This past spring, the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation which requires landlords to provide advanced notice to their tenants before filing an eviction lawsuit with the district court.
Effective October 1, 2021, before a landlord may file a complaint for failure to pay rent, the landlord must provide the tenant with a written notice of the landlord’s intent to file unless the tenant pays all the rent claimed to be owed within 10 days.
Notice must be provided to tenants in a form created by the district court, which can be accessed here. Notice may be provided to tenants via the following methods:
- Sent by First Class Mail (Certificate of Mailing required)
- Affixed to the door of the premises; or
- If selected by tenant, sent by electronic delivery via email, text, or an electronic tenant portal.
The above form can be used through January 1, 2022, after which the form will not be accepted by the courts, and you will need to purchase an updated copy through the District Court Warehouse. If you would like to request copies of the notice that can be used after January 1, 2022, you can also reach out to the AAP Specialist at jdickens@mhpartners.org.
Alongside the new prefiling notice, revisions were made to the “Failure to Pay Rent Form.” You can review the changes to the form here. Copies can be purchased through the District Court Warehouse.
For more information on the new pre-filing notice, please visit the District Court of Maryland’s website.
And if you have any questions about the pre-filing notice, please do not hesitate to contact the AAP Specialist at jdickens@mhpartners.org.
