Beginning October 1, 2026, a landlord that owns six or more residential rental units in Maryland must offer tenants the option to have their positive rental payment history reported to at least one consumer reporting agency.

This is an offer requirement. It does not automatically enroll every tenant, and it does not require late or incomplete payments to be reported through the Maryland program.

The statute defines positive rental payment history as complete and timely rent payments. Payments that were not made completely or on time are excluded from the statutory definition.

When must the rent reporting offer be made?

The timing depends on when the lease was entered into:

• Leases entered into on or after October 1, 2026: The offer must be made at the time of the lease agreement and at least once annually thereafter.
• Leases entered into before October 1, 2026: The first offer must be made no later than January 1, 2027 and at least once annually thereafter.

Covered landlords must include the reporting option in a written lease. Participation is voluntary, and a tenant must accept the offer through a written, signed and dated election.

What must the offer include?

The law requires the offer to explain:

• That positive rental payment history reporting is optional
• Which consumer reporting agencies will receive the information
• The amount of any resident fee
• How the tenant can submit a written election
• That the tenant may opt in after the initial offer
• How the tenant can stop reporting
• That a tenant who stops reporting generally must wait at least six months before re-enrolling
• How to opt out

The offer must also include a signature block for the tenant to sign and date.

Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development is directed to adopt implementing regulations and prescribe the required offer form. Housing providers should monitor that process and avoid treating an internally created or vendor-created form as the final state form unless it has been confirmed against the regulations.

How must existing tenants receive the offer?

For leases entered into before October 1, 2026, the statute allows the offer to be delivered through:

• First-class mail with a certificate of mailing
• A delivery service that provides tracking and confirmation
• Electronic delivery if the tenant has elected to receive landlord notices electronically

If the offer is sent by first-class mail, the landlord must provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope the tenant can use to return the written election.

These requirements make delivery records an important part of the operational workflow. Property teams should decide who will send each offer, where proof of delivery will be retained and how annual offers will be tracked.

Can a Maryland landlord charge for rent reporting?

A landlord may charge a participating tenant a fee, but the amount cannot exceed the lesser of:

• The landlord’s actual cost to provide the service, or
• $10 per month

The reporting fee is not rent and cannot be credited toward rent or another lease obligation. Payment or nonpayment of the fee also cannot be reported to a consumer reporting agency.

If the fee remains unpaid for at least 30 days, the landlord may stop reporting. The tenant may then be unable to re-enroll for at least six months after the date the fee first became due.

For a closer look at the deadlines, enrollment requirements and implementation considerations, visit CredHub’s Maryland Rent Reporting Law resource page.

Property teams can also use the Maryland Rent Reporting Readiness Kit to map their portfolio, resident workflow, staff responsibilities and reporting-provider questions.

Part two: Housing-subsidy screening restrictions

HB 315 also changes how certain financial information may be used when evaluating a prospective tenant who receives an income-based housing subsidy.

The law defines an income-based housing subsidy as recurring monetary assistance paid to a landlord by a governmental entity or nonprofit organization to cover all or part of a tenant’s rent obligation. This includes low-income housing assistance certificates and vouchers issued under the United States Housing Act of 1937.

The screening provisions are not limited to the six-or-more-unit threshold used in the rent reporting section. The statutory language applies to a landlord of residential rental property that uses financial information, including credit history, as part of a prospective tenant’s rental application. Counsel should confirm the provision’s application to each property and screening workflow.

What information cannot be used as the basis for refusing an applicant?

Except as authorized under federal law, a covered landlord may not refuse to rent to a prospective tenant who receives an income-based housing subsidy based on:

• The prospective tenant’s income
• The prospective tenant’s credit score or lack of a credit score
• Certain adverse credit history that arose during a period when the prospective tenant did not have the subsidy

The third restriction depends on the period without the subsidy being confirmed through one of the sources identified in the law:

• The applicant
• Voucher paperwork
• Documents provided by a public housing authority
• A public housing authority responding to a landlord’s request

The law also states that a landlord may not require a public housing authority to verify the applicable subsidy dates for the purpose of assessing the tenant’s credit history.

These provisions make it important to review screening criteria, application instructions, documentation requirements and any automated decision rules that rely on income or credit information.

What screening practices are still permitted?

HB 315 does not prohibit every use of financial information or every reason for declining an application involving a housing subsidy.

The enacted law includes several qualifications and permitted practices.

Verifying the tenant’s portion of rent

A landlord may verify that the applicant has sufficient income to pay the portion of rent not covered by the subsidy.

When doing so, the landlord may use an income-to-tenant-portion-of-rent ratio that is substantially equivalent to the ratio used for applicants who do not receive subsidies.

In practical terms, the analysis should focus on the amount the tenant is responsible for paying, rather than treating the full contract rent as the applicant’s personal obligation.

Financial information required by a funding program

A landlord receiving funding from a governmental, quasi-governmental or nonprofit organization may collect financial information from an applicant for an income-restricted rental unit when collecting that information is a condition of the funding.

This exception is specific to the requirements attached to the funding and should not be treated as general permission to apply unrelated financial screening standards.

Landlord references and rental conduct

The law permits a landlord to make commercially reasonable and nondiscriminatory use of:

• A reference from the applicant’s current or previous landlord
• A history of lease violations
• A history of failing to pay utilities
• A history of creating a nuisance
• A history of damaging property

These factors should still be applied consistently and reviewed alongside other federal, state and local housing requirements.

Why the screening provisions need careful operational review

The positive rent reporting portion of HB 315 has a clear implementation track: determine coverage, update leases, prepare the offer, establish resident-election procedures and connect the reporting workflow.

The screening provisions touch a different set of systems and teams. Depending on the organization, they may affect:

• Written rental criteria
• Application forms
• Income calculations
• Credit-score thresholds
• Third-party screening configurations
• Staff decision guides
• Adverse-action procedures
• Applicant communications
• Documentation retained in the applicant file

A property manager could prepare the rent reporting program correctly while leaving an outdated screening rule in place. That is why HB 315 should be reviewed as one law with two separate implementation projects.

The law also adds § 20-705.1 to the provisions defining discriminatory housing practices under Maryland law. Violations may therefore carry consequences beyond an ordinary leasing-process error. Maryland counsel should review the final screening policy, particularly any use of automated screening criteria or third-party recommendations.

What Maryland property managers should do now

Property teams do not need to wait until the effective date to begin preparing.

Review portfolio coverage

Determine which landlord or ownership entities own six or more residential rental units in Maryland. Do not assume that the threshold is measured only at an individual property.

Separate the two workstreams

Assign one workstream to positive rent reporting and another to applicant screening. The teams, systems and legal questions involved may be different.

Audit written screening criteria

Identify every place income, credit scores, lack of credit history and adverse credit history affect an application decision. Include both written policies and rules configured within screening software.

Review calculations for subsidy recipients

Confirm that income qualification focuses appropriately on the tenant’s portion of rent and uses a ratio substantially equivalent to the ratio applied to nonsubsidized applicants.

Map the rent reporting process

Document how offers will be delivered, how written elections will be stored, how participation status will be tracked and how annual offers will be managed.

Train the people who interact with applicants and residents

Leasing teams should understand the difference between evaluating an applicant and offering rent reporting to a current or incoming tenant. Clear training can help keep the two processes from becoming confused.

Monitor Maryland’s implementation guidance

The Secretary of Housing and Community Development must adopt regulations implementing the rent reporting section. Forms and workflows should be updated when that guidance becomes available.

Obtain qualified legal review

HB 315 includes conditions, exceptions and terminology that may apply differently depending on the property, funding source, screening process and applicant’s circumstances. Maryland counsel should review both workstreams before implementation.

Prepare for Maryland HB 315 as one law with two workstreams

Maryland HB 315 is more than a requirement to offer positive rent reporting.

It also changes how landlords that use financial information evaluate certain applicants receiving income-based housing subsidies. One part affects current and incoming residents. The other begins earlier in the housing journey, when a prospective tenant applies.

Property managers that address both sides now will be better positioned to create clear, consistent processes before October 1, 2026.

For help planning the positive rent reporting portion of your implementation, visit CredHub’s Maryland Rent Reporting Law resource page or download the Maryland Rent Reporting Readiness Kit.