Free Maryland Lease Termination Letter Template

A Maryland lease termination letter is the notice of intent to terminate a tenancy described in Real Property Section 8-402. Landlords and tenants do not follow the same rules here, in either length or form. The landlord’s period also runs longer than many published summaries suggest.

Subsection 8-402(c) covers tenancies at the expiration of a stated term, from year to year, from month to month, and from week to week.

Landlord Notice Periods

Paragraph (c)(2) requires a landlord to give written notice of the intent to terminate, on a scale that runs by tenancy type:

• A written lease for a stated term in excess of one week, or a month-to-month tenancy — 60 days before the expiration of the tenancy
• A tenancy from year to year, including tobacco farm tenancies from year to year — 90 days before the end of the current year
• All other farm tenancies from year to year — 180 days

These periods have changed before, so confirm the current subsection before you count.

Week-to-Week Splits in Two

Subparagraph (c)(2)(iv) treats weekly tenancies differently depending on paperwork. Seven days’ notice applies where the parties have a written lease, and 21 days where they do not.

A Shorter Route After a Foreclosure Notice

Paragraph (c)(4) sets different periods in one narrow situation. Where a landlord receives notice of an intent to foreclose on the property and wants to end the tenancy, written notice runs at least 30 days before expiration for month-to-month or week-to-week tenancies, and at least 60 days for a tenancy from year to year. That paragraph reaches neither property in Baltimore City or Montgomery County, nor property owned by a landlord offering five or more residential dwelling units for rent in the State, nor property subject to an order to docket.

Holding Over With Consent

Subsection (d) fills the gap after a term ends. Unless the written lease says otherwise and the tenant has initialed it, a holdover tenant whom the landlord allows to remain becomes a periodic week-to-week tenant where that is what they were before, and a month-to-month tenant in every other case.

Across most of the state, yes. Paragraph (c)(3)(i) lets a tenant give notice by parol, meaning orally, at least 30 days before the expiration of the lease or tenancy, and at least 90 days for a tenancy from year to year, with 180 days for a farm tenancy.

A catch comes with it. The landlord has to prove that notice by competent testimony, and where such proof holds, the landlord need not serve written notice in return. Baltimore City sits outside the paragraph entirely.

A Maryland lease termination letter depends on who is sending it and which tenancy is ending.

1. Identify the tenancy: stated term, year to year, month to month, or week to week.
2. As a landlord, apply 60, 90, 180, seven, or 21 days as paragraph (c)(2) directs.
3. As a tenant, count 30 days, or 90 for a tenancy from year to year.
4. Name the date the tenancy expires.
5. Deliver the notice and keep proof of it.

Section 8-402 sets no form for the notice itself, so be thorough.

• The address of the property
• The names of the parties
• The date the tenancy expires
• The tenancy type driving the period
• A forwarding address
• Signature and date

Two further points close things out. Under paragraph (c)(5)(i), accepting a payment after notice but before eviction does not waive a notice to quit, a notice of intent to vacate, or a judgment for possession, unless the parties specifically agree otherwise in writing. And under subsection (a), a tenant holding over is liable for the landlord’s actual damages, which may not fall below the apportioned rent for the holdover period at the rate under the lease. Date your Maryland lease termination letter properly and neither point arises.