A residential lease agreement in Baltimore is a binding document between a landlord and a tenant. This agreement outlines the terms and conditions surrounding the use of a rental property in exchange for payment.
Baltimore currently has several mandatory notices or disclosures that landlords must provide to tenants. These disclosures are either in addition to or modify requirements for Maryland’s lease agreement requirements .
As of April 2021, landlords must give tenants a copy of the tenant’s rights brochure. This brochure contains information regarding legal resources that are available to tenants. Landlords must also provide this brochure if they have started a lawsuit against the tenant. [1]
Baltimore lease agreements must contain a provision stating that the landlord cannot charge a late fee unless the tenant is 10 days late in paying rent. If the lease already includes a late fee provision, it must specify that the landlord cannot charge the tenant until after 10 days.
Landlords in Baltimore must include a floodplain disclosure if their rental property is located within a flood zone. This disclosure must include the following language: [3]
NOTICE TO PROSPECTIVE TENANT
The rental unit you are to occupy or the motor vehicle parking area or separate storage facility you are to use (as the case may be) is situated in an area prone to flooding during unusually heavy or prolonged steady periods of rain. Such flooding may damage personal belongings and motor vehicles. Because of this possible loss, you may be eligible for U.S. Government subsidized flood insurance on the personal belongings in your unit. In any event, because of this danger of loss of your personal belongings due to flooding, you may wish to consider acquiring flood insurance which may be purchased from some insurance agents.
Damage to motor vehicles may not be covered by such insurance; therefore you may also wish to determine whether or not you have sufficient motor vehicle insurance to cover loss due to damage of your motor vehicle resulting from flooding in this area.
The Baltimore City Department of Planning can provide information pertaining to the susceptibility of this area to flooding. You may wish to contact that Department, at (telephone number), before signing either this acknowledgment or the lease agreement for this rental unit.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY PROSPECTIVE TENANT
I acknowledge reading and understanding the foregoing warning concerning flooding. I have been provided time, prior to signing either this acknowledgment or a lease, to contact the Baltimore City Department of Planning concerning the susceptibility of the area around my rental unit to flooding.
When it comes to landlord-tenant rights , Baltimore landlords should be aware of the following:
After both parties have agreed to terminate the tenancy, the tenant must give the landlord 72 hours’ notice before moving out of the unit. Additionally, the tenant must return the keys to the landlord within 24 hours of moving out. [4]
For leases that are for one year or less, landlords in Baltimore must give tenants 60 days’ notice to terminate the lease agreement. However, in the following circumstances, landlords are only required to provide 30 days’ notice: [5]
Regardless of the length of the lease term, the landlord is required to give 60 days’ notice under the following circumstances:
In Baltimore, tenants who stay beyond the end of their lease term (known as holdover tenants) are liable for up to double the rent amount for the period after the end of the lease. If the landlord wishes to evict the tenant and the court is in favor of the landlord, the tenant will be responsible for up to twice the rent plus the landlord’s court costs. [6]
In Baltimore, landlords who take the following actions may be fined up to $500 and imprisoned for a maximum of 10 days: [7]
In Baltimore, if a housing violation occurs, landlords are prohibited from increasing the rent until the violation has been fixed. For serious violations (e.g., no running/hot water, light, electricity, or other safety hazards), the landlord must correct the violation within 30 days. For non-serious violations, the landlord has 60 days to correct the violation. [8]
While not mandatory, landlords can add specific disclosures and addendums to their leases. This helps outline the responsibilities of the tenant and can prevent future liability issues.
Due to Baltimore’s high crime rate , it would be in the landlord’s best interest to include an addendum stating that engaging in criminal activity, including drug-related activity, is prohibited on or near the property.
Baltimore’s humid climate increases the risk of mold, and landlords may want to include a mold addendum . This will prevent landlords from being liable for future mold-related damage.
Baltimore has frequently been ranked as one of the top cities for bed bugs —which is why landlords may want to include a bed bug addendum in their rental agreements. This addendum provides information about preventing infestations and the proper protocol if one arises.
Along with the copy of the lease required to be given to the tenant by § 7-2 of this subtitle, the tenant must be given a copy of a tenants rights brochure approved by the Housing Commissioner…
Within 10 days of a change in any information required by subsection (a) of this section to be contained in a lease, the property owner must notify the tenant of the change.
If any part of a rental unit, including the parking area or separate storage area for that unit, is within the Floodplain District…the landlord shall provide any prospective tenant with the following notice and acknowledgment…
Any tenant vacating any such tenement shall notify the landlord or his agent, at least seventy-two hours before such removal…
If the landlord seeks to evict the tenant under the provisions of Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 above, the notice to the tenant shall be sixty (60) days before the end of the term, unless otherwise provided in the lease.
If the tenant, after notice, fails to quit at the end of the term, such tenant…may, at the election of the lessor…be held as a tenant and bound to pay double the rent to which the said tenancy was subject…
An agent, a landlord, or an operator may not…falsely make any representation or statement…
When, as a result of any inspection not generated by a tenant complaint, a landlord receives a violation notice citing a serious defect, then the landlord cannot increase the rental fee for those premises until the defects are corrected and the notice abated.
Sacramento Lease Agreement
Fresno Lease Agreement
Tucson Lease Agreement
Albuquerque Lease Agreement
Milwaukee Lease Agreement
Detroit Lease Agreement
