Prepared by
Legal Aid Bureau, Inc., Maryland
(410) 539-5340
(800) 999-8904
TTY (800) 458-5340
www.mdlab.org 

© 2001, Revised 1/2001

CONTENTS

This guide is designed to familiarize you as a tenant with the Rent Escrow law for the State of Maryland. It is intended to inform you of your right to live in property that is not a threat to your life, health or safety. It encourages you to exercise that right! Furthermore, it will equip you to represent yourself in court whenever your landlord refuses to make necessary repairs in your home.

This guide can offer no assurance that your rights will always be respected or that you will win your case in court. Its principle purpose is to inform and educate individuals about the rent escrow law and the process necessary to use that law.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO LIVE IN PROPERTY THAT IS NOT A THREAT TO YOUR LIFE, HEALTH OR SAFETY!

Remember: The law often changes. Each case is different. This booklet is meant to give you general information and not to give you specific legal advice.

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In 1975, the Maryland legislature enacted a statewide rent escrow law.  The purpose of the law was and is to provide tenants with a way to encourage the repair of serious and dangerous defects which, too often, exist in residential dwelling units leased in Maryland. The law does not apply to farm tenancies or commercial properties.

This manual presents a detailed step-by-step approach to the use of the rent escrow law. With the aid of this guide, you should be able to use the rent escrow law on your own in a court of law.

This guide addresses only one area of tenants’ rights. If you have other questions about your rights as a tenant, we encourage you to contact the Legal Aid Bureau or another attorney. 

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Inspect every part of your house to determine what repairs you think should be made. See a sample checklist you may use to inspect your home. (Use your browser's "Print" button or select "Print" on the File Menu to print a copy of this checklist that you can use for your case.)

Directions for use of the sample checklist:

1. Place the words "yes" or "no" or any other descriptive word in the appropriate blank to indicate whether a defect exists. Explain any problem to the best of your ability in the comment section of the checklist or on another sheet of paper.
2. Place N/A (not applicable) if the item does not apply to your rental unit.

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List all of the conditions that need to be repaired in a letter to your landlord. See this sample letter is provided below:

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Make at least three (3) copies of the letter. Send one copy to your landlord by certified mail, return receipt requested (this may be done at your local post office). Send another copy to your landlord by regular first class mail. Keep one copy for your own records. Take pictures of conditions which you believe will help the judge realize the extent of the dangerous conditions. Keep the green receipt that you receive in the mail. (See sample of return receipt in print version).

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Call your local Department of Housing and Community Development or Health Department to make a complaint. Read them the list of repairs from the letter you sent to the landlord and request that an inspection be made of your house or apartment. If the housing inspector finds housing code violations during the inspection, the inspector will issue a violation notice to your landlord.  See sample of Baltimore City violation notice. (Adobe Acrobat PDF format)

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Give your landlord an opportunity to make repairs. Allow him or his agents reasonable and appropriate entry for the purpose of correcting or repairing the conditions or defects. Normally, a reasonable time is 30 days. However, less than 30 days may be reasonable if the condition is of an emergency nature, such as no heat, no water, or no electricity; but only if the landlord is responsible to provide such an item.

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STEP 6

If the landlord does not make the repairs within 30 days, or a reasonable period, you may file a rent escrow action in the District Court of Maryland (affirmative) or hold your rent until your landlord sues you in court for nonpayment of rent (defensive).

1. Affirmative Actions (Tenant Sues Landlord)

1. Go to the District Court Clerk’s Office. Find the addresses and phone numbers on the Courts' web site. http://www.courts.state.md.us/district/forms/civil/dccv001br.html 
2. Tell the court clerk that you want to file a rent escrow action against your landlord.
3. The clerk should give you a rent escrow form (adobe Acrobat format) to fill out. 
4. It will cost approximately $5.00 to file this action, and it must be paid at the time of your filing the form mentioned above.
5. The court will summons your landlord and notify you of the court date.
6. Ask the clerk for assistance in having the inspector come into court with his records (Subpoena Duces Tecum - PDF).

2. Defensive Action (Landlord Sues Tenant for Nonpayment of Rent)

1. When your landlord sues you for nonpayment of rent, you will receive a notice from the district court. This form is entitled Failure To Pay Rent—Landlord’s Complaint for Repossession of Property. (Adobe Acrobat PDF format)
2. This form will have a trial date on it. Appear in court on that day and bring the items listed below:

1. Your rent money
2. Your letter listing the complaints.
3. Your certified return receipt.
4. Any pictures you may have of the defective conditions.

3. When your case is called (by the case number in the upper right hand corner and address), tell the judge that you want to defend your nonpayment of rent by using the rent escrow law and that you would like an inspector to testify on your behalf.
4. The judge will postpone the case without going any further into the case (except asking you if you are prepared to pay your rent into court that day).
5. Prepare yourself and your case for court.

1. In some counties, you may have to subpoena a housing inspector into court. You do this by going to the clerk’s office and filing what is called a Subpoena Duces Tecum for the person who inspected your house in Step 4 above. This subpoena will demand that the inspector and the records regarding your home be brought into court on the day of trial.
2. After filing the Subpoena Duces Tecum, call the particular inspector and tell her/him that you would like them to come to testify about the conditions in your house or apartment and that you have subpoenaed them and the records. The inspector may come to your house for another inspection just before the next court date.
3. Get your pictures together and contact any other witnesses you may want to testify on your behalf concerning the repairs which need to be made in your house.

6. When your case comes up in court, the judge will let you talk about the things in your house or apartment which need to be repaired. This will be your testimony.

1. Have your thoughts and presentation organized in a manner similar to the following:

1. Tell the judge all the things that are in need of repair.
2. Show pictures when you are talking about those items for which you have pictures. Tell the judge that you wrote the landlord a letter explaining these problems and also tell the judge when you wrote the letter.
3. Show the judge and your landlord a copy of the letter you sent.
4. Show the judge the green return receipt card indicating the landlord had received your letter.
5. Tell the judge you gave the landlord a reasonable opportunity to repair these defects or conditions and that he has not done so.
6. Tell the judge that you want your rent paid into a rent escrow account until the repairs are made and that you want your present rent reduced to reflect the value of your house while it is in its present condition.

2. The landlord or his attorney may want to ask you questions regarding your testimony. This is known as cross-examination. Be polite and honest with your responses. Answer only questions which are asked.
3. After the landlord or his attorney has finished asking you questions, you may ask the housing inspector to testify.
4. The inspector should testify as to what he found on the first inspection and what, if any, repairs were made since the first inspection. (He would know this if he had made another inspection before the trial date.) You may need to ask the inspector questions to get his testimony.
5. Ask the inspector:
   1. Has a violation notice been issued?
   2. When was it issued?
   3. What items or violations are contained on the notice?
   4. When does this notice expire or end?
   5. Did the landlord get a copy of the notice?
6. The landlord or his attorney has the right to ask the inspector questions based upon his testimony.
7. Ask any other witness who may have knowledge of conditions about which you are complaining to testify regarding those conditions.
8. After all your witnesses have been called, the landlord may then present to the court testimony in his defense. This may include only the landlord or it may include the landlord, his workmen or other witnesses.
9. Just as the landlord or his attorney had the right and opportunity to ask you and your witnesses questions regarding the testimony which you gave, you also have the right to ask your landlord or his witnesses any questions you may have regarding their testimony.

4. What Will Happen at Trial?

1. After the judge has heard what everyone has to say, he/she will decide whether to place your rent money in an escrow account.
2. If the judge decides to put your rent into an escrow account, you must pay your rent to the clerk of the court that day.
3. If the judge decides against you, you must pay the landlord the rent due. The judge can find against you if:
   1. You or members or your family or your social guest caused the conditions you are complaining about.
   2. The landlord or his agents (workmen) were denied reasonable and appropriate entry for the purpose of correcting or repairing the conditions or defects for which you are complaining.
   3. The landlord was not given a reasonable time in which to make repairs.
   4. The conditions are not of a serious nature.
   5. The landlord did not receive proper notice (proper notice would be by certified mail or by a violation notice sent by a municipal agency or if the landlord knows about the defects or conditions).
   6. All the repairs have been or were made by the landlord prior to your bringing this action against him.
   7. You do not have your rent money to put into the court rent escrow account.

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If the judge sets up an escrow account, continue to pay your rent money into court each month on the day you would normally pay it until all repairs are made. You can pay in person at the court or by mail. You will receive a receipt from the court clerk after each rental payment. (The clerk will not take personal checks). Keep these receipts in a safe place.

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The rent escrow account may be stopped or terminated in several ways:

1. If you miss a payment into the rent escrow account (the landlord may ask the court to terminate the account and give him all the money even if repairs have not been made).
2. If the landlord makes all the repairs, he can ask the court to terminate the rent escrow account.
3. If the landlord does not make all the repairs within a six month period, you may ask the court to terminate the rent escrow account and give you all the money which had been accumulated in the account and to start a new rent escrow account.
4. The court may order, upon request of the tenant or the landlord, a disbursal of some or all of the escrow account to be given to the landlord or tenant to repair dangerous defects. (Such as for the purpose of putting oil into a tank where no heat had been provided).
5. The court may order that rent escrow monies be disbursed to pay a mortgage or deed of trust on the property in order to stay or stop any foreclosure.

The rent escrow account may be terminated by any of the methods listed above after an appropriate hearing.

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Last date of legal review 5/00(MLAN/AC/DT)

This site offers legal information, not legal advice.  We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information and to clearly explain your options.  However we do not provide legal advice - the application of the law to your individual circumstances.  For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.  See our section on "Finding A  Lawyer In Maryland." The Maryland State Law Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, sponsors this site. The website was developed (1999-2007) as part of an access to justice initiative by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network (MLAN) in collaboration with a number of legal services providers serving low and moderate income Marylanders. 

This Page is copyrighted Legal Aid Bureau, Inc., 2001-2005.  All rights reserved, subject to the following exception: You are free to copy the information for your own use or for other non-commercial purposes with the following language “Source: People’s Law Library of Maryland – www.peoples-law.org, © Legal Aid Bureau, Inc, 2001- 2005."