Termination of Tenancy by Landlord

(Public Local Laws of Baltimore City, Secs. 9-14, 9-17)

FOR LAWS SPECIFIC TO THE STATE OF MARYLAND REFER TO MARYLAND CODE, REAL PROPERTY

Where a tenant's lease is for one year or less and landlord wishes to terminate the tenancy, landlord must give tenant at least 60 days' written notice before the end of the year, month, or week when tenant is to leave.

However, in the following situations a minimum of 30 days' notice before the end of the year, month or week is required unless the lease provides otherwise: 1)  tenant is violating an obligation of the tenancy, such as unreasonably refusing to give landlord access to the premises or failing to comply with sanitation standards set by law; 2) tenant is committing or permitting a nuisance on the premises, or is permitting use of the premises for immoral or illegal purposes or for other than dwelling purposes; 3) tenant's occupancy is seasonal, which is defined as 5 months or less; 4) the dwelling unit is a non-housekeeping furnished room or is a unit without cooking facilities; 5) tenant's lease has expired or otherwise ended.  The occupants are subtenants of the tenant, and tenant himself does not use any part of the premises as his dwelling.

In the following situations the landlord is required to give 60-days' minimum notice unless the lease provides otherwise: 1) landlord-owner seeks in good faith to recover possession of the dwelling so that he or a member of his immediate family (child, including stepchild and adopted child, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother, father, mother-in-law and father-in-law) may live in it;

2) landlord seeks in good faith to demolish the dwelling or make substantial alterations which cannot be done while anyone occupies it, provided the landlord has obtained the necessary official approval for the demolition, remodeling, or alteration; 3) landlord seeks in good faith to substantially remodel the dwelling in order to permanently convert it to a commercial use, or to personally make permanent use of the premises for non-residential purposes, or to withdraw the premises from the rental market altogether, with no intent to sell it as housing.

If landlord does not comply with these requirements for notice to tenant, he will not be entitled to the benefit of the law for recovery of possession.

The notice to quit, whether 30-day or 60 day, must be in writing and served on the tenant or left at his home or business, or served on his agent or servant or any occupant of the premises.  If there is no one living on the premises, then the notice may be served by being placed upon a conspicuous part of the premises.  (P. L. L.. 9-17)

Service of the notice by mail is considered sufficient if the tenant receives it in time.  An option for the landlord is to send the letter by first class mail and get from the post office a "certificate of mailing".  This certificate will be proof of mailing.  The courts generally presume delivery 3 days after mailing.  If the landlord sends the notice by certified mail return receipt and tenant is not home and does not go to the post office to pick up the letter, then it can be questioned that delivery has been made).

Last date legally reviewed: April, 2001 - BNI

Source: Baltimore Neighborhoods (BNI) - See main Landlord Tenant section for more information on BNI.

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