Montgomery County, Maryland: security deposit interest
Montgomery County sets no security-deposit interest rule of its own: the county code has no deposit section, requires leases to handle deposits in accordance with state law, and leaves the rate and accrual entirely to Maryland Real Property § 8-203.
Cited to Montgomery County Code ch. 29 (Landlord-Tenant Relations) and 1 more source · Verified August 28, 2026
What the county adds is enforcement and one tight deadline — its Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs can award a tenant up to three times a wrongfully withheld deposit, and a landlord whose unit is condemned must return a permanently displaced tenant's deposit, with the interest state law requires, within 72 hours. The county housing department's own guidance points landlords to the state rate and the state's calculator.
Montgomery County deposit interest at a glance
| Interest owed under local law | The local code defers to the state rule |
|---|
Accrual and payment
One county addition tightens the clock in a narrow case: when a rental unit is condemned and the tenant is permanently displaced, the landlord must return the deposit with required interest within 72 hours of the condemnation posting.
Penalty for violation
The county's Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs may award up to three times any part of a deposit wrongfully withheld, weighing the egregiousness of the conduct, the landlord's good faith, and any history of wrongful withholding — an administrative forum a tenant can use without going to court.
How this interacts with state law
Montgomery County's code has no security-deposit section at all. Its lease-contents rule requires every lease to hold deposits "in accordance with state law," and the chapter's only deposit-interest words appear in the condemnation-displacement rule, which returns the deposit "with required interest" — a bare reference to whatever Maryland Real Property § 8-203 requires. The county writes no account rule, no rate, and no accrual mechanic of its own.
Notes and caveats
- A stale line on the county's guidance page — The county housing department's landlord page on deposits correctly cites § 8-203 and the state rate, but describes interest as accruing "every six months" — the state rule before June 1, 2015. Maryland has accrued deposit interest at monthly intervals since then. The statute, not the guidance page, controls.
Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Montgomery County, Maryland: security deposit interest (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/maryland/montgomery-county/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified).
Citations
- Montgomery County Code ch. 29 (Landlord-Tenant Relations) · §§ 29-27(j), 29-35B, 29-47(b) (verified 2026) Official source
- Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203 (the state deposit-interest rate) · (e) (verified 2026) Official source
How this record was verified: Read of all 84 sections of Montgomery County Code chapter 29 (Landlord-Tenant Relations) on the county's code publisher, with every occurrence of interest and deposit language classified, plus the county housing department's landlord guidance page on security deposits.
This page records local law on deposit interest. The statewide position — 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. — lives on the Maryland deposit-interest page with its own citations and verification date.