Montgomery County Maryland Rental Laws
You will also need to clearly place an information sign in the lobby, vestibule, rental office or any other prominent public place of the property. The sign must indicate how a tenant can file a complaint with the DHCA and must list prohibited retaliatory practices. Your sign must be displayed in the following languages: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=amlegal:montgomeryco_md_mc The landlord-tenant relationship is subject to certain state and county laws. In the landlord-tenant relationship, each party has rights and obligations under the law and the lease. Below you will find the rights of the tenant. Below are links to the laws and regulations that govern the landlord-tenant relationship in Montgomery County, Maryland. The Landlord-Tenant Handbook is an excellent guide to the basic rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. It explains the laws relating to the landlord-tenant relationship and highlights recent legislative changes that have a direct impact on the landlord-tenant relationship.
The Montgomery County Housing Affairs Department website includes information about the eviction process, tenants working with landlords, changes in the application of county housing regulations, and resources. The new website offers interactive maps, a progress report on the two-year increase in DHCA inspections, statistics on the housing code, including details on violations, useful links to information on tenants` rights, and analysis of distressed properties. The Distressed Properties Designation is designed to help DHCA prioritize where to focus its limited resources for housing regulatory inspection among the more than 680 apartment buildings in Montgomery County. these properties contain approximately 73,000 individual rental units. A problematic property is a multi-family rental property that is subject to annual inspections by the DHCA due to the severity and number of housing regulatory violations observed during the last inspection of the property by the DHCA. This applies to all licensed apartment rentals in Montgomery County, including rental units in apartment buildings, houses, townhouses, individual condominiums, and additional housing units. *To view the law/code/regulation, click on the link below and you will be redirected to the American Legal Publishing website. From there, in the left pane, select the law/code/regulation you want to read.
A direct link cannot be created. We apologize for the inconvenience. Landlords who have already informed tenants of a rent increase of more than 2.6% that will take effect after April 24 and during the catastrophic health emergency, or who have notified tenants of a rent increase of more than 2.6% since the emergency began on March 5, must either advise them to ignore this notice, or inform them that the amount of the rental as part of the termination will be an amount that represents an increase not exceeding 2.6%. than 2.6%. Learn more about the COVID-19 Tenant Assistance Act. The DHCA Manual is a guide to the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. You must now provide a copy of the DHCA manual (available here) with each rental agreement, unless the tenant signs a statement rejecting your copy and agreeing to a transfer to a copy, which can be found on the Montgomery County website here. Chapter 26. Housing and Building Maintenance Standards* In addition to a more thorough inspection process, Bill 19-15 includes several other improvements to tenants` rights and protection. These include more clarity and flexibility in leases, expanded options for DHCA to deal with landlords who don`t make prescribed repairs on time, and guarantees of free meeting places to meet and form tenant-friendly organizations. Below are details, additional rights and protections, and resource guides. The Office of Landlord-Tenant Afairs (OLTA) is responsible for informing the public about the general rights and obligations of tenants and landlords and helping to resolve disputes amicably and free of charge without having to go through the procedures of the District Court.
Landlord-Tenant applies Chapter 29, Landlord-Tenant Relationships of the Montgomery County Code, as well as portions of Title 8, Owner-Tenant of Real Estate Article, Maryland Annotated Code, the Maryland State Owner-Tenant Act. Under the leadership of County Executive Marc Elrich, the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) has launched a new interactive website on housing code and an analysis of distressed properties. In the past, if the tenant stayed in the property after the lease expired and became a monthly tenant, you could at any time give the tenant 60 days` notice and terminate the lease. To terminate the lease, you must terminate the 60 days prior to the expiry of the lease with 60 days` notice. The Montgomery County Commission on Landlord Tenant Affairs (the “Commission”) is the Montgomery County Department that investigates the condition of real estate. In addition to other remedies it may grant, the Board may now issue an order to (1) allow a tenant to remedy a deficient condition in the dwelling and (2) pay reduced rent to cover the reasonable cost of repairing the defect. In the past, you only had to offer the tenant a two-year lease for the first period. Now you need to offer your tenant a two-year lease for the first period and upon renewal. To offer a term of less than two years, you must have a reasonable reason and attach a statement of reasonable cause to the lease.
You must also inform the tenant of the right to contest your case by filing a complaint with DHCA. Tenants now have more options to terminate their lease earlier if circumstances beyond their control require a move. New reasons for a tenant to terminate the lease prematurely include: (1) the tenant or the tenant`s child is a victim of domestic violence; (2) the tenant or his spouse is at least 62 years of age, can no longer live under his own responsibility and must move to a nursing home or an apartment for the elderly; (3) the lessee is imprisoned or declared mentally incapable; and (4) the housing provider harasses the tenant or violates the tenant`s privacy. DHCA will continue to add features to this website to provide users with a more interactive experience and tools to demonstrate DHCA`s progress in implementing this important piece of legislation. The COVID-19 Renter Relief Act prohibits Montgomery County landlords from increasing rent for existing tenants by more than 2.6% after April 24 and during the catastrophic COVID-19 health emergency signed by the Maryland governor on March 5, 2020. You must allow tenant organizations to meet free of charge at least once a month in all available meeting rooms on the property. If the tenant organization meets more than once a month, you can charge a reasonable fee for using the space after the first free meeting. . If you operate an apartment building built before July 1, 1978 and the units in the building are not measured individually for gas and/or electricity billing, you must provide each tenant with all the information required by the Maryland Code utility section and COMAR regulations on electricity and gas meters and energy allocation systems.
. * Content is provided in Chinese, English, French, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese. They will be published as soon as they are available. However, if the tenant violates the lease, the 60-day notice period is not required, and you can terminate the lease with 30 days` notice instead. For more information, call 311 or (240) 777-0311, email us at OLTA.Intake@MontgomeryCountyMD.gov or use the following links: You must notify the tenant 90 days in advance if you intend to increase the rent. The landlord must offer each tenant a printed copy of the landlord-tenant manual at the beginning of the tenancy or signing of a lease. If the tenant does not want a printed copy, the landlord can first ask the tenant to make a declaration rejecting a paper copy and agreeing to the transfer of the manual online. We recommend that landlords and tenants always keep a copy for reference. Whether inspections take place every three years or every year, the landlord must notify your tenants 72 hours in advance each time an inspection is scheduled for the property. Our goal is to provide as much information as possible to help you avoid problems and make the landlord-tenant relationship as efficient as possible. To achieve this goal, we have developed this website, which contains a wealth of information that we hope will be both useful and informative.
*DISCLAIMER: All reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this manual. However, if there are inconsistencies between the Manual and applicable laws or regulations, the law and/or regulation will prevail. The information contained in this manual does not constitute legal advice. They are for general information purposes only. .