What Is a Warrant of Restitution in Maryland?

A warrant of restitution in Maryland is the District Court order that authorizes the sheriff to physically remove a tenant from a rental property after the landlord has won a judgment for possession. The judgment alone does not end the tenancy. Until the sheriff executes the warrant, a landlord who changes the locks, shuts off utilities, or hauls belongings to the curb is committing an illegal self-help eviction, no matter what the judgment says.¹

What the Warrant Actually Does

A judgment for possession establishes that the landlord has the superior legal claim to the unit. It does not move the tenant out. The warrant is the separate document that directs the sheriff to put the landlord back in possession of the premises. It is the enforcement step, and it is the only lawful way for a landlord to retake occupied property.

The same warrant mechanism applies across the three main residential grounds in Maryland: failure to pay rent, breach of lease, and tenant holding over. The path to the warrant differs by ground, but the enforcement document at the end is the same.

When a Landlord Can Petition for the Warrant

A landlord cannot petition for the warrant until the tenant’s appeal window has closed. The window depends on the type of case:

Failure to pay rent under § 8-401: four business days after the date of judgment.²
Breach of lease under § 8-402.1: ten calendar days after the date of judgment.³

Once that window passes without an appeal, the landlord files a Petition for Warrant of Restitution (Form DC-CV-081) with the District Court that heard the original case.⁴ Filing fees are set by the District Court cost schedule, and the sheriff’s office charges a separate execution fee that varies by county.⁵

The 14-Day Notice to the Tenant

After the court issues the warrant, the landlord cannot simply hand it to the sheriff and schedule a date. Under amendments that took effect October 1, 2025, the landlord must give the tenant written notice at least 14 days before the scheduled eviction. The notice has to state when the warrant will be executed and, in failure-to-pay-rent cases, the exact amount owed so the tenant knows what it would take to stop the eviction.⁶

The notice must go out through all three of the following channels:

First-class mail with a certificate of mailing.
A physical copy posted on the front door of the unit, documented with a date-stamped photograph.
Electronic notice by email or text message, if the landlord has that contact information on file.

The landlord can charge the tenant up to $5 for the actual cost of providing the notice. If the sheriff has reason to believe the landlord skipped the notice step or that the tenant may have already paid the amount owed, the sheriff must notify the District Court and cannot carry out the eviction without a further court order.⁶

How a Tenant Can Stop the Warrant

Right of Redemption in Rent Cases

If you are a tenant facing eviction for unpaid rent, you can stop the eviction any time before the sheriff executes the warrant by paying the full amount owed. That includes past-due rent, late fees, and court-awarded costs, and it must be paid in cash, certified check, or money order.

The right has a cap. You lose it if three or more judgments of possession for unpaid rent were entered against you in the 12 months before the current case was filed. In Baltimore City the threshold is four judgments.⁷ Past that point, paying the balance no longer stops the eviction. Tenants in breach-of-lease cases do not get a right of redemption at all; the only way to prevent that eviction is to win on appeal.

Appeal With a Bond

Filing an appeal does not automatically stop the eviction. To remain in the property while the appeal is pending, the tenant has to post a bond set by the court.⁸ Without the bond, the landlord can petition for a warrant and move forward even while the appeal is working its way through the court. In breach-of-lease appeals, the tenant also has to pay all rent in arrears, all court costs, and any damages the landlord suffers from the holdover.³

What Happens on Eviction Day

Once the 14-day notice has run and the landlord has filed proof of notice, the sheriff schedules and carries out the eviction. The deputy’s job is to oversee the legal transfer of possession and keep the scene orderly. The sheriff does not pack boxes or move furniture. The landlord has to supply the labor, which usually means a locksmith to change the locks and a crew to handle anything inside.

Belongings Stay in the Unit

Maryland’s rules on personal property changed in late 2025. The sheriff now executes the warrant by putting the landlord in possession of the premises without removing the tenant’s belongings to the curb or a public right-of-way. The tenant then has ten days after the warrant is executed to retrieve personal property from the unit or from another reasonably secure location the landlord designates. The landlord cannot charge any storage fee during that ten-day window. After the ten days, anything left is deemed abandoned and the landlord can dispose of it.⁶

A separate statute covers pets. The sheriff must check the premises for animals and either return them to the tenant on the spot or, if the tenant is not there, contact an animal shelter or rescue to take custody. Leaving a pet on a public street or sidewalk during an eviction is prohibited.⁹

If a landlord violates the property-handling rules, the tenant can seek actual damages, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, injunctive relief to recover the belongings, or any other remedy the court finds reasonable.⁶

The Two 60-Day Deadlines

Maryland’s eviction timeline has two separate 60-day clocks, and letting either one run out ends the case.

The first clock starts on the date of judgment or the expiration of any stay of execution, whichever is later. The landlord has 60 days to petition for the warrant. Miss it, and the judgment for possession is automatically stricken.⁶

The second clock starts when the court issues the warrant. The landlord then has 60 days to act on it unless the court grants an extension. If the warrant goes unexecuted for 60 days, it expires and the underlying judgment for possession is also stricken.⁶ The DC-CV-081 form itself states that the warrant expires 60 days from the date the judge signs it unless otherwise ordered.⁴

When either deadline expires, there is no reviving the warrant. The landlord has to start over with a new complaint, a new judgment, and new fees.

Weather Postponements

The administrative judge of any district can stay the execution of a warrant from day to day when extreme weather makes it unsafe to proceed. Snow, excessive rain, freezing temperatures, extreme heat, and other severe conditions all qualify, and specific thresholds vary by district. Courts in Allegany and Garrett Counties, for example, cancel all evictions when the forecast high will not exceed 32°F and postpone them during severe storms.¹⁰ Postponed evictions get priority on rescheduling and must be completed within three days after the weather clears. A weather delay does not void the warrant or reset any clocks, so the rescheduled date still has to fall inside the warrant’s 60-day window.

1
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Real Property 8-407 – Warrant of Restitution; Notice to Tenant
2
Maryland Courts. Maryland Judiciary – Failure to Pay Rent Information
3
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Real Property 8-402.1 – Breach of Lease
4
Maryland Courts. Petition for Warrant of Restitution Form DC-CV-081
5
Maryland Courts. District Court of Maryland Cost Schedule
6
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Real Property 8-401 – Failure to Pay Rent (Chapter 563, HB 767)
7
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Real Property 8-401 – Failure to Pay Rent
8
Maryland Courts. Information for Tenants – How Tenants Can Resolve Disputes With Landlords
9
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Real Property 14-806
10
District Court of Maryland. Stay of Evictions in Extreme Weather Conditions