New Maryland Landlord-Tenant Law Effective October 1, 2023
Rental License Needed for ALL Eviction Cases
Pursuant to Senate Bill 100, effective October 1, 2023, if a county or municipality requires a rental license, a landlord MUST have a rental license to file any of the following actions:
• Failure to Pay Rent
• Tenant Holding Over
• Breach of Lease.
If a landlord does not have the required license, the landlord cannot seek eviction of a tenant. The only exceptions are:
(1) the landlord is not licensed because of a wrongful act of the tenant (regardless of intention), that caused the licensing authority to suspend, revoke, or refuse to grant or renew the rental licenses.
(2) the landlord is not licensed because of an administrative error or omission by the local licensing authority that caused the licensing authority to suspend, revoke, or refuse to grant or renew the rental license.
(3) the unit is part of a multi-unit property where there is one license for multiple units, and the entire multi-unit property is unlicensed because of a condition affecting another unit (and not the unit at issue).
This new law will require landlords to provide proof of licensure in every case it files, including Failure to Pay Rent actions pursuant to Section 8-401 of the Real Property Article, Tenant Holding Over actions pursuant to Section 8-402 of the Real Property Article, and Breach of Lease actions pursuant to Section 8-402.1 of the Real Property Article.
Previously, a landlord was only prohibited from filing a Failure to Pay Rent Complaint if it did not have a rental license. Pursuant to this new law, a landlord will not be able to take ANY action to evict a tenant if it does not have a rental license. This new law will affect landlords in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, and Prince George’s County, among others.
It is important to be aware of the rental licensing requirements in the county and local jurisdiction where a rental property is located. If you need assistance with licensing for a rental property and/or initiating a case in court, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone or e-mail:
Avery Barton Strachan, Esq.
astrachan@silvermanthompson.com
(410) 385-9113
www.silvermanthompson.com/avery-strachan.html
Kerri L. Smith, Esq.
ksmith@silvermanthompson.com
(410) 385-9106
www.silvermanthompson.com/kerri-smith.html
Disclaimer: Local, State and Federal laws, orders, rules and regulations may be modified and updated at any time and without notice. Likewise, orders of the Court and communications regarding Landlord-Tenant actions are also being continuously added, amended and updated. That said, the information provided is based on our current understanding of the laws, orders, rules and regulations that are currently in effect. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you seek legal counsel before initiating any sort of Landlord-Tenant action to ensure that you are acting in compliance with all aspects of any local, Maryland and Federal laws, orders, rules and regulations in effect at that time, as well as all orders of the Court.