What is the Maryland security deposit interest rate right now?

3.47% a year for calendar year 2026 — the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for 1 year on January 2, 2026, the first business day of the year, which sits above the statute's 1.5% floor. The rate is the greater of two figures: "the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for 1 year, as of the first business day of each year, or 1.5% a year, whichever is greater" (§ 8-203(e)(1)). It is fixed once each January and governs that whole calendar year.

When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Maryland?

Interest accrues at monthly intervals from the day the tenant gives the landlord the deposit, and it is not compounded (§ 8-203(e)(2)(i)). None is due or payable unless the landlord has held the deposit for at least 6 months, and none is due for any period shorter than a full month — which is what usually happens in the final stub of a tenancy.

Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Maryland?

Yes — for the tenancies the law covers, Maryland law requires the deposit to sit in an interest-bearing account or names the investment vehicle; the coverage conditions are on this page. Deposits must be held in federally insured financial institutions, as defined in § 1-101 of the Financial Institutions Article, which do business in the State; the accounts must be in branches located within Maryland and "shall be devoted exclusively to security deposits and bear interest"; and the money must be placed in an account within 30 days after the landlord receives it (§ 8-203(d)(1)). So Maryland answers all three custody questions in the affirmative and in one subsection: held apart, in a named class of institution, in an account that bears interest.

What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Maryland?

Section 8-203(e)(4) is written to reach unpaid interest. A landlord who "without a reasonable basis, fails to return any part of the security deposit, plus accrued interest, within 45 days after the termination of the tenancy" faces "an action of up to threefold of the withheld amount, plus reasonable attorney's fees" — the words "plus accrued interest" sit inside the trigger, so withheld interest is inside the threefold exposure.

Do any cities or counties in Maryland have their own deposit-interest rules?

Maryland's deposit interest rate is uniform statewide, and the state's housing department says so on its own calculator page. Two counties add layers around the state rate rather than setting one of their own.

Does a landlord have to pay interest on a security deposit in Maryland?

Verified August 28, 2026 All Maryland topics →

Check your municipality. Maryland does not preempt local rent regulation — city or county ordinances may impose rent caps, notice periods, and fee limits that are stricter than the state law on this page. Verify your municipality's ordinances before relying on any figure below. Verified local pages: Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Takoma Park.

What the state record says

Maryland does not preempt local rent control, and three sizable programs are active: Takoma Park (rent stabilization since 1981, CPI-based annual allowance), Montgomery County (cap of CPI+3% up to a 6% maximum), and Prince George's County (cap of the lower of 6% or CPI-U+3%). There is no statewide rent control. Montgomery County's program is Bill 15-23, effective 2024-07-23, and exempts buildings under 23 years old; Prince George's County's is the Permanent Rent Stabilization and Protection Act of 2024, effective 2024-10-17. RP § 8-209.1 acknowledges local rent-limit laws and imposes state reporting duties on jurisdictions that adopt them, while its subsection (e) says the section itself may not be construed to AUTHORIZE local rent caps — a no-new-authorization clause, not a preemption. Local ordinances are outside the scope of this page but are flagged here.

Maryland requires landlords to pay interest on security deposits, at the greater of the 1-year U.S. Treasury yield curve rate on the first business day of the year or 1.5% a year.

Cited to Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203 (security deposits; interest) (d), (e), (g), (h), (l), (m), (n) and 4 more cited sources · Verified August 28, 2026

For 2026 that is 3.47%. Interest is simple, never compounded, and accrues in monthly steps from the day the deposit changes hands — but only on deposits of $50 or more, only once the landlord has held the money six months, and never for a part of a month, which is why the last few weeks of a tenancy usually earn nothing. The deposit plus accrued interest comes back within 45 days after the tenancy ends, and a landlord who keeps any of it without a reasonable basis can be sued for up to three times the amount withheld plus attorney's fees. Maryland also runs an official calculator that the statute entitles a landlord to rely on, so the arithmetic can be settled against the state's own tool.

Maryland deposit interest at a glance

Interest owed to the tenant	Yes — required by statute
How the rate is set	A stated formula with a floor
Current figure	3.47% a year for calendar year 2026 — the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for 1 year on January 2, 2026, the first business day of the year, which sits above the statute's 1.5% floor.
Rate rules	The rate is the greater of two figures: "the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for 1 year, as of the first business day of each year, or 1.5% a year, whichever is greater" (§ 8-203(e)(1)). It is fixed once each January and governs that whole calendar year. For 2026 the 1-year Treasury figure on January 2 — the first business day, January 1 being a holiday — was 3.47%, so 3.47% governs; in a year when the Treasury figure falls below 1.5%, the floor governs instead. Interest is simple: "Interest is not compounded" (§ 8-203(e)(2)(i)), and it accrues at monthly intervals from the day the tenant hands over the deposit. Deposits held under leases from before January 1, 2015 carry the older flat rate of 3% a year. Because the rate resets each January, a multi-year tenancy is worked out year by year; the state's own calculator applies the rate in force on the first day of each monthly period, treats every year as 365 days, and where a monthly period straddles two calendar years applies the earlier year's rate.
Accrual and payment	Interest accrues at monthly intervals from the day the tenant gives the landlord the deposit, and it is not compounded (§ 8-203(e)(2)(i)). None is due or payable unless the landlord has held the deposit for at least 6 months, and none is due for any period shorter than a full month — which is what usually happens in the final stub of a tenancy. Within 45 days after the end of the tenancy the landlord must return the deposit together with the accrued interest, less any damages rightfully withheld (§ 8-203(e)(1)). A tenant who was evicted or ejected, or who abandoned the premises, gets the same 45-day return of deposit plus interest after making written demand (§ 8-203(h)(2)(iii)).
Who and what is covered	Interest is payable only on security deposits of $50 or more (§ 8-203(e)(3)), and only where the landlord has held the deposit for at least 6 months (§ 8-203(e)(2)(ii)). Beyond those two conditions the rule reaches residential deposits statewide, and no provision of § 8-203 may be waived in a lease (§ 8-203(l)).
Statute controls where or how the deposit is held	Yes
Interest-bearing account required	Yes
Custody rules	Deposits must be held in federally insured financial institutions, as defined in § 1-101 of the Financial Institutions Article, which do business in the State; the accounts must be in branches located within Maryland and "shall be devoted exclusively to security deposits and bear interest"; and the money must be placed in an account within 30 days after the landlord receives it (§ 8-203(d)(1)). So Maryland answers all three custody questions in the affirmative and in one subsection: held apart, in a named class of institution, in an account that bears interest. A tenant may instead buy a surety bond in place of all or part of the deposit (§ 8-203(i)). None of it may be waived in a lease (§ 8-203(l)).
Penalty for violation	Section 8-203(e)(4) is written to reach unpaid interest. A landlord who "without a reasonable basis, fails to return any part of the security deposit, plus accrued interest, within 45 days after the termination of the tenancy" faces "an action of up to threefold of the withheld amount, plus reasonable attorney's fees" — the words "plus accrued interest" sit inside the trigger, so withheld interest is inside the threefold exposure. Note the base: three times the amount withheld, not three times the whole deposit. A second threefold remedy, not conditioned on the landlord having a reasonable basis, applies where the landlord fails to return the deposit to an evicted or departing tenant who demanded it (§ 8-203(h)(3)(ii)). Separately, a landlord who does not mail the itemized list of damages within 45 days forfeits the right to withhold any part of the deposit for damages (§ 8-203(g)(2)).
Local rules	Maryland's deposit interest rate is uniform statewide, and the state's housing department says so on its own calculator page. Two counties add layers around the state rate rather than setting one of their own. Prince George's County Code § 13-159 requires the deposit to sit in an interest-bearing and insured escrow account at a bank or savings and loan located in Maryland, identified as security deposit escrow money and not commingled with the landlord's assets — an account duty enforced through the county's rental licence — while routing the rate itself to § 8-203 twice over. Montgomery County Code chapter 29 has no security-deposit section at all: its lease-contents rule requires deposits be held in accordance with state law, and what the county adds is a forum and a remedy, the Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs being able to award up to three times a deposit withheld without a reasonable basis. One trap for readers: the Prince George's County text still prints the pre-2015 state rule, saying interest accrues "at six (6) month intervals", and Montgomery County's housing department page says the same thing in its own words. Accrual has been monthly since 2015.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Maryland Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/maryland/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Calculate Maryland security deposit interest — free, no signup, built on the same verified Maryland law as this page.

Published rate tables

Maryland deposit interest rate: greater of the 1-year Treasury rate or 1.5%

Each January the rate for that calendar year is fixed as the greater of the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for 1 year on the first business day of the year, or 1.5% a year (§ 8-203(e)(1)). Maryland publishes no year-by-year list of the figures: the housing department maintains a calculator instead, as § 8-203(m) allows, and links out to the Treasury series for the underlying rates. Interest is simple and accrues monthly, so each monthly period takes the rate in force on its first day, and a period that straddles two calendar years takes the earlier year's rate. The year-by-year figures below are compiled from the Treasury series itself — the daily yield-curve CSV for each year, first-business-day row, 1-year column — because the state publishes a calculator rather than a list; each row's note states the underlying Treasury figure and which limb of the formula governs.

Period	Rate	Note
calendar year 2015	1.5%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 2, 2015, the first business day of the year, was 0.25% — below the 1.5% floor, so the floor governs and the rate is 1.5%.
calendar year 2016	1.5%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 4, 2016, the first business day of the year, was 0.61% — below the 1.5% floor, so the floor governs and the rate is 1.5%.
calendar year 2017	1.5%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 3, 2017, the first business day of the year, was 0.89% — below the 1.5% floor, so the floor governs and the rate is 1.5%.
calendar year 2018	1.83%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 2, 2018, the first business day of the year, was 1.83% — above the 1.5% floor, so 1.83% governs.
calendar year 2019	2.6%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 2, 2019, the first business day of the year, was 2.60% — above the 1.5% floor, so 2.60% governs.
calendar year 2020	1.56%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 2, 2020, the first business day of the year, was 1.56% — above the 1.5% floor, so 1.56% governs.
calendar year 2021	1.5%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 4, 2021, the first business day of the year, was 0.10% — below the 1.5% floor, so the floor governs and the rate is 1.5%.
calendar year 2022	1.5%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 3, 2022, the first business day of the year, was 0.40% — below the 1.5% floor, so the floor governs and the rate is 1.5%.
calendar year 2023	4.72%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 3, 2023, the first business day of the year, was 4.72% — above the 1.5% floor, so 4.72% governs.
calendar year 2024	4.8%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 2, 2024, the first business day of the year, was 4.80% — above the 1.5% floor, so 4.80% governs.
calendar year 2025	4.17%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on January 2, 2025, the first business day of the year, was 4.17% — above the 1.5% floor, so 4.17% governs.
calendar year 2026	3.47%	The 1-year Treasury yield curve rate on Friday, January 2, 2026, the first business day of the year — January 1 was a holiday. Above the 1.5% floor, so 3.47% governs.

A current series — Set from the U.S. Treasury's published 1-year yield curve rate on the first business day of each January; Maryland's housing department maintains a calculator rather than publishing the list. Source: official source · verified August 28, 2026.

Maryland deposit interest rate for leases before January 1, 2015

Deposits under leases from before January 1, 2015 carry a flat 3% a year — the rate that applied before the Treasury-linked formula took over. The state's housing department states the split on its calculator page, and the calculator itself handles only deposits held on or after January 1, 2015, so an older tenancy is worked out by hand.

Period	Rate	Note
leases entered before January 1, 2015	3%	The flat pre-formula rate, as stated by Maryland's housing department on its security deposit calculator page.

A closed series that will not grow. Source: official source · verified August 28, 2026.

City and county deposit-interest pages in Maryland

Montgomery County — a local code that defers to the state rule
Prince George's County — a local code that defers to the state rule

Notes and caveats

Accrual has been monthly since 2015 — The widely repeated claim that Maryland interest accrues at six-month intervals is the pre-2015 rule. The 2015 act (Ch. 455, HB 782) struck "six-month" and wrote "MONTHLY" into § 8-203(e)(2)(i), took effect June 1, 2015, and applies to interest accruing on or after January 1, 2015. The same act added the two conditions that came with it: nothing unless the deposit has been held at least 6 months, and nothing for any period shorter than a full month. Older county code text and landlord guides still print the six-month wording.
The state runs the official calculator, and reliance on it is protected — § 8-203(m) lets the housing department publish either a list of the yearly Treasury figures or a customized calculator, and it maintains the calculator. § 8-203(n) then says a landlord "is entitled to rely on" whichever one the department maintains when calculating the interest. The calculator's own stated conventions matter to anyone reproducing its answers: every year is treated as 365 days, each monthly period takes the rate in force on its first day, and a monthly period that spans two calendar years takes the earlier year's rate.
There is no official list of past rates — Maryland publishes no year-by-year rate table. Anyone who wants the underlying figures goes to the U.S. Treasury's daily yield curve series, which the department's own calculator page links to. That is not a compliance gap: § 8-203(m) asks for a list or a calculator, and the calculator is live.
Deposits under leases from before 2015 — The state's calculator page states the split plainly: leases before January 1, 2015 carry 3% a year; leases after that date carry the greater of 1.5% or the Treasury figure. The calculator only accepts deposits held on or after January 1, 2015, so an older tenancy has to be worked out by hand.
The threefold penalty reaches withheld interest — § 8-203(e)(4) triggers on a landlord who, without a reasonable basis, fails to return any part of the deposit "plus accrued interest" within 45 days of termination. Because the interest is named in the trigger, unpaid interest is inside the threefold exposure — measured on the amount withheld, not on the whole deposit, and carrying reasonable attorney's fees.
Mobile home park deposits moved on the same date — The 2015 act made the identical six-month-to-monthly change in § 8A-1001, the mobile home park deposit section, so park rental agreements switched to monthly accrual at the same time and on the same terms.

Common questions: Maryland deposit interest

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

What is the Maryland security deposit interest rate right now?: 3.47% a year for calendar year 2026 — the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for 1 year on January 2, 2026, the first business day of the year, which sits above the statute's 1.5% floor. The rate is the greater of two figures: "the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for 1 year, as of the first business day of each year, or 1.5% a year, whichever is greater" (§ 8-203(e)(1)). It is fixed once each January and governs that whole calendar year.
When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Maryland?: Interest accrues at monthly intervals from the day the tenant gives the landlord the deposit, and it is not compounded (§ 8-203(e)(2)(i)). None is due or payable unless the landlord has held the deposit for at least 6 months, and none is due for any period shorter than a full month — which is what usually happens in the final stub of a tenancy.
Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Maryland?: Yes — for the tenancies the law covers, Maryland law requires the deposit to sit in an interest-bearing account or names the investment vehicle; the coverage conditions are on this page. Deposits must be held in federally insured financial institutions, as defined in § 1-101 of the Financial Institutions Article, which do business in the State; the accounts must be in branches located within Maryland and "shall be devoted exclusively to security deposits and bear interest"; and the money must be placed in an account within 30 days after the landlord receives it (§ 8-203(d)(1)). So Maryland answers all three custody questions in the affirmative and in one subsection: held apart, in a named class of institution, in an account that bears interest.
What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Maryland?: Section 8-203(e)(4) is written to reach unpaid interest. A landlord who "without a reasonable basis, fails to return any part of the security deposit, plus accrued interest, within 45 days after the termination of the tenancy" faces "an action of up to threefold of the withheld amount, plus reasonable attorney's fees" — the words "plus accrued interest" sit inside the trigger, so withheld interest is inside the threefold exposure.
Do any cities or counties in Maryland have their own deposit-interest rules?: Maryland's deposit interest rate is uniform statewide, and the state's housing department says so on its own calculator page. Two counties add layers around the state rate rather than setting one of their own.

Citations

Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203 (security deposits; interest) · (d), (e), (g), (h), (l), (m), (n) (verified 2026) Official source
2015 Md. Laws, Ch. 455 (HB 782) — six-month accrual intervals replaced by monthly · Section 1 (§ 8-203(e)(2)); Sections 2-3 (application and effective date) (verified 2026) Official source
Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development security deposit interest calculator (§ 8-203(m), (n)) (verified 2026) Official source
Maryland security deposit interest calculator application (verified 2026) Official source
U.S. Treasury daily yield curve rates, 2026 (the figure § 8-203(e)(1) points at) · January 2, 2026, 1-year rate (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203 in full in the General Assembly's published statute text, subsections (b) through (n), with the interest, custody, return and penalty subsections taken verbatim; the chaptered 2015 act that changed the accrual interval (2015 Md. Laws, Ch. 455, HB 782) and the chaptered 2024 act that changed the deposit cap (2024 Md. Laws, Ch. 124, HB 693) read in the General Assembly's session-law texts; the General Assembly's bill master lists for every regular session from 2014 through 2026 read for any measure touching § 8-203; the U.S. Treasury daily yield curve series for 2026 read for the first-business-day figure; the Department of Housing and Community Development's security deposit calculator page and the calculator application itself read for the state's own stated conventions and its statement of the pre-2015 rate; and Montgomery County Code chapter 29 and Prince George's County Code § 13-159 read in full for any county interest rule.