The federal Fair Housing Act in Maryland is reinforced by a stronger state law that protects renters, buyers, and borrowers across twelve characteristics rather than the seven covered federally. Codified at Maryland Code, State Government §§ 20-701 through 20-710, the state law adds marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, source of income, and military status to the federal list. If a landlord, seller, real estate agent, or lender treats you differently because of any of these, you can file a complaint with the state within one year or sue in court within two.
Who Is Protected
Under Section 20-702, Maryland provides fair housing regardless of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, source of income, or military status.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland State Government Code Section 20-705 – Discriminatory Housing Practices Sale or Rental of Dwelling Five of those categories go beyond the federal Fair Housing Act.
Source of income is the addition that matters most in day-to-day rental decisions. A landlord cannot reject you solely because you pay rent through a Housing Choice Voucher, Rapid Rehousing subsidy, or other rental assistance program.2Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. Housing The landlord can still verify that your total income covers the rent; what they cannot do is treat the type of income as the disqualifier.
Sexual orientation covers homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality. Gender identity covers gender-related identity, appearance, or expression regardless of the sex assigned at birth.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland State Government Code Section 20-101 – Definitions Because these are named in the Maryland statute, they don’t rise or fall with shifting federal interpretations of the word “sex.”
Marital status protections apply whether you are single, married, divorced, or separated. Military status protections cover active service members, veterans, and their families.
What Landlords, Sellers, and Lenders Cannot Do
Section 20-705 lists five prohibited practices, and each one applies to every protected class in the statute.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland State Government Code Section 20-705 – Discriminatory Housing Practices Sale or Rental of Dwelling
- Refusing to sell, rent, negotiate, or otherwise making a dwelling unavailable because of a protected characteristic.
- Imposing different terms, such as higher rent, larger deposits, or worse lease conditions.
- Publishing an ad, listing, or notice that expresses a preference or limitation. “No children” and “Christian household preferred” both violate this rule.
- Falsely telling someone a unit is unavailable when it is.
- Blockbusting, which is trying to profit by pressuring homeowners to sell using claims about who is moving into the neighborhood.
Disability: Accommodations, Modifications, and Service Animals
Disability protections work differently because they require housing providers to take affirmative steps rather than just treat everyone the same. Section 20-706 addresses three obligations.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland State Government Code Section 20-706 – Discrimination Against Individuals With Disabilities Accessibility
Reasonable Accommodations
A landlord must adjust rules, policies, or services when necessary for a tenant with a disability to use and enjoy their home. The classic example is a no-pets building allowing a service dog. Accommodations change rules, not physical property, and the tenant does not pay.
Maryland’s statute defines a service dog narrowly, as one individually trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability. Dogs that provide only emotional support, comfort, or companionship do not qualify as service dogs under Section 20-706. Emotional support animals may still be allowed as a reasonable accommodation under broader disability provisions when a health care professional verifies the need, but the documentation standards and legal analysis differ from those for a trained service dog.
Reasonable Modifications
A landlord must let a tenant with a disability make physical changes to the unit or common areas when necessary for full use of the home. The tenant usually pays for the work, and for rentals the landlord can require restoration of the interior to its previous condition (minus normal wear and tear) at move-out. Installing grab bars or widening a doorway are common examples.
When the Law Does Not Apply
Maryland’s exemptions are narrower than many people assume. Section 20-704 defines two main carve-outs.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland State Government Code Section 20-704 – Scope of Subtitle
A single-family home sold or rented by the owner without using a real estate broker, agent, or other person in the business of selling or renting homes is exempt, provided no discriminatory advertising is used. The moment a broker is involved, the full law applies. Using an attorney or title company for closing paperwork does not by itself trigger coverage.
Owner-occupied properties get a limited exemption. If you live in the property and rent rooms in your home or apartments in a building with no more than five rental units, you may be exempt from claims based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, military status, or source of income (specifically low-income housing vouchers). This exemption does not cover race, color, religion, national origin, disability, or familial status. Those apply regardless of building size or owner occupancy.
Housing for older persons is exempt from the familial status rules. That covers state or federal elderly housing programs, communities where every resident is at least 62, and communities operated for occupancy by at least one person aged 55 or older per unit.
One boundary worth stating clearly: no exemption ever authorizes discriminatory advertising. Even a housing provider who lawfully selects tenants under an exemption cannot run an ad expressing a discriminatory preference.
Retaliation Is Its Own Violation
Section 20-708 makes it illegal to coerce, intimidate, threaten, interfere with, or retaliate against anyone for exercising fair housing rights or for helping someone else do so.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland State Government Code Section 20-708 A landlord who raises the rent, stops making repairs, or files for eviction after you complain has committed a separate violation on top of the original one. Witnesses and anyone assisting a complaint are covered too.
How to File a Complaint
You have two administrative paths: the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR) or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The agencies operate under a cross-referral arrangement, and HUD funds MCCR through the Fair Housing Assistance Program.7SAM.gov. Assistance Listing 14.401 – Fair Housing Assistance Program
For MCCR, file within one year of the discriminatory act.8Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. Start a Complaint Inquiry You can submit online, by mail, or in person. Include dates, times, witness names, and supporting evidence such as emails, texts, or screenshots of listings. MCCR reviews documents, interviews witnesses, and can conduct site visits. If the evidence supports the complaint, the agency may attempt mediation, and cases that don’t settle can proceed to a formal hearing.9Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. Complaint and Investigative Process
File early rather than at the deadline. Evidence goes stale, witnesses forget, and records can be altered.
Suing in Court
You can also file a civil lawsuit in state or federal court, and you do not have to choose between the two tracks. Maryland law allows an administrative complaint and a lawsuit to proceed at the same time. The deadline for a private lawsuit is two years after the discriminatory act occurred or ended, or two years after a conciliation agreement was breached, whichever is later.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3613 – Enforcement by Private Persons Time spent in an MCCR or HUD proceeding does not count against that two-year clock.
In a lawsuit you can seek compensatory damages for financial losses (such as the difference in rent you had to pay for other housing), damages for emotional distress, attorney fees, and injunctive relief ordering the housing provider to change its practices. Punitive damages may be available in cases of intentional discrimination.
What a Violator Can Face
Remedies fall into three buckets: monetary damages, civil penalties, and injunctive relief.
Damages cover both out-of-pocket losses and the emotional harm of being turned away from housing. If discrimination pushed you into a more expensive rental, the added cost is recoverable.
Federal civil penalties in administrative cases start at up to $10,000 for a first violation, up to $25,000 for a second within five years, and up to $50,000 for two or more within seven years, with statutory inflation adjustments over time.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3612 – Enforcement by Secretary In pattern-or-practice cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, base penalties reach up to $50,000 for a first violation and $100,000 for subsequent ones, again subject to inflation adjustments.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3614 – Enforcement by Attorney General
Injunctive relief forces changes in how a housing provider operates: revised tenant screening criteria, accessibility modifications, fair housing training, or portfolio-wide reforms when the discrimination is systemic.