Frederick Cnty. Dist. Ct. CM - Landlord tenant Cases Case Management Plan (introduction)

District Eleven – Frederick and Washington Counties

Table of Contents

Landlord Tenant Cases

Cases classified as landlord tenant claims can only be filed in District Court, regardless of the

amount in dispute (Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article § 4-401). The types of landlord tenant

actions in the District Court are the following:

Landlord Cases

• Failure to Pay Rent/Summary Ejectment (Real Property Article § 8-401) – tenant owes

back rent). For mobile homes, please reference Real Property Article § 8A-1601.

• Tenant Holding Over (Real Property Article § 8-402) – tenant refuses to leave the

property after receiving proper notice to vacate. For mobile homes, please reference

Real Property Article § 8A-1702.

• Breach of Lease (Real Property Article § 8-402.1) – tenant is violating the lease

• Wrongful Detainer (Real Property Article § 14-132) – occupant-not tenant refuses to

leave

• Grantor in Possession (Real Property Article § 14-109) – occupant-grantor refuses to

leave after delivery of the deed to the property

• Distress for Rent (Real Property Article § 8-301 to 8-332) – levy goods for unpaid rent

more than three months in arrears)

Tenant Cases

• Petition in Action of Rent Escrow or for Injunction:

Rent Escrow (Real Property Article § 8-211): property defects or housing code violations

Injunction (Real Property Article § 8-204): landlord fails to control disturbances at the

rental property or the landlord enters the rental property without legal authority

• Return of Security Deposit (Real Property Article § 8-203): This is not tracked as a landlord

tenant case but is filed as a separate Civil Small or Large Claim case

How much time a landlord tenant case should take to get resolved

The Real Property Article sets out specific time frames for trial dates for each of these proceedings.

Most landlord tenant cases are disposed of within 30 days of filing. Rent Escrow actions typically

take longer, as there may be multiple hearings before a final resolution is reached.

Track 1 – Landlord Cases

YesSame-Day

Mediation

Trial Judgment for

Landlord?

Enforce-

mentYes

No

Dismissal

Order

Enforcement

Needed?

No

Plaintiff

Files a Case

Sheriff Serve

Defendant?

Dismissal

Yes

No

Plaintiff

Appears for

Trial?

Defendant

Appears for

Trial?

Yes

No

Default

Judgment

No

Discovery

Yes

14-21 days

File a Case

The following steps are required to file a case:

(a) File a complaint, using the complaint form associated with action. You must use the

carbonless multi-part forms available at any District Court location. Please print or type

clearly and make sure all copies are legible:

Tenant owes back rent

Failure to Pay Rent/Landlord's Complaint for Repossession of Rented Property (DC-CV-

082)

Tenant owes back rent at Mobile Home Park

Failure to Pay Rent/Park Owner's Complaint for Repossession of Rented Property (DC-CV-

082 MH)

Tenant refuses to leave the property after receiving proper notice to vacate

Complaint and Summons Against Tenant Holding Over (DC-CV-080)

You must submit a copy of the written notice to vacate that you sent to the tenant. You will

also need to provide a copy of the notice for each defendant.

Tenant is violating the lease

Complaint and Summons Against Tenant in Breach of Lease (DC-CV-085)

You must submit a copy of the written notice of violation that you sent to the tenant. You

will also need to provide a copy of the notice for each defendant.

Occupant-not tenant refused to leave

Complaint for Wrongful Detainer (DC-CV-089)

Occupant-grantor refuses to leave after delivery of the deed to the property

Complaint for Grantor in Possession (DC-CV-109)

Levy goods for unpaid rent more than three months in arrears

Petition in Levy for Distress (DC-DV-86)

(b) File a Request for Service for each defendant, using the Request for Service form (DC-CV-

2). You must use the carbonless multi-part form available at any District Court location.

Please print or type clearly and make sure all copies are legible. The Request for Service

form IS NOT filed for Failure to Pay Rent/Summary Ejectment cases.

(c) Pay the filing and service fees. Check the District Court’s Cost Schedule (DCA 109) for fees

The plaintiff will pay the filing fee by check or money order to the Clerk’s office. The check

or money order should be made payable to District Court. If the filing fee is paid in person,

payment by credit/debit card or cash is available.

The Sheriff’s fee must be paid via check or money order and cannot be waived. In

Washington County, the check or money order should be made payable to the Washington

County Sheriff’s Department. In Frederick County, the service fee may be paid by cash

(exact cash), debit/credit (Visa, MasterCard or Discover including a 2.5% fee) or

check/money order payable to the Frederick County Sheriff’s Department.

Beginning October 16, 2017, a plaintiff may also electronically file a case and pay the filing

fee via the internet.

Filing fees may be waived by the court, based on the following conditions:

 Filing by the plaintiff of the Request for Waiver of Prepaid Costs (CC-DC-089);

and/or

 Representation by a civil legal aid lawyer; Statement in Support of Waiver of

Prepaid Costs by Clerk (CC-DC-088)

If the court does not grant the request to waive prepaid costs, the plaintiff has 10 days (Md.

Rule § 1-325(e)) to pay the filing and other required fees (prepaid costs). If the unwaived

prepaid costs are not paid in full within the time allowed, the pleading or paper shall be

deemed to have been withdrawn.

(d) Notify the other party (Defendant). Upon the filing of the Complaint, the clerk shall

forward a copy of the Complaint and Request for Service to the Sheriff’s office. The Sheriff’s

office will serve the tenant by posting a copy of the Complaint to the tenant’s property and a

copy will also be mailed via first-class mail. Personal Service (Md. Rule § 3-121) upon the

tenant is not required unless a money judgment is sought (Real Property Article § 8-401).

(e) Proof of Service. After service to the defendant, the Sheriff must complete the Proof of

Service section and return the white copy of the Request for Service (DC-CV-2) form

showing the defendant has been served. If the court does not receive proof of service, the

plaintiff may not be able to present their case on the trial date

Licensing

For rental properties located in the City of Hagerstown, the landlord is required to obtain a rental

license. Hagerstown Rental Licensing

Frederick County does not require the landlord to be licensed.

Lead Paint (Environment Article § 6-801 to 6-852)

Only pre-1978 residential rental properties/units (“Affected Properties”) are regulated by

Maryland’s Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing Act. Owner-occupied properties/units are not

regulated. Affected Properties that are MDE-certified lead-free or limited lead-free are exempt

from Maryland’s lead paint law. Affected Properties owned or operated by federal, State, or local

government or by a public, quasi-public, or municipal corporation are also exempt, provided the

Affected Properties are subject to standards at least as strict as the standards established by

Maryland’s lead paint law.

Owners are required to register their Affected Properties with MDE and to renew the registration

thereafter before December 31st of each year. The registration requirement was effective on

January 1, 1996 for rental properties/units constructed before 1950 and effective on January 1,

2015 for rental properties/units constructed after 1949 and before 1978.

Owners can register and renew their registration for their Affected Properties in accordance with

§§ 6-811 and 6-812 of the Environment Article by using MDE’s Lead Rental Property Registration

and Renewal Online System (“MDE’s Lead Registry Online System”). MDE’s Lead Registry Online

System is located at: www.mde.maryland.gov/leadregistration.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

In any action against a tenant, federal law requires you to provide, in the paperwork that you file,

specific facts regarding whether each tenant is in the military. One source for obtaining this

information is the Dept. of Defense Manpower Data

Center: https://scra.dmdc.osd.mil/single_record.xhtml. Further information about the

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act can be found on the court’s website

at: http://mdcourts.gov/reference/scra.html. Filing a false Military Service Affidavit is a criminal

offense punishable by not more than one year incarceration and a fine not to exceed one thousand

dollars.

Personal Identifiers

It is the responsibility of the filer to redact personal identifiers, prior to submitting a filing with the

Court. Filers include anyone filing documents with the Court, including police officers, the state’s

attorney, criminal complainants, landlords, petitioners, and others. The filer does not have to be a

party to a case, and may include Federal Courts, military personnel, or relatives to a party in a case.

Per Md. Rule § 1-322.1, unless otherwise required by law or permitted by court order, the following

personal identifier information shall not be included in any electronic or paper filing with a court:

(1) an individual’s Social Security number, taxpayer identification number; or

(2) the numeric or alphabetic characters of a financial or medical account identifier.”

The Rule also states that unless otherwise provided by law or court order, this Rule does not apply

to the following: