To evict a roommate in Maryland, you first have to figure out what the person legally is to you — a co-tenant on the lease, a subtenant renting from you, or a guest living there with your permission — because each one leads to a different process. For a subtenant, you give 60 days’ written notice and then, if they stay, file a wrongful detainer action in District Court under Maryland Real Property Code § 14-132. For a guest who refuses to leave after you’ve asked, you can go straight to that same filing. For someone on the lease with you, you can’t remove them at all; only the landlord can.
Identify Which Kind of Roommate You Have
This is the step people skip, and it’s the one that sinks cases. Pick the wrong category and the court dismisses the complaint.
- Co-tenant. Your roommate signed the same lease you signed, directly with the landlord. You both hold equal rights to the unit. Neither of you can evict the other.
- Subtenant. Your roommate rents from you, not the landlord. You set the terms and collect money. For legal purposes, you are their landlord and have to act like one.
- Licensee or guest. Your roommate lives there with your permission, pays no rent, and signed nothing. They have no legal right to possession, and you can revoke that permission.
The line between a subtenant and a guest isn’t always clean. If the person pays you anything regularly toward housing costs, a judge may treat them as a subtenant even without paperwork. Courts look at the actual arrangement, not what you called it. Save any texts, Venmo records, or emails that show how money moved and what the two of you agreed to.
Check Your Own Lease First
If you let someone move in as a subtenant, your lease with the landlord may already prohibit that. Maryland tenants can generally sublet unless the lease says otherwise, and most standard leases do say otherwise. When the lease requires the landlord’s written consent and you didn’t get it, you’re in violation yourself, which weakens your position before you file anything. When consent is required, the landlord can’t unreasonably refuse it, but that doesn’t help you if you never asked. Read the lease and decide whether you need to talk to the landlord before anything else.
Give a Subtenant 60 Days’ Written Notice
A month-to-month subtenant is entitled to at least 60 days’ written notice before the tenancy ends. That’s the same notice period a landlord owes any month-to-month tenant under Maryland Real Property Code § 8-402.
The notice needs to include the subtenant’s name, the full property address, a clear statement that you are terminating the tenancy, and the exact date they must be out. That date must be at least 60 days away and should line up with the end of a rental period. Deliver the notice by hand or by first-class mail. If you mail it, three days are added to the time period under Maryland Rule 1-203, so build that cushion in. Being one day short can void the notice and send you back to the start.
Keep a copy. If you hand it over in person, bring a witness or get the subtenant to sign for it. If the subtenant still hasn’t moved out when the 60 days expire, you don’t change the locks and you don’t move their things to the curb. You file in court.
File a Wrongful Detainer Complaint in District Court
Wrongful detainer under Maryland Real Property Code § 14-132 is the tool for removing a guest or a former subtenant who holds onto possession after their right to be there has ended. It is specifically for situations where someone occupies property without a legal right to do so.
One sharp limit: § 14-132 does not apply when another statutory remedy exists. You can’t use it against a co-tenant with a direct lease from the landlord, and you can’t use it against a subtenant whose tenancy you haven’t properly ended yet. Skip the 60-day notice and the court will throw the case out.
If the Person Is a Guest
No statutory notice period applies to a guest or licensee. Ask them to leave. If they refuse, you can file the wrongful detainer complaint immediately, according to the Maryland People’s Law Library.
What Filing Looks Like
File in the District Court for the county where the property sits. The filing fee is $56.00. The complaint should describe your right to possess the property, explain why the occupant has no right to be there, and ask for any monetary damages you’ve suffered along with court costs and attorney fees.
The court then issues a summons telling the occupant to appear and show why they shouldn’t be removed. Service has to happen within four business days of filing. If the process server can’t find the occupant after two attempts on different days, the server files an affidavit describing those attempts, mails a copy of the complaint by both certified and first-class mail to the last known address, and posts a copy of the summons visibly on the property.
The Hearing
The court must set the hearing within 10 days of filing. That is quick compared to a standard landlord-tenant eviction, and it is one of the reasons the wrongful detainer route works.
At the hearing, you prove two things: that you have the legal right to possess the property, and that the occupant does not. Bring your lease, any sublease or written agreement, the notice you sent and proof of delivery, and any texts or emails where you asked the person to leave. For a guest situation, show that no rental agreement existed and no rent was paid, which establishes the person as a licensee rather than a tenant.
The occupant can’t file a counterclaim in a wrongful detainer action. The only question is who has the right to possession. Either side can demand a jury trial, which bumps the case up to circuit court and adds significant delay.
The Warrant of Restitution
If you win, the court enters a judgment for restitution and issues a warrant directing the sheriff or constable to remove the occupant and give you possession. The court can also award damages for the period of wrongful detention plus court costs and attorney fees, as long as you asked for damages in the complaint and the occupant was properly served.
You have 60 days from the judgment to request the warrant, or the judgment expires. Once issued, the sheriff has 60 days to execute it. On eviction day, the sheriff orders everyone out and oversees the removal of belongings. You cannot do the removal yourself without the sheriff present. Maryland also requires the sheriff to check for pets; if the occupant isn’t there, the sheriff arranges for a shelter or rescue to take any animals and gives the tenant that contact information.
If the Occupant Appeals
Either side has 10 days to appeal to circuit court. If the occupant wants to stay in the property during the appeal, they have to file an affidavit saying the appeal isn’t just a delay tactic and either post a bond or pay the full fair rental value of the property through the date of judgment, plus court costs, any damages awarded, and the fair rental value during the appeal. That financial requirement discourages appeals filed just to buy time.
Once the appeal is filed, the circuit court must set a hearing between 5 and 15 days after the application, with at least 5 days’ notice to both parties. The case essentially starts over at the circuit level, but the tight scheduling keeps the delay manageable unless something unusual comes up.
If Your Roommate Is on the Lease, You Can’t Evict Them
When both names are on the lease, there is no mechanism available to you. Co-tenants have equal rights, and § 14-132 doesn’t apply because the other person has a right to possession through the lease itself. Only the landlord can start eviction proceedings.
What you can do:
- Report lease violations in writing to the landlord with evidence — unpaid rent share, damage, other breaches — and let the landlord decide whether to act.
- Ask the landlord to release one of you from the lease, which some will do if the remaining tenant can cover the rent or bring in a replacement.
- Wait for the lease to end and ask the landlord to renew with you alone. The landlord has no obligation to renew the co-tenant’s occupancy.
Be careful: an eviction action based on lease violations usually names every tenant on the lease, so your own housing can go down with your roommate’s. Talk to the landlord before pushing in that direction.
Don’t Change the Locks or Shut Off Utilities
Self-help is where people turn a solvable problem into an expensive one. Under Maryland law, it is illegal to take possession of leased property or to shut off heat, water, electricity, or gas to force someone out. The only legal way to remove someone is a court-issued warrant of restitution executed by the sheriff.
Lock out a subtenant or cut their utilities and they can sue for actual damages, which can include the cost of alternative housing, storage fees, and loss of or damage to belongings. The court can also order you to pay their attorney fees. In Baltimore City, an illegal lockout is a misdemeanor carrying a fine up to $500 or up to 10 days in jail per violation. Baltimore County treats it as a misdemeanor with fines up to $100.
Self-help is risky even against a guest. If the person has been there long enough that a court might view them as a tenant, you face the same exposure. The wrongful detainer process is built for exactly this situation. At $56 to file and a hearing within 10 days, it is faster and far cheaper than defending a lockout claim.