How to Get and Submit the Baltimore County Rental License Inspection Form

To get the Baltimore County rental license inspection form, download the Rental License Inspection Sheet from the county’s Permits, Approvals and Inspections website, then have a Maryland-licensed home inspector complete it during a walk-through of your property.¹ Once every checklist item passes and the inspector signs the form, you submit it with your other registration documents and fee through the county’s Citizen Access portal, by mail, or in person.

Which Version of the Form You Need

There are two versions. Properties with six or fewer dwelling units use the standard Rental License Inspection Sheet.² Apartment complexes and buildings with seven or more units use a separate Multifamily Inspection form, and only 10 percent of the units need to be inspected. Larger buildings can also skip the third-party inspection entirely by submitting a Self-Certification Affidavit instead.¹

Download the blank PDF before scheduling the inspection. Reading it in advance tells you exactly what the inspector will check and gives you time to fix anything obvious.

Who Fills the Form Out

The inspector completes the form, not the landlord. The inspector must hold a current home inspector license from the State of Maryland. The county’s rental registration page links directly to the Maryland Department of Labor’s directory of licensed home inspectors, which is the simplest way to find someone qualified in your area.¹ Fees generally run between $100 and $175 for a standard rental inspection, varying by company and property size.

What the Inspector Checks

The form is a pass-or-fail checklist. Every item has to pass before the inspector signs. For properties with six or fewer units, the main categories are:

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Hardwired, battery-backed, interconnected smoke detectors must be present and working on every level of the home, excluding unoccupied attics, garages, and crawl spaces. Homes built on or after July 1, 2013 also need a smoke detector inside each sleeping area.² Carbon monoxide detectors are required on every level and must be audible from sleeping areas. Expired or non-functional devices will fail.

Plumbing, Electrical, and Water

The kitchen and every bathroom must have hot and cold running water, no leaks under the sink, and toilets that flush properly.² Electrical systems are checked for exposed wiring, overloaded circuits, and other fire or shock hazards.

Windows, Egress, and Handrails

All windows designed to open must work.¹ Basement sleeping areas need a secondary escape route: either a window with a minimum opening of 5.7 square feet and a sill no higher than 44 inches from the floor, or a door with a thumb-turn deadbolt.² Any interior or exterior stairway with more than three risers needs a handrail.

If something fails, you fix it and the inspector returns for a follow-up before signing.

Header Information That Has to Match

The form has three header sections above the checklist. One captures the property owner’s name, address, and contact information. One identifies the rental property. The third records the inspector’s credentials: full name, email, mailing address, phone number, company name, and Maryland state license number.² A mismatched license number or incomplete contact field is a common reason applications get held up, so verify this information before the inspector leaves.

What You Submit With the Form

The signed inspection sheet is one piece of the registration packet. For properties with six or fewer units, you also need:

A lead inspection certificate, if the property was built before 1978. This is a separate certificate from a lead-accredited inspector, not something the rental inspector can issue. You can look up existing certificates for a property through the Maryland Department of the Environment’s public search tool.¹³
A New Tenant Notification Form, which is a county-provided document listing common code and zoning rules that the landlord and tenant review together.⁴
A Short-Term Rental License Certification, only if the unit will be rented for stays of less than 30 consecutive days.¹

Buildings with seven or more units submit either a Self-Certification Affidavit or the Multifamily Inspection form covering at least 10 percent of units, along with lead certificates for any inspected pre-1978 units and a Multifamily New Tenant Information form for the lease package.¹

How to Submit and What It Costs

The fastest route is the Baltimore County Citizen Access portal.⁵ Create an account, accept the terms of use, upload the inspection sheet along with the lead certificate and New Tenant Notification Form, and pay by Visa or Mastercard.¹

To submit by mail or in person, send everything to the Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections at the County Office Building, 111 West Chesapeake Avenue, Towson, Maryland 21204. Registration fees for standard rentals run between $48 and $60 per unit depending on whether the building is owner-occupied and how many tenants it has. Short-term rentals pay $300 per unit.⁶ Licenses are valid for three years, and renewal requires a new passing inspection and a fresh set of the same supporting documents.

Once the license is issued, you can download it as a PDF from the portal rather than waiting on mail.⁶

Why Getting the Form Done Matters

Renting without a valid license has a consequence most landlords do not expect: in Baltimore County, an unlicensed landlord cannot file an eviction action for failure to pay rent. If your tenant stops paying, you have no legal path to remove them until the property is licensed. Code enforcement also accepts complaints about unregistered rentals, which can lead to civil penalties on top of the eviction bar. If a property is already occupied and unlicensed, start the inspection and registration process now rather than at the next lease turnover.

1
Baltimore County. Register or Renew Your Rental Property
2
Baltimore County. Rental License Inspection Sheet for Six or Fewer Units
3
Maryland Department of the Environment. Rental Property Owner Requirements
4
Baltimore County. New Tenant Notification Form
5
Baltimore County. Accela Citizen Access
6
Baltimore County. Rental Housing Registration