Anne Arundel County Rent Court: A Landlord's 2026 Guide to Filing in Annapolis and Glen Burnie

Anne Arundel County is one of the few Maryland jurisdictions where "which courthouse?" is a real question. The county runs two District Court locations, Annapolis and Glen Burnie, and both hear landlord-tenant cases. Add the City of Annapolis rental licensing overlay, which applies inside city limits but not in the rest of the county, and it's easy for a landlord with properties in Severna Park, Pasadena, and downtown Annapolis to trip on a detail that has nothing to do with whether the rent is actually owed.

This guide covers where to file, what it costs under the current fee schedule, the licensing rules that can sink a case before the judge reaches the merits, and what the timeline looks like from notice to warrant.

Anne Arundel County rent court runs on the same statewide FTPR machinery as everywhere else in Maryland. What changes here is the geography: two courthouses, one city licensing regime, and a county licensing rule that only touches multi-unit buildings.

The Two Courthouses

"Rent court" is the informal name for the District Court of Maryland's landlord-tenant docket. In Anne Arundel County (District 7), that docket runs at two locations, and the Maryland Courts directory confirms both hear landlord-tenant cases:

• Annapolis (location 07-01): 251 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, MD 21401. Phone: 410-260-1370. Open 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, except legal holidays. This is the Robert F. Sweeney District Court building near the state government complex.
• Glen Burnie (location 07-02): 7500 Governor Ritchie Highway, Glen Burnie, MD 21061. Phone: 410-260-1800. Same hours. Directory page: mdcourts.gov/district/directories/annearundelGLENBURNIE.

Which one you file in depends on where the property is located within the county, not where you live or where your business is registered. The split between the two locations is administrative and can change, so the reliable move is to call the clerk at either location and confirm which courthouse serves your property's address before you drive over with a completed complaint. Filing at the wrong District Court location within the correct county is usually fixable; filing in the wrong county entirely is a dismissal.

Both locations publish weekly dockets online through the Maryland Courts directory pages, which is useful for estimating how crowded your hearing block will be.

Before You File: The Statewide Prerequisites

Anne Arundel County follows the standard Maryland FTPR sequence. The case starts long before the courthouse:

1. Serve the 10-day Notice of Intent (DC-CV-115). Under Md. Code, Real Property § 8-401, a landlord must give written notice of intent to file at least 10 days before filing the complaint. The notice period must fully run: day 10 is the earliest valid filing day. EvictPro generates a compliant DC-CV-115 free, with no account required.
2. Confirm your licensing status (covered in detail below), because the complaint form makes you plead it under oath.
3. Update the rent ledger through the filing date. The amount on the complaint must be what is actually outstanding when you file, not the amount on the notice. Subtract partial payments. Cap late fees at 5% of monthly rent.
4. Gather the lease and proof of notice service. Bring both to the filing window and the hearing.

Licensing in Anne Arundel County: Two Different Regimes

This is the part of the guide that is genuinely local, and it is where prepared landlords separate from unprepared ones.

City of Annapolis: rental operating license required

If the property sits inside Annapolis city limits, Chapter 17.44 of the city code requires a current rental operating license before the unit can be rented. Licenses are issued through the city's Department of Planning and Zoning, renewed annually, and tied to an annual inspection. The city's program details, application, and current fees are posted at annapolis.gov/1065/Rental-Licenses. The standard license fee has been posted at $120 per unit per year; confirm the current fee schedule with the city before budgeting, since municipal fees change.

Anne Arundel County: Multiple Dwelling License for 2+ units

Outside Annapolis, Anne Arundel County does not impose a general rental license on single-family rentals. It does require a Multiple Dwelling License for buildings with two or more rental units, rooming houses, and similar properties, issued through the county Department of Inspections and Permits (details at aacounty.org). Non-resident owners of licensed multiple dwellings must designate a resident agent for service of process. Short-term rentals have their own separate county license.

Why licensing shows up in rent court

The DC-CV-082 complaint asks, in its property section: "Is the property required to be licensed in order to operate as a rental property?" and requires the license number and expiration date if yes. That question is not decorative. Md. Code, Real Property § 8-406 requires a landlord in a jurisdiction with a rental licensing requirement to plead, and at trial prove, that the property is licensed, exempt, or unlicensed for one of a short list of excusable reasons. An Annapolis landlord with a lapsed city license, or a multi-unit county landlord without a Multiple Dwelling License, can be barred from summary ejectment until the license is cured. Check the expiration date before you file, not at the hearing.

Filing DC-CV-082: Fees and Mechanics

The complaint form is the same statewide. Our field-by-field walkthrough is here: How to Fill Out DC-CV-082. The Anne Arundel specifics:

• Filing fee: $50 for a summary ejectment (Failure to Pay Rent) complaint, per the current District Court cost schedule, DCA-109 (Rev. 03/2026). The fee is non-refundable.
• Service fee: $5 for each tenant of record, collected at filing under the same schedule.
• Tenant Holding Over (DC-CV-080): $56. Breach of Lease (DC-CV-085): $56. Different case types, different forms, same courthouse.
• Payment: clerks accept cash, check, or money order; some accept card. Bring a backup payment method.

List every tenant on the lease as a defendant, copy the property address exactly as the lease states it, and claim only the filing-date balance. Those three habits prevent the majority of preventable dismissals.

Hearing Day in Annapolis or Glen Burnie

Landlord-tenant dockets in both locations are typically heard in blocks, with many cases called the same morning or afternoon. A few practical notes:

• Arrive early. Security screening lines at both courthouses can run long on docket days, and a case called while you are in line can be dismissed for failure to appear.
• Bring the full file: signed lease, rent ledger through the hearing date, proof of the 10-day notice and its service, your license documentation (Annapolis rental operating license or county Multiple Dwelling License where applicable), and a government ID.
• Be ready for the amount conversation. Judges verify the claim against the ledger. If the tenant paid anything since filing, know the exact updated balance.
• Check the current schedule. Docket days, remote hearing options, and courtroom assignments change; confirm with the clerk or the posted weekly docket rather than assuming last year's pattern holds.

If the tenant does not appear and your paperwork is clean, expect a judgment for possession by default. If the tenant appears and contests, the judge hears both sides the same day in most cases.

After Judgment: Appeal, Redemption, Warrant

Winning the hearing is the midpoint, not the finish line. The post-judgment sequence, covered in depth in What Happens After Filing an FTPR Case in Maryland, runs:

• 4-day appeal window. The tenant can appeal to the Circuit Court. An appeal stays the eviction only if the tenant posts the required bond.
• Right of redemption. Until the eviction is physically executed, the tenant can cancel it by tendering the full court-determined amount in cash, certified check, or money order, unless the judgment was entered without right of redemption.
• Warrant of restitution. Section 8-401(f)(1)(i) sets a 7-day post-judgment wait, treated in practice as 7 business days under Md. Rule 1-203, before the warrant can be filed. Two 60-day clocks then apply: request the warrant within 60 days of judgment, and the sheriff must execute it within 60 days of issuance.
• Sheriff scheduling and eviction day. The Anne Arundel County Sheriff's Office executes warrants; lead times vary with the office's backlog.

End to end, a typical uncontested Anne Arundel County FTPR case runs roughly 45 to 75 days from serving the notice to regaining possession. Notice requirements for the scheduled eviction date vary by county; see Maryland Eviction Notice Requirements by County for where Anne Arundel County fits under the statewide framework.

How EvictPro Handles Anne Arundel County Cases

EvictPro is built for exactly this kind of county: same statewide law, locally specific execution. Whether you own one rental in Pasadena or a portfolio spread across Annapolis, Glen Burnie, and Odenton, the platform routes each case to the correct District Court location, applies the current DCA-109 fee schedule, and runs the compliance checks that Anne Arundel judges actually enforce:

• Free 10-day Notice of Intent (DC-CV-115), generated in minutes at evictpro.us/notice-of-intent. No account required.
• Filing with Court: $99, base court filing fee included, with Maryland's $5-per-tenant service fee billed at cost. Licensing status, notice day-count, tenant names, and ledger math are all validated before submission.
• Court hearing representation: $249 if you want an experienced Maryland agent handling the docket appearance.
• Warrant of Restitution (DC-CV-081): $199, filed on the correct post-judgment timeline with the court fee included.
• Sheriff scheduling ($49) and eviction day coordination ($225) to close out the case.

If the tenant cures after filing, you are out $99 and the case is resolved. An uncontested case through the warrant stage runs $298. Every stage price is inclusive of the court fees for that stage, and every filing, receipt, and proof of service lives in one case file you can produce at the hearing.

Related reading:

• How to Fill Out DC-CV-082: A Field-by-Field Maryland Filing Guide
• What Happens After Filing an FTPR Case in Maryland
• Maryland Eviction Notice Requirements by County
• Maryland's 10-Day Notice Requirement
• How Long Does an Eviction Take in Maryland?

Ready to start an Anne Arundel County case the compliant way? Begin with the notice that the statute requires first: