Your Security Deposit Rights in Maryland

Maryland limits a security deposit to one month's rent on leases signed on or after October 1, 2024, and your landlord must return it with interest, minus any deductions it lists in writing, within 45 days after your tenancy ends (Real Property section 8-203). The landlord must also give you a written receipt that explains your rights, keep the money in a Maryland bank account, and let you attend the move-out inspection if you ask by certified mail. If the landlord keeps any part of the deposit without a reasonable basis, a court can award you up to three times the amount withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees.

How much can a Maryland landlord charge?

The limit is one month's rent per unit, however many tenants share it. It covers any payment that protects the landlord against unpaid rent or damage, including prepaid last month's rent and a refundable pet deposit. A landlord also cannot charge an extra deposit for an assistance animal, according to the Maryland Tenants' Bill of Rights, a summary the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) publishes and landlords must attach to every lease.

Up to two months' rent is still allowed in two cases:

• Older leases. You signed your lease before October 1, 2024.
• Utility assistance. You qualify for utility assistance through the Department of Human Services, your lease requires you to pay your utility bills to the landlord, and you and the landlord agree in writing to the larger deposit.

A lease cannot require you to pay more than the deposit plus the first month's rent before you move in (Real Property section 8-208). The Bill of Rights says you may volunteer a larger deposit to strengthen an application, but the landlord cannot ask for one, suggest one, or turn you down to get one.

If a landlord charged more than the limit, you can recover up to three times the excess plus reasonable attorney's fees, by suing at any time during the tenancy or within 2 years after it ends. Example: on a lease signed in 2025 with $1,700 monthly rent, the landlord required a $2,700 deposit. The excess is $2,700 minus $1,700, or $1,000, so you can claim up to 3 times $1,000, or $3,000. How much a landlord can charge for a deposit compares Maryland's limit with other states.

What must your receipt say, and where is the money kept?

Maryland requires a written receipt for the deposit, included in a written lease, and section 8-203.1 sets what it must explain: your right to inspections at move-in and move-out, the landlord's duty to mail you an itemized list of charges and any refund within 45 days after the tenancy ends, and the penalty for breaking the deposit law. A landlord that gives no written receipt owes you $25, and it must keep a copy of the receipt for 2 years after your tenancy ends.

Within 30 days after receiving your deposit, the landlord must put it in an interest-bearing account used only for security deposits, at a Maryland branch of a federally insured financial institution, or hold it in insured certificates of deposit or U.S. or Maryland government securities. The landlord's creditors cannot claim it. If the property is sold, the new owner becomes liable for returning it with interest, and the old landlord stays liable for any part it did not hand over. No lease clause can waive these rules. Security deposit receipts explains what records to keep with yours.

How do the move-in and move-out inspections work?

1. At move-in. Within 15 days after you move in, send the landlord a certified letter asking it to inspect the unit with you present. The landlord then makes a written list of the damage that already exists; keep it with your lease and your own dated photos.
2. Before move-out. At least 15 days before your moving date, send a certified letter that says you intend to move, gives the moving date, and lists your new address.
3. The landlord schedules it. After your letter arrives, the landlord must tell you the inspection's date and time by certified mail. The inspection must take place within 5 days before or after the moving date in your letter.
4. Attend and document. Walk through with the landlord, write down each problem it points out, and photograph every room.

The landlord must tell you about the move-out inspection right in writing when you pay the deposit. A landlord that does not follow these inspection and notice rules forfeits the right to withhold any part of the deposit for damages.

How does interest on a Maryland deposit work?

Your deposit earns simple interest (interest on the deposit alone, never on earlier interest) at the greater of 1.5% a year or the 1-year U.S. Treasury yield on the first business day of each year. Treasury's January 2 figures put that rate at 4.17% for 2025 and 3.47% for 2026. DHCD applies 3% a year to leases that began before January 1, 2015.

• Interest builds monthly from the day you paid the deposit.
• None is owed unless the landlord held the deposit for at least 6 months, and none is owed for a final partial month.
• A deposit under $50 earns no interest.
• The landlord pays the interest when it returns the deposit, within 45 days after the tenancy ends. Interest builds on the whole deposit, and any lawful deductions come out of the total.

Example: you paid a $1,700 deposit on August 1, 2025, and moved out after 12 full months. The 5 months from August through December 2025 earn 4.17%: $1,700 x 4.17% x 5/12 = $29.54. The 7 months from January through July 2026 earn 3.47%: $1,700 x 3.47% x 7/12 = $34.41. Interest totals about $63.95, so with no deductions the landlord owes you about $1,763.95. DHCD's online Rental Security Deposit Calculator figures the amount by day, and the law lets a landlord rely on it. Security deposit interest requirements covers interest rules in other states.

What must the landlord send within 45 days?

Within 45 days after the tenancy ends, the landlord must send by first-class mail to your last known address:

• The deposit plus interest, minus any lawful deductions.
• If it keeps anything, a written list of the charges it claims, such as unpaid rent or damage, and an itemized statement of the costs, with documents, such as invoices, that identify the materials or services.

The landlord can deduct unpaid rent, damage caused by breaking the lease, and damage beyond ordinary wear and tear caused by you, your family, or your guests to the unit, common areas, major appliances, or furnishings. The Bill of Rights also lists unpaid utility bills and costs from an eviction judgment. If you break the lease, the landlord can keep only what it actually lost, and rent it collects from a new tenant during the rest of your term reduces what you owe.

The landlord may base the statement on a repair estimate. It must then notify you in writing when the repairs are done, include a copy of the final invoice, and refund any amount above the actual cost within 30 days after finishing the work. A landlord that sends no itemized list within 45 days forfeits the right to withhold any part of the deposit for the charges the list must cover.

If you were evicted for breaking the lease, or moved out and abandoned the unit before the tenancy ended, the automatic 45-day refund rule does not apply to you. Send the landlord a written demand by first-class mail within 45 days after leaving, with your new address. The landlord then has 45 days from receiving it to send the list and refund the balance with interest. Security deposit return timelines compares Maryland's 45 days with other states' deadlines.

What can you do if the landlord keeps your deposit?

1. Count 45 days from the end of your tenancy, and note whether a refund, an itemized list, and supporting documents arrived.
2. Write a demand letter. Cite Real Property section 8-203, state the deposit and interest you are owed, list each charge you dispute and why, and set a payment date, such as 10 days out. Send it by certified mail and keep the receipt.
3. File in District Court in a county where the landlord lives or carries on a regular business. A claim of $5,000 or less, not counting interest, court costs, and attorney's fees, is a small claim.
4. Bring your evidence: the lease and receipt, certified mail receipts for your inspection letters, photos, and anything the landlord sent you.

Example: from a $1,700 deposit, the landlord kept $1,200 and mailed no itemized list. Without the list, it forfeited the right to withhold any of the deposit for damages, so you can claim the $1,200 plus interest. If the judge finds the landlord had no reasonable basis for keeping it, the award can reach 3 times $1,200, or $3,600, plus reasonable attorney's fees.

Your lease rights in Maryland covers what else your lease must include. For deposit rules in other states, see the overview of state security deposit laws.