Baltimore County Rent Court: The Landlord's 2026 Guide to Filing in Towson, Catonsville, and Essex

Baltimore County is Maryland's third-largest jurisdiction by rental volume, and its rent court runs differently from the city it wraps around. There is no single dedicated rent court building. Instead, Failure to Pay Rent (FTPR) cases are distributed across three District Court locations, the civil docket is batched rather than daily, and the compliance checklist is shorter but still sharp enough to dismiss an unprepared landlord.

This guide covers where to file, what it costs, what hearing day looks like, and where the county genuinely differs from Baltimore City.

Baltimore County gives you fewer local-rule traps than Baltimore City, but a slower docket. The landlords who move fastest here are the ones who file at the right courthouse, with the right license, on the right day.

The process itself is statewide law. FTPR cases run under Md. Code, Real Property § 8-401, start with the 10-day Notice of Intent (form DC-CV-115), proceed on the DC-CV-082 complaint, and end with a DC-CV-081 warrant of restitution executed by the sheriff. If you have not filed before, read The Maryland FTPR Process, Step by Step first. This guide is about the Baltimore County layer on top of that process.

Where to File: Three Courthouses, One District

The District Court of Maryland for Baltimore County (District 8) operates three locations, and your case belongs at the one that serves the property's location:

• Towson: 120 E. Chesapeake Avenue, Towson, MD 21286. The county seat courthouse, serving central Baltimore County.
• Catonsville: 1 Rolling Cross Road, in the Rolling Cross Road Professional Park. The court relocated here from 900 Walker Avenue in October 2020, so ignore older directions to the Walker Avenue building. Serves the western side of the county.
• Essex: 8914 Kelso Drive, Essex, MD 21221. Serves eastern Baltimore County, which generally includes the Dundalk and Middle River areas.

There is no standalone Dundalk courthouse today. If your property is in Dundalk, your case is most likely an Essex filing, but the assignment runs by the court's own catchment rules, not by guesswork. Call the clerk's office (410-512-2000) with the property address before you drive anywhere. Filing at the wrong location wastes the trip; filing in the wrong jurisdiction entirely is a dismissal, not a transfer.

What Filing Costs

Under the current District Court cost schedule (DCA-109, Rev. 03/2026), a summary ejectment (Failure to Pay Rent) filing costs:

• $50 filing fee in Baltimore County (the same fee applies in every Maryland county except Baltimore City, which charges $60)
• $5 service fee per tenant of record, so a two-tenant lease adds $10

The filing fee already folds in the statutory surcharges (legal services and rental assistance program surcharges are built into the $50, not added on top). Pay at the clerk's window when you file; the fee is non-refundable, including when the case is dismissed for a defective notice or an expired license. That is one more reason to get the prerequisites right the first time.

Before You File: The Baltimore County Checklist

Baltimore County has fewer local traps than Baltimore City, but the ones it has are absolute:

• Current rental license. Baltimore County Code § 35-5-201 requires a rental license for occupied rental dwellings, administered by the county Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections (PAI) on a 2-year cycle. An expired license at filing is a dismissal cause at the bench.
• Current lead paint certificate for pre-1978 properties. This is statewide Maryland Department of the Environment law, not a county rule, and it applies with full force in Baltimore County.
• A served, compliant 10-day Notice of Intent (DC-CV-115) under § 8-401(c), with the full 10 days elapsed before filing. Day 9 is a dismissal.
• A clean DC-CV-082. Every tenant named, address matching the lease, and the amount claimed equal to what is actually outstanding on the filing date. See the field-by-field guide: How to Fill Out DC-CV-082.

Hearing Day in Baltimore County

Unlike Baltimore City's dedicated rent court, Baltimore County batches landlord-tenant cases into its general civil docket. In practice:

• Hearings typically land 3 to 4 weeks after filing, versus roughly 2 weeks in Baltimore City.
• Rent dockets are called in blocks. Expect a courtroom with dozens of cases called in sequence. Arrive early, check in, and be ready to wait.
• Bring the full evidence folder: original lease, rent ledger through the hearing date, proof of Notice of Intent service, rental license, lead certificate, and photo ID. The preparation list is the same one that applies city-side; see What to Bring to Baltimore Rent Court.
• If the tenant appears and contests, the judge hears both sides the same day in most FTPR cases. If the tenant does not appear and your paperwork is clean, judgment for possession is typically entered on the spot.

After Judgment: Warrant, Sheriff, Eviction Day

Judgment for possession is the midpoint, not the finish line.

1. 4-day appeal window. The tenant has 4 days from judgment to appeal an FTPR case. An appeal stays the warrant only if the tenant posts a bond; an unbonded appeal does not stop the clock.
2. 7-business-day warrant wait. Under § 8-401(f)(1)(i), the warrant of restitution cannot issue until the statutory waiting period runs, treated in practice as 7 business days, which works out to 9 to 11 calendar days.
3. Two 60-day clocks. Request the warrant within 60 days of judgment, and once issued it must be executed within 60 days (extensions possible on petition). Miss either window and you are refiling.
4. Sheriff scheduling. Baltimore County sheriff scheduling typically runs 2 to 3 weeks from warrant issuance to an eviction date, somewhat slower than Baltimore City.
5. Eviction-date notice to the tenant. Maryland's statewide rule under Real Property § 8-407 (effective October 1, 2025) requires at least 6 days' advance notice of the scheduled eviction date, sent by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing and posted on the property with a dated, timestamped photo, using court form CC-DC-CV-123. Counties may set their own period between 4 and 14 days. We could not verify any Baltimore County enactment changing the statewide default as of mid-2026, so plan around the 6-day floor and confirm the current requirement with the court when your warrant issues.
6. Right of redemption. In Baltimore County the tenant can redeem by paying the full judgment plus costs any time before the eviction is complete, unless the court has granted No Right of Redemption. The county follows the statewide NRR threshold: 3 prior FTPR judgments in the prior 12 months (Baltimore City requires 4).

How Baltimore County Differs From Baltimore City

The full side-by-side lives in Baltimore City vs Baltimore County Eviction, but the operational summary:

The pattern: Baltimore City is faster but more compliance-intensive. Baltimore County is slower but more straightforward. Neither is forgiving about the fundamentals: a defective 10-day notice or an expired license dismisses a case in either jurisdiction.

How EvictPro Handles Baltimore County Cases

EvictPro runs the full FTPR pipeline for Baltimore County properties, whether you own one rowhome in Dundalk or five hundred doors across the county:

• Free Notice of Intent. Generate a compliant DC-CV-115 at evictpro.us/notice-of-intent. $0, no account required, every § 8-401(c) element covered.
• Filing with Court: $99, base court filing fee included, with Maryland's $5-per-tenant service fee billed at cost. The case routes to Towson, Catonsville, or Essex automatically based on the property address.
• Prerequisite validation. Rental license and lead certificate status are checked before the filing goes out, not discovered at the bench.
• Warrant of Restitution: $199 with the court fee included, and the 7-business-day wait, the 4-day appeal window, and both 60-day clocks tracked on the case timeline.
• Sheriff Scheduling ($49) and Eviction Day ($225) close out the pipeline, with an experienced Maryland agent managing the courthouse and sheriff logistics.

Uncontested cases where the tenant cures after filing cost $99 total. A case that runs through the warrant uncontested typically runs $298. Every document, receipt, and service proof lives in one case file, which matters when a tenant contests service at a crowded Essex docket call.

Related reading:

• Baltimore City vs Baltimore County Eviction: The Jurisdictional Comparison
• What to Bring to Baltimore Rent Court
• How to Fill Out DC-CV-082: Field-by-Field Guide
• The Maryland FTPR Process, Step by Step
• How Long Does an Eviction Take in Maryland?

Ready to start? The first step in every Baltimore County FTPR case is the 10-day notice, and it is free: