Requesting Repairs in Maryland Rentals

To request a repair in Maryland, send your landlord a written list of the problems by certified mail, or get a code inspector's violation notice, and let the landlord in to do the work. The landlord then has a reasonable time to make the repair, and more than 30 days after receiving notice is presumed unreasonable. If a defect that threatens health or safety is still there, Real Property section 8-211 lets you file a rent escrow case in District Court and pay your rent to the court while a judge decides whether to order repairs, cut the rent, or end the lease. For 6 months after a good-faith complaint, a landlord may not evict you, raise your rent, or cut services to punish it, as long as you are current on rent or paying it under the escrow law.

Step 1: Give notice in a form the law recognizes

The escrow law accepts three kinds of notice:

1. A certified-mail letter listing every condition you want fixed.
2. Proof the landlord actually knew, such as a text in which the property manager acknowledges the leak.
3. A written violation, condemnation, or other notice about the condition from a state, county, or local government agency.

Certified mail gives you a delivery record. List each problem and where it is, the date it started, and the days and times a repair worker can come in. Keep the mailing receipt and the delivery record, because the 30-day presumption runs from the day the landlord received the notice. Our guide to reporting maintenance issues covers how to word the request.

Plan for access. Under Real Property section 8-221, when you report a housing code violation, you must give the landlord access within 24 hours after you notify the landlord. For non-emergency entry, the landlord must give you written notice at least 24 hours ahead, stating the date, approximate time, and purpose, and may come in only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, unless you agree in writing to another time. Refusing reasonable entry gives the landlord a defense to an escrow case.

Mold has its own deadlines. Under Real Property section 8-220, once a landlord gets written notice of mold from you or from the local code agency, it must have the mold assessed within 15 days. If the assessment finds mold, the landlord must remediate it within 45 days after the assessment, or within a reasonable time if 45 days is not feasible.

Step 2: Allow a reasonable time, and check that the problem qualifies

A judge decides what was reasonable based on how severe and dangerous the condition is, and any period longer than 30 days after the landlord received notice is presumed unreasonable. A dangerous condition, such as a heat outage in winter, can call for a much shorter repair time. A city or county housing inspector may also set a shorter deadline, and the Maryland Judiciary says the court may treat the inspector's deadline as the reasonable one. How long your landlord has to make repairs compares Maryland with other states.

Rent escrow reaches only serious defects. The statute names these examples:

• No heat, light, electricity, or hot or cold running water, unless the utility was cut off because you did not pay a bill that was yours to pay
• Inadequate sewage disposal
• Rodents in two or more units
• A structural defect that seriously threatens your physical safety
• Any other condition that is a fire or health hazard in the unit

The Maryland Judiciary adds mold, bedbugs, and lead paint as examples that may qualify. Cosmetic problems, such as a lack of fresh paint or carpet, small cracks, floors missing tile but otherwise sound, and no air conditioning, are presumed not to qualify unless they seriously threaten health or safety. Code violations that are not dangerous are excluded. Your right to habitable housing in Maryland covers the full standard and the separate warranty-of-habitability lawsuit, which does not require paying rent into court.

Step 3: Call your local code enforcement office

An inspection does two jobs: a written violation notice counts as notice to the landlord under the escrow law, and the inspector's findings are evidence at a hearing. The Maryland Judiciary suggests asking a lawyer how to get the inspector to testify.

• Baltimore City: Dial 311, or 443-263-2220 from outside the city, or use the online 311 portal. A housing inspector's notice sets a deadline to fix the violation, which the Building Official may extend. An owner who does not comply can be summoned to Housing Court.
• Montgomery County: Call 311, or 240-777-0311, to reach Housing Code Enforcement in the Department of Housing and Community Affairs. You can file anonymously.
• Other counties and cities: Call the county or city office that enforces the local housing or property maintenance code, and ask for a copy of any violation notice it issues.

Step 4: File a rent escrow case

1. Fill out a Complaint for Rent Escrow (form DC-CV-083) and file it at the District Court for the county where the rental is located.
2. Pay the fees. The District Court's March 2026 cost schedule lists $46 to file, plus $60 for each landlord served by a sheriff or constable.
3. The court sets a hearing date. The landlord, or its resident agent (the person a company designates to accept legal papers), must be served with the court papers, either in person or by certified restricted mail with a signed return receipt.
4. Pay your rent into the escrow account as it comes due. Depending on the county, the clerk may collect the first payment at filing or wait until the judge opens the account at the hearing.
5. At the hearing, bring your notice and proof of delivery, photos, any inspection report, and receipts for costs the condition caused, such as a space heater bought during a heat outage.

On a monthly lease, escrow is not available if the court entered three judgments of possession (orders returning the unit to the landlord) against you for unpaid rent in the 12 months before the case. Several tenants can join one case. You can also stop paying the landlord and raise the defects when the landlord sues for rent, but relief still depends on paying the rent into court, and either side can ask the judge to postpone the trial to gather evidence about the conditions. The landlord can defeat an escrow claim or defense by proving that you, your family, or your guests caused the condition, even if you pay rent into court.

Baltimore City's local escrow law adds protections. The first hearing must take place within 15 calendar days after the court posts notice of it, and sooner when emergency conditions, such as a heat failure in winter, are alleged. Its limit on past rent judgments is looser: escrow is blocked only after more than five judgments for unpaid rent in the prior year, or three if you have lived in the unit for 6 months or less. If the court finds you are entitled to relief, the landlord must show why your rent should not be reduced. For six months after the court rules on the merits, the landlord cannot raise your rent, evict you, or cut required services, unless the court finds that you did not act in good faith or that the landlord has good cause.

The Maryland Court Help Center gives tenants free legal advice, though not representation, at 410-260-1392. See how rent escrow works for how Maryland's process compares with other states.

What can the judge order?

When the judge orders repairs and escrow is in place, the court usually sets a follow-up hearing to check on them. If the landlord has not made the repairs within 90 days after the court finds the conditions exist, you can also ask the District Court for an injunction, an order requiring the landlord to make the repairs. If you win any relief, the court can make the landlord pay your reasonable attorney's fees, costs, and litigation expenses. A tenant whose case the court finds was brought in bad faith or without substantial justification can be ordered to pay the landlord's. If you stop making escrow payments, the court can release the money to the landlord.

Protection from retaliation

Real Property section 8-208.1 bars a landlord from bringing or threatening an eviction case, arbitrarily raising your rent or cutting your services, or ending a month-to-month or other periodic tenancy because you:

• gave the landlord or a public agency written or actual notice of a good-faith complaint about a lease violation, a violation of law, or a condition that substantially threatens health or safety
• filed a lawsuit against the landlord, or testified or took part in one involving the landlord
• took part in a tenants' organization
• called, or someone else called, police or emergency services to the property

The protection has three limits. You must be current on rent when the landlord acts, unless you are withholding it under your lease, the escrow law, or a comparable local law. A landlord action taken more than 6 months after your complaint does not count as retaliation under this law. And a landlord can still end or decline to renew a tenancy for a reason that is not retaliatory.

You can raise retaliation as a defense to an eviction case or sue for damages. A court can award up to 3 months' rent plus reasonable attorney's fees and court costs, and a tenant whose claim the court finds was made in bad faith or without substantial justification can owe the landlord the same. Retaliation protections for tenants compares Maryland's rule with those of other states.