Maintaining and Repairing the Rental Property

Landlords have certain obligations regarding the maintenance of a rental property. Landlords are responsible for ensuring that their property is in compliance with all zoning, housing, building, fire, and other applicable safety codes.

With respect to the maintenance of the property, the landlord must:

• Present the property at the beginning of the tenancy in clean, safe and sanitary condition, free of vermin and rodents;
• Keep all areas of the building, grounds, and facilities in a clean, safe and sanitary condition;
• Make all repairs and arrangements necessary to put and keep the dwelling unit in as good a condition as it was, or should have been, when the tenancy began;
• Provide tenants with at least 24 hours' notice before making non-emergency repairs;
• Provide at least 72 hours' notice prior to any DHCA inspection scheduled by Housing Code Enforcement;
• Maintain all electrical, plumbing, and other facilities and conveniences supplied in good working order;
• Provide A/C that maintains a temperature of not more than 80° from June 1st through September 30th of each year (exception, detached single-family homes) and maintain A/C in working order if it is provided by the Landlord;
• Check all smoke detectors prior to occupancy to assure they are in working order and replace all smoke detectors that are more than 10 years old with a lithium ion sealed 10-year battery operated smoke detector;
• Provide a carbon-monoxide detector if the rental property contains fuel-burning appliances;
• Supply hot and cold water as reasonably required by the tenant and adequate heat as required by the Housing Code (at least 68º).  In a rental property located in a common ownership community, the landlord must provide water, hot water and adequate heat to the extent that the landlord is responsible for providing these services.  This does not affect any provision in a lease that requires a tenant to pay for gas, heating oil, electricity, water or sewer service that the tenant uses;
• In a multifamily building, a landlord must pay for trash removal and recycling and cannot pass this cost on to the tenant.
• In a single-family rental property, a landlord must pay for the frequent removal of trash but does not have to provide or maintain appropriate receptacles.  A lease for a single-family rental property may require a tenant to pay for trash collection service if that service is provided directly by a private trash hauler and the rental property is not located in a County trash collection district.
• Install window guards in all multifamily units on all openable windows if there is a child under 11 years of age OR on request.

Each landlord must reasonably provide for the maintenance of the health, safety, and welfare of all tenants and individuals properly on the premises of rental housing. For more information see: Housing and Building Code Enforcement Handbook.

• Keep the rental property clean and sanitary;  
• Report all defects or problems to the landlord promptly and preferably, in writing;
• Cooperate with the landlord when scheduling repairs and permit access to the landlord during normal business hours for nonemergency repairs when the landlord provides proper notice (at least 24 hours); 
• Permit access to the landlord for inspections scheduled and required by DHCA Housing Code Enforcement (at least 72-hours' notice);  
• Keep all plumbing fixtures clean and sanitary. Use all plumbing and electrical fixtures properly;  
• Do not allow any person to willfully destroy, deface, damage, impair, or remove any part of the rental property, equipment, or appurtenances; 
• Dispose of all rubbish, garbage, and other organic or flammable waste in a clean and sanitary manner.  A tenant in a single-family rental property must provide and maintain appropriate receptacles to remove ashes, rubbish, and garbage. 
• If renting a single-family home, cut grass and weeds periodically and do not allow grass and weeds to grow more than 12 inches high; Clear the walkway of snow and ice; and, if required by the lease, rake the leaves and clean the gutters. 
• Comply with all other legal provisions contained in the lease pertaining to maintenance and safety. 

When a tenant notifies the landlord of a defect in the property or requests repairs, DHCA highly recommends that this request be in writing. The landlord must make the repairs in a reasonable time period.

If a landlord fails to make repairs in a timely manner, a tenant may submit an online complaint or call 311 (240-777-0311) to submit a complaint by phone. Montgomery County DHCA Housing Code Enforcement will go to the property and put the landlord on notice if he/she finds violations of the Housing Code. The Code Inspector will follow-up with enforcement action in the form of Civil Citations and court action, if necessary, if the landlord fails to make required repairs.

For all types of licensed rental housing located in its area of jurisdiction, Montgomery County DHCA Housing Code Enforcement conducts inspections based on complaints received.

Anyone can report a housing and building code complaint online or by calling 311 (240-777-0311). DHCA Housing Code Enforcement accepts anonymous housing code complaints (and requests contact information to obtain more details about a complaint when necessary). Such contact information is kept confidential.

Complaints include the property address, the name of the property owner or agent, if known, and a brief description of the complaint. A DHCA inspector conducts an initial complaint inspection. If a violation is found, the owner will be required to correct the violation within a specified timeframe. If a resident needs emergency housing, they are advised to call the 24-hour Crisis Center: 240-777-4000.

Montgomery County responds to complaints about housing conditions. Complaint inspections typically are conducted within 5 business days or less based on urgency and caseload.

In addition to complaint-based inspections, DHCA Housing Code Enforcement conducts systematic inspections of multifamily rental housing to enforce health and safety violations and identify the most problematic buildings. Based on the number and severity of violations found, each apartment building is identified as Compliant, At-Risk or Troubled. Category designations are based on the number and severity of violations found during inspection. Continuing housing code inspections focus enforcement mainly on At-Risk and Troubled properties.

An individual property is designated as "troubled" based on a comparison of its most recent inspection results with the results of all other properties inspected during the same time period. A property designated as troubled must develop and implement a corrective action plan that describes in detail the specific actions that the landlord will take within a specified time schedule to both identify and correct current and ongoing housing code violations in a timely manner and prevent future housing code violations to the greatest extent possible. A troubled property must also submit a quarterly log of its internal maintenance calls upon the request of DHCA.

Sec. 29-22 Inspection of Rental Housing Code and Regulations

Executive Regulation 5-17 Troubled Properties established a scoring method to identify Troubled Properties based on the severity and quantity of violations in a multifamily rental property. Troubled Properties may have health and safety violations such as:

• Rodent or insect infestations affecting 20% or more of the rental units
• Extensive and visible mold growth on interior walls and exposed surfaces.
• Rooms or sleeping areas that do not have a safe and unobstructed emergency fire exit directly to the outside.
• Significant or routine water leaks causing chronic dampness, mold growth, or property damage in more than one unit.
• Lack of one or more utilities (electricity, gas, water etc.) that were not shut off due to tenant non-payment.

A list of Troubled, At-Risk, and Compliant multifamily rental properties can be found on our Troubled Properties Analysis web page.

The Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) Housing Code Enforcement Unit sends postcards to tenants prior to the scheduled inspection of an apartment building. These inspections are required by Code to ensure that all multi-family buildings and apartment units are maintained in sound condition and good repair. If a tenant has further questions or would like their unit to be inspected, they may  Create a Service Request.

When a housing code violation is found, DHCA issues a notice of violation to the property owner. The violation must be corrected within the specified deadline to avoid a civil citation.

Code Enforcement Process

• Step 1. A property is inspected. If no violation is found, the case is closed.
• Step 2. A “Notice of Violation” or an “Emergency Field Notice” is issued for an urgent violation, Urgent violations must be corrected within 24-48 hours. Non-urgent violations must be corrected within 30 days or less.
• Step 3. Violations are corrected by the deadline or DHCA may authorize a “ Repair and Deduct” or “ Clean and Tax Lien”
• Step 4. Civil citations and fines are issued for each uncorrected violation. Most uncorrected violations are subject to a $500 civil citation for each violation.
• Step 5. A court hearing subpoena is issued within 60-90 days. An abatement order can be granted in court to correct the violations in 30 to 60 days. An inspection is conducted prior to the court date to assess compliance.
• Step 6. The property owner corrects the violations and fines are paid or a judge will compel property owners to correct violations. Under certain circumstances, a district court judge can compel non-compliant property owners to correct violations and pay fines under the issuance of an abatement order.

Learn Status of an Inspection: Visit eProperty Data Mining and type in the property address to check the status of an inspection.

In most cases, DHCA is able to work with property owners and occupants to correct violations.