheriff/constable leaves a copy of the documents for the tenant. It is placed in a secure and visible position by the entrance of the tenant’s rented property. When using this method, a copy must be mailed via first-class mail.

Giving a copy to the tenant is not required unless the landlord is filing to evict them for failure to pay rent or pay for damages made to the rental property.

Landlords are not allowed to serve the tenant themselves.

2. After Serving the Summons and Complaint

An eviction hearing happens at least 5-15 days after the sheriff/constable was able to serve the documents to the tenant.

If the tenant is being evicted for failing to pay rent, they have to send a formal written reply to the court.

3. Timeline

There is no clear indication of when the documents have to be served to the tenant in Maryland.

Below is the outlined length of time for tenants to appeal after being served the documents:

For a complete overview of Maryland's landlord-tenant laws, visit DoorLoop's Complete Guide to Maryland Landlord-Tenant Laws.

<table style="width:100%"><tr><th>Lease Agreement or Type of Tenancy</th><th>Notice to Receive</th></tr><tr><td>Weekly</td><td>7-Day Notice to Quit</td></tr><tr><td>Monthly</td><td>60-Day Notice to Quit</td></tr><tr><td>Yearly</td><td>90-Day Notice to Quit</td></tr></table>

Asking for Possession

1. Filing a Motion to Obtain Judgement and get a Judgement for Possession

The landlord has to provide a strong argument backed up by solid evidence against the tenant. If the tenant does not show up to the hearing, the landlord wins by default.

2. Next procedure if the tenant disagreed and replied

In the state of Maryland, a reply from the tenant is not necessary for a court date to be scheduled.

If a tenant disagrees with the Summons and Complaint and wishes to appeal the complaint, they have to file a written answer to the court.

During the hearing, the responsibility of proving the eviction valid falls on the landlord. The landlord needs to support the claim with evidence.

This could include, but is not limited to the following:

• Copy of the deed and lease
• Rent receipts and ledgers
• Bank statements
• Witnesses
• Photo and video documentation of the violations, correspondence, etc.

3. Timeline

The scheduling of the eviction hearing depends on the type of eviction being pursued by the landlord. It is outlined below:

Getting Possession

1. After the landlord wins the case

Provided that the tenant does not appeal for reconsideration, a Writ of Restitution is issued no more than 4 days after the judgment is received.

The landlord can request for the Writ of Restitution to be issued on the day the court issues judgment in their favor.

2. Move out process

The Writ of Restitution informs the tenant that they have a maximum of 60 days from the moment it is issued to vacate the premises with their belongings. This does not apply to evictions done because of failure to pay rent.

If the tenant is being evicted due to failure to pay rent, they can get a stay of execution. But only if the judicial officer thinks moving out could be unsafe.

Just because a tenant has 60 days to move out does not mean they can be given that length of time to vacate the property. It will depend on the availability of the sheriff or constable.

If the date they are scheduled to be evicted is on a Sunday or a National Holiday, it has to be rescheduled.

In case the tenant leaves behind any belongings, it is the landlord’s responsibility to get rid of them. If the rental property is located in Baltimore city, then the landlord can dispose of it legally—to the landfill or donating it to charity.

For any other properties not within Baltimore city, landlords are advised to contact the tenant and give them a reasonable timeframe to claim them. After the timeframe has passed, the landlord is allowed to sell or dispose of the tenant’s property.

Even if the landlord wins the case, they are not allowed to engage in illegal eviction methods.

3. Timeline

The tenants have a maximum of 60 days upon the issuance of the Writ of Restitution to move out of the property. It is not guaranteed that they will be given the full 60 days.

Maryland Eviction Timeline

Below is the average timeline for a complete eviction process. This timeline does not include special cases such as a request for an appeal or delays in the issuance of a Writ of Restitution

On average, it would take anywhere between 32 days – 5 months for a complete eviction process.

<table style="width:100%"><tr><th>Notice Received by Tenants</th><th>Average Timeline</th><th>Important Things to Remembe</th></tr><tr><td>Issuing an Official Notice</td><td>7 – 90 days </td><td>Give your tenant a written Notice to Vacate prior to the eviction process. </td></tr><tr><td>Issuance and Serving of Rule for Possession</td><td>A few days</td><td>Make sure no mistakes were made in the filing process.</td></tr><tr><td>Court Hearing and Judgment</td><td>At least 5 days</td><td>If you win the case, the judge will give you a Judgment of Possession. </td></tr><tr><td>Issuance of Writ of Restitution</td><td>A few hours to a 4 days</td><td>You can ask for it right after the Judgment of Possession</td></tr><tr><td>Return of Rental Property</td><td>19 – 60 days </td><td>You are not allowed to be the one to evict the tenant by force. Leave that job to the authorized officials. </td></tr></table>

Showing Evidence

1. How to keep good records

If the tenant disagrees with the eviction request and they reply to the court, it’s important that you keep extremely good records of everything so you can provide proof to the judge and win your case. This is essential to your case and may be the reason the judge rules in your favor.

You can stay organized by:

• Keeping a physical paper trail - This gets VERY hard to search through, takes up a lot of storage space, and could get lost, damaged, stolen, or burnt in a fire.
• Scanning documents - Scan every document into your computer. A great scanner is the Brother ADS-1700W for under $200 or the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 for $400.
• Backups - Store and backup every file using Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or any other option that is easily searchable.
• PMS - Use a property management software to save everything from lease agreements, signed documents, violations, emails, notes, invoices, payments, reminders, maintenance requests, pictures, videos, and anything you can imagine. This is used best when you also scan every document into your software.

2. Evidence to show for not paying rent

If the tenant doesn’t pay rent, and they dispute that claim, it’s important that you show the judge the following:

• Your lease agreement - Showing the terms of the agreement, when rent is due, and any penalties for late payment.
• All payments - Showing all previous payments, how they were normally made (check, credit card, ACH, etc…), and what date they were normally paid on.
• Any payment returns - If their check bounced, their bank account had insufficient funds, or they did a chargeback dispute on their credit card, show this to the Judge. Also, show any fees your bank may have charged you, and any penalties you are owed according to your lease agreement.
• All messages - If you sent your tenant automated or manual payment reminders by text, email, a letter, or mail, it’s important to show this. While it’s usually not needed, it is always good to be able to prove that you let the tenant know of any violations and that they were given ample time to resolve the situation. This is why it’s always best to have everything in writing instead of any phone calls or face-to-face meetings.

3. Evidence to show for lease violations

If you are evicting the tenant for lease violations, for example, noise complaints, unauthorized pets, or property damages, it’s important to show proof from any of the following methods:

• Security Cameras - If you have a surveillance system that can show them committing the crime or lease violation, it’s safe to say you will normally win this dispute.
• Video - If you didn’t catch them in the act, the next best thing is to record a video with your phone of any damages or the lease violation.
• Pictures - They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, a picture could be worth thousands of dollars! Even if you take a video, it’s important to show the Judge any pictures too as it’s usually easier to see by email or printed.
• Lease Terms - Once again, show the court which term they violated in their lease agreement. Don’t worry if you don’t have every single term spelled out in your rental agreement. If the violation is bad enough, it might not be needed to have it written. As a good practice though, start adding all of the potential reasons to evict a tenant into your agreement.