Before you rent a house in Baltimore, look up whether the landlord has a city rental license, ask for the written screening criteria and fee before you pay, and read the lease for who pays water and other utilities. Maryland caps the security deposit at one month’s rent, you’re entitled to a receipt and a move-in inspection, and the lease has to come with the state’s Tenants’ Bill of Rights.
If you’re looking now, see our homes for rent. If you’re applying for one of the homes we manage, our renters page explains how it works. Here’s the checklist we’d hand a friend, with the rules as of October 2026.
1. Check the landlord’s rental license
Every non-owner-occupied rental in Baltimore City has to be registered and licensed. DHCD’s rental licensing page has a “Search Licensed Properties” link where you can look up the address.
Why it matters to you: a license means the house passed an inspection by a state-licensed home inspector (or a Section 8 inspection) covering things like working smoke and CO alarms, hot water, heat, railings and wiring, and that the landlord submitted a lead certificate for the unit. Licenses now last two years and no longer transfer when a house sells, so a recently sold rental should have a new one (Strengthening Renters’ Safety Act).
If the house was built before 1978, also ask for the lead certificate. The landlord has to give you a copy at move-in under Maryland’s lead law (MDE).
2. Applications and fees
Ask three questions before you pay anything:
- What are the screening criteria? Income, credit, rental history, eviction history. They should be the same for everyone.
- What’s the fee, and is any of it refundable? Under Real Property § 8-213, a landlord with five or more units who charges more than $25 must refund the part not spent on screening within 15 days. Smaller landlords (four or fewer units at one location) are exempt from that rule.
- Do you accept a reusable tenant screening report? Landlords must tell you whether they do. If one accepts your report, it can’t charge you an application fee (§ 8-218).
Paying with a housing voucher? Maryland law protects source of income, so a landlord can’t refuse you or set different terms because of it (§ 20-705). And since October 1, 2026, landlords with five or more units must follow the Maryland Fair Chance Housing Act before asking about criminal history (SB 937).
3. Deposit cap and receipt
For deposits paid on or after October 1, 2024, the most a landlord can charge is one month’s rent, as the Maryland Attorney General summarizes. The cap is per home, not per person. Under § 8-208, the landlord also can’t require more than the deposit plus the first month’s rent to start the lease, so “first, last and security” is out.
You get a written receipt, and it has to be in the lease. If the landlord doesn’t give one, they owe you $25 (§ 8-203.1). The full rules on deductions and interest are in Maryland security deposits: deductions, interest, deadlines.
4. Move-in inspection
You have the right to ask for a move-in inspection with you present, to list the damage that’s already there. Send the request by certified mail within 15 days of moving in (§ 8-203.1).
Either way, take your own dated photos and video of every room, inside cabinets and closets, the floors, the walls and the appliances. Email them to yourself so there’s a timestamp. That’s your evidence 45 days after you move out.
5. Lease terms to read
Read the whole lease before you sign. Maryland law requires or limits a few things (§ 8-208):
- Condition and repairs. The lease has to say the home will be fit to live in (or describe the agreed condition), and spell out who’s responsible for heat, gas, electricity, water and repairs.
- The deposit receipt has to be included.
- The Maryland Tenants’ Bill of Rights. You should get a copy of the current version with the lease.
- Late fees can’t be more than 5% of the rent due.
- Automatic renewal. A clause that renews the lease automatically has to be set apart and initialed or signed by you, or the landlord can’t enforce it.
- Prohibited clauses. A lease can’t waive your legal rights, waive a jury trial, let the landlord take possession or your things without going to court, or make you pay the landlord’s court filing surcharge.
Baltimore City DHCD also publishes a Lease Addendum - Tenant’s Rights to be provided at lease signing, along with a sample lease, on its rental licensing page. Ask for it if it’s not in your packet.
Ask, too, how rent increases work at renewal. Maryland requires written notice at least 90 days before an increase on a lease longer than a month (§ 8-209).
6. Utilities and water bills in Baltimore City
Find out which utilities are in your name and which are in the landlord’s, and get it in the lease.
Water deserves its own question in Baltimore, because the account stays in the owner’s name. Baltimore DPW says the city holds the legal property owner ultimately responsible for the water account, and will only add another name to the bill with the owner’s written permission. Under City Code Art. 24, § 2-1, a landlord who makes a residential tenant pay for water has to put that in a written lease and either give the tenant a copy of each water bill on time or have DPW send the tenant a copy.
So before you sign, ask: is water included? If not, how is it billed, and will I get copies of the bills?
7. Maintenance requests
Put repair requests in writing (email, text, portal) and keep copies. For emergencies like no heat, no water, a gas smell or an active leak, call right away.
If serious problems go unfixed, Maryland lets tenants ask the District Court to set up rent escrow. You don’t create your own escrow account; the court does (Maryland Attorney General). The AG also notes landlords can’t evict you, raise your rent or cut services because you complained, went to court or an agency, or joined a tenants’ group. Don’t withhold rent on your own; talk to a legal services office or an attorney first.
This is general information, not legal advice.
8. Our available rentals
The homes we manage in Baltimore are maintained by our own repair crew, Monarch Bay Renovations, so a maintenance request goes to people we work with every day. Every applicant is screened against the same written criteria, and we tell you the criteria and the fee before you pay. Applicants using a housing voucher or any other lawful source of income are considered on the same terms as everyone else.
Affiliated business disclosure: Monarch Bay Renovations is owned by Stephen Wilson, team lead of The Wilson Home Team of Samson Properties.
See what’s open now on our rentals page, or tell us what you need on the renters page and we’ll send you homes as they come up. Working out a budget first? Our cost of living in Maryland guide covers what renters need to earn.
Bottom line
Look up the license. Get the criteria and fee in writing. Pay no more than one month’s deposit plus first month’s rent. Request the move-in inspection by certified mail within 15 days, and take your own photos anyway. Read the utilities section, especially water. And keep every repair request in writing.
Sources
All checked October 26, 2026.
- Baltimore City DHCD, Property Registration and Rental Licensing and Strengthening Renters’ Safety Act
- Baltimore City DPW, Landlord/Tenant Information; City Code Art. 24 § 2-1
- Maryland Code, Real Property § 8-203.1, § 8-208, § 8-209, § 8-213, § 8-218; State Government § 20-705
- Maryland General Assembly, SB 937 (2026)
- Maryland Attorney General, Landlord/Tenant Disputes
- Maryland Department of the Environment, Rental Property Owner FAQ