Maryland Rent Control Laws (2024)

Whether you’re a new landlord or have dozens of properties under your control, it’s important to be fully aware of the laws and regulations in your state and local jurisdiction. Of all the laws and statutes relating to renting out property, understanding rent control and the laws around rent increases is one of the most important things to know for any landlord.

Read on for everything you need to know about Maryland rent control laws.

Key Takeaways

• Local jurisdictions govern rent control in Maryland. Both Montgomery County and Takoma Park, MD, have rent stabilization laws that tie rent increases in Maryland to around the level of inflation.
• Landlords can begin evicting tenants in specific cases, including non-payment of rent, withholding rent, holding over, and breach of lease. In nearly all of these cases, tenants can stop the eviction process before they’re removed from the home if they remedy the breach or pay the rent owed to the landlord.
• Rent increases in Maryland are highly dependent on the county a landlord wants to increase them in, but all rent increases must be communicated to the tenant in writing by a period dependent on the length of the lease.
  • Seven days’ notice for a week-to-week written lease.
  • 21 days’ notice for a week-to-week oral lease.
  • 60 days’ notice for a month-to-month written lease.
  • 90 days’ notice for a one-year lease.
• TurboTenant has a number of resources to help landlords and tenants communicate in healthy ways and stay up-to-date on Maryland Landlord-Tenant laws.

Maryland Rent Control Laws: An Overview

As of this writing, there are no state laws regulating rent control. While many states have various versions of rent control or rent stabilization laws, Maryland largely leaves this matter up to local communities to make those determinations. Only a few have enacted any regulation of this kind, though Maryland’s most-populated county, Montgomery, has rent control on the books.

Maryland doesn’t go quite as far as Florida, for example, which outlaws any sort of regulation on rent control statewide. Instead, Maryland has opted for a more community-specific approach.

In addition to Montgomery County, Takoma Park, MD, established guidelines and restrictions on how much a landlord can raise rents. In the next section, we’ll review the specifics of these laws and how they impact you and your tenants.

Maryland Rent Increase Laws

As stated previously, most localities in Maryland do not restrict landlords’ ability to raise rent once a lease expires. However, two areas of the state have recently enacted rent stabilization methods to keep the cost of housing affordable for more tenants.

In July 2023, Montgomery County passed Bill No. 15-23 after a lengthy debate. This bill is scheduled to go into effect on August 1, 2024, unless the state or local legislature makes a last-minute stoppage. This was one of many bills being considered, and many were ultimately consolidated into this measure.

Bill No. 15-23 outlines the amount that a landlord can increase rent per year and restricts it to a specific limit. Any rent increase not approved by a special consideration is limited to 3% plus inflation, with a maximum cap of 6%. Additionally, landlords must provide tenants with a minimum 90-day notice before raising rents, regardless of the lease term.

The bill does carve out a window for certain situations that require a landlord to appeal directly to the Director of the Development of Housing and Community Affairs in Montgomery County in situations where an increase of rent is necessary to obtain a “fair return” on the unit. A “fair return” is only defined as an increase that would sufficiently offset operating expenses. The exact measure of how and when that could be applied is at the discretion of the Director.

Capital Improvements and Other Considerations

The bill also allows for a surcharge to account for capital improvements on a rental property after the capital improvements are complete. If the improvements affect all units contained within a property, the increase must be prorated across all units that the improvements affect for no more than 96 months and cannot exceed 20% of the base rent.

If the capital improvements affect less than all units, the increase must be spread evenly across the affected units for less than 60 months and cannot exceed 15% of the base rent. These improvements must also be depreciable, and the Director must approve all such surcharges.

Additionally, Takoma Park, MD, has also enacted a rent control ordinance that caps rent increases at 3.7%. Like Montgomery County, special consideration can be granted to a landlord “in situations where the net operating income generated by the rental facility has not been maintained due to escalating operating expenses.”

If you’re not located in one of these areas, landlords still must provide written notice to tenants before raising the rent; the exact timeframe of the notification varies depending on the length of the lease.

• Seven days’ notice for a week-to-week written lease.
• 21 days’ notice for a week-to-week oral lease.
• 60 days’ notice for a month-to-month written lease.
• 90 days’ notice for a one-year lease.

Just Cause for Eviction in Maryland

Like many states, Maryland has specific cases in which a landlord can evict a tenant. Eviction isn’t as simple as a landlord deciding that they’d rather have a new tenant in a unit. Instead, an eviction process can be started when one or more of the following situations occur:

• Non-payment of rent: According to state law, a landlord can begin the eviction process as soon as the due date has passed and rent has not been paid. In most cases, eviction can be stopped by paying the rent due as soon as possible and before the eviction has occurred.
• Withholding rent: This could occur if a tenant has requested repairs that haven’t been completed and chooses to withhold a rent payment until that repair occurs. The proper process in this situation is to file a rent escrow complaint in District Court and follow the direction of a judge.
• Holdover tenants: If a tenant does not move out when the lease has ended, a landlord can use proof of proper notice (at least one month’s advance written notice) that the lease is ending to secure an eviction.
• Breach of lease: If a tenant breaks a portion of the lease, a landlord can provide one month’s advance written notice of the violation (or 14 days if the breach presents a “clear and imminent danger”). The landlord must prove the tenant breached the lease to a judge.
• Maryland Legal Aid offers free legal services to people with limited incomes in the case of an eviction process.

Navigating Rent Control Laws with TurboTenant

TurboTenant is an incredibly valuable resource for understanding and navigating Maryland rent increase laws.

To ensure you find the most qualified tenants, start with a Maryland rental application. TurboTenant uses this application to run a comprehensive background check on potential renters, including credit checks, criminal background checks, and eviction histories.

Knowledge is power; the more you know about a potential tenant, the more peace of mind you have when someone moves into your unit. By using a lawyer-reviewed Maryland lease, landlords can be secure in the knowledge that all applicable laws are followed and accounted for.

Property management can be tricky, but landlords have found that their business runs more smoothly using fully functional rental management software like TurboTenant. For example, when it comes time to collect rent, TurboTenant’s online rent collection feature enables landlords to eliminate time-consuming in-person cash exchanges or lengthy waits by the mailbox hoping for a check to arrive.

Sign up for a free account today and see for yourself.