Maryland's 24-Hour Entry Notice Law Is Now in Effect: What Every Self-Managing Landlord Must Know

A landlord in Prince Frederick stopped by one of his rental properties on a Tuesday morning to show the unit to a prospective buyer. He had a key. The current tenant was home. He knocked, walked in, and spent 20 minutes on a walkthrough. The tenant did not object in the moment. Three days later, the tenant submitted a written complaint citing harassment and a statutory violation of Maryland’s entry notice requirements. Under the rules that took effect October 1, 2025, the landlord had no written record of providing 24-hour advance notice, and the visit had occurred during a period when the tenant had a reasonable expectation of privacy. What began as a routine property visit became a legal dispute that delayed the sale and cost the landlord $900 in legal fees before the matter resolved.

Maryland has codified and strengthened its landlord entry notice requirements, effective October 1, 2025. The updated law requires landlords to provide 24 hours of advance written notice before entering a residential rental unit and restricts entry to the hours of 7:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. There is one exception: genuine emergencies. Everything else — maintenance visits, showings to prospective tenants or buyers, inspections, contractor access — requires prior written notice within the specified window. No verbal agreement overrides it. No long-standing informal arrangement satisfies it. If it is not in writing, it does not count.

The Problem: Informal Access Habits Are Now Statutory Violations

Self-managing landlords develop habits. They drive by a property when they are in the neighborhood. They stop in to check on a repair. They schedule a showing with two hours’ notice because the buyer is in town for one day. Before October 1, 2025, those habits created tenant friction but rarely created legal liability. After October 1, 2025, each one of those visits without documented 24-hour written notice is a violation of Maryland landlord-tenant law — full stop.

The consequences are not theoretical. A tenant who documents repeated entry violations has grounds to claim constructive eviction — the legal argument that the landlord’s conduct has made the property uninhabitable — and to terminate the lease without penalty or obligation. A tenant can also seek direct damages for harassment. And in eviction proceedings, documented entry violations give the tenant a counter-narrative that Maryland District Court judges have proven willing to credit, regardless of the underlying reason for the eviction. A landlord who has filed for non-payment of rent, only to have the case redirected into a record of unauthorized entries, is in a significantly weaker position than they walked in expecting. In Charles County District Court, a dismissed eviction case means four to six months of lost rent — $7,200 to $13,200 — before re-filing is possible. A $50 text message sent 24 hours in advance prevents that outcome. The unauthorized entry creates it.

If you are not certain your current entry practices comply with Maryland’s updated notice requirements, book a Free Coaching Call: rental911.net/free-coaching-call

Five Rules Every Maryland Landlord Must Follow for Property Entry

1. Written Notice Is Required — Verbal Notice Is Not Sufficient

The notice must be in writing. A phone call does not satisfy the requirement. A verbal agreement that you will stop by tomorrow does not satisfy the requirement. Written notice — delivered by text, by email, through a property management portal, or by written letter — creates a timestamped record that satisfies the legal standard and protects the landlord if the entry is ever disputed. Landlords who rely on verbal arrangements with tenants they have known for years are one soured tenancy away from a court proceeding in which they have no documentation and the tenant’s account becomes the operative version of events.

2. The 24-Hour Window Is a Minimum, Not a Suggestion

The tenant must receive written notice at least 24 hours before the landlord enters. If you plan to enter a unit at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, your written notice must be delivered no later than 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. A text at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday for a 10:00 a.m. entry is a violation. Same-day notice — however reasonable it seems in context — does not meet the legal standard. Landlords who need access for time-sensitive repairs should send written notice the moment the repair is scheduled, not the morning of the appointment.

3. Entry Is Limited to 7:00 a.m. Through 7:00 p.m., Monday Through Saturday

Even with proper written notice, entry outside the permitted hours is a violation. Entry is not permitted before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. Entry is not permitted on Sundays — even with advance written notice. A contractor who enters at 6:30 a.m. with the landlord’s authorization has created a legal problem for the landlord, not the contractor. Landlords are responsible for ensuring that anyone they authorize to enter a unit — contractors, inspectors, real estate agents, prospective buyers — enters only within the permitted hours. The authorization does not transfer the liability.

4. The Emergency Exception Is Narrower Than Most Landlords Assume

Maryland law provides an exception to the notice requirement for genuine emergencies. A burst pipe is an emergency. A fire is an emergency. An active gas leak is an emergency. A suspected maintenance issue the landlord wants to investigate is not an emergency. A showing opportunity that arose on short notice is not an emergency. A sense that something might be wrong is not an emergency. Landlords who invoke the emergency exception routinely, or use it as a workaround for situations that are simply inconvenient, are building a record that will undermine their credibility in any subsequent dispute. Use the emergency exception for actual emergencies, document in writing immediately after the entry, and do not let “I was worried about the property” become the explanation that a District Court judge has to evaluate.

5. Establish a Standard Notice Process for Every Category of Entry

The most effective compliance approach is a standardized written notice process that applies to every type of entry: routine inspections, contractor visits, maintenance repairs, prospective tenant showings, and buyer access. Create a notice template for each entry type that includes the date and time, the reason for entry, the name of any contractor or individual who will be present, and your contact information. Send via a method that creates a timestamped written record — text or email. Retain every notice for the life of the tenancy. When a tenant later claims you entered without proper notice, documented records are your defense. The absence of documented records is not a neutral fact. In a Maryland District Court proceeding, it is the tenant’s best argument.

How This Plays Out in Southern Maryland

Charles County’s rental housing market — concentrated in Waldorf (20601, 20602, 20603), White Plains, and the St. Charles community — includes a high percentage of landlords who manage their own properties and maintain informal relationships with long-term tenants. That informality has historically meant flexible entry arrangements both parties understood. The October 2025 entry notice law does not care about informal arrangements. It applies to every landlord-tenant relationship in Maryland, regardless of how cooperative the tenancy has been or how well the parties know each other.

In St. Mary’s County, landlords managing properties near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, in Leonardtown (20650), and in the Lexington Park area (20653) frequently deal with contractor access on tight military-housing schedules. The 24-hour notice requirement does not flex for contractor scheduling. Build the notice window into your standard maintenance workflow. That means scheduling contractors further in advance than has historically been necessary — and sending written notice the moment the appointment is confirmed, not the morning it occurs.

What Happened to One Waldorf Landlord

A landlord in the St. Charles community had been managing a townhouse in Waldorf for four years. In November 2025, she texted her tenant on a Wednesday afternoon to let him know she would be stopping by the following morning with an HVAC technician at 8:00 a.m. The tenant did not respond. The landlord and contractor arrived Thursday morning and entered using the landlord’s key. The tenant, who worked night shifts and had been asleep, confronted both individuals as they entered. The tenant filed a complaint with the District Court citing insufficient notice — the text was sent less than 18 hours before entry, falling short of the 24-hour requirement. The District Court found in favor of the tenant. The landlord was assessed $650 in damages and ordered to pay the tenant’s filing fee. The HVAC repair that prompted the visit cost $340. The total bill for not sending the notice one day earlier: $1,290.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the 24-hour notice requirement apply when my tenant has given me a key and said I can come and go?

A verbal or informal arrangement between a landlord and tenant does not supersede Maryland statutory law. Even if a tenant has told you to come by whenever you need to, the written notice requirement still applies. If you rely on that arrangement and the tenancy sours, your verbal permission will carry no weight in a District Court proceeding. Send written notice for every entry, regardless of how cooperative the tenant is. The notice takes two minutes. The legal dispute takes months.

What if my tenant waives the 24-hour notice requirement in the lease?

A lease clause purporting to waive the tenant’s right to entry notice is void under Maryland law. Rights granted to tenants by statute cannot be contractually waived. If your lease contains language that attempts to eliminate or reduce the notice requirement, remove it — it will not protect you and may create additional compliance problems. The clause gives you false confidence and gives an opposing attorney an opening.

Can I enter a unit that appears abandoned without providing 24-hour notice?

Abandonment is governed by separate provisions of Maryland landlord-tenant law, not by the entry notice framework. If you have reasonable grounds to believe a unit has been abandoned — the tenant has not been seen, rent has not been paid, and attempts to contact the tenant have failed — do not use the notice framework to access the unit. The legal steps for addressing abandonment are specific and different. Use the wrong framework and you expose yourself to an unauthorized entry claim even in a legitimate abandonment situation.

Closing

Maryland’s 24-hour entry notice law has been in effect since October 1, 2025. Every unannounced visit, every same-day text before a maintenance call, and every Sunday inspection since that date has been a statutory violation. The landlords who face legal exposure are not the ones who made bad decisions — they are the ones who did not know the rules had changed. Now you know. Book a Free Coaching Call to get your entry notice process documented, your templates built, and your practices compliant before the next entry becomes a legal problem.

Book a Free Coaching Call: rental911.net/free-coaching-call