DC-CV-085: Maryland's Breach of Lease Complaint, Field by Field (2026)

DC-CV-085 is the Maryland eviction form for the tenant who pays the rent but breaks the lease. Unauthorized occupants, a dog the lease prohibits, property damage, chronic disturbances, illegal activity: when the problem is conduct rather than money, Failure to Pay Rent is the wrong tool, and the Complaint and Summons Against Tenant in Breach of Lease is the right one.

It is also the hardest of Maryland's three main eviction complaints to win, because the statute makes the judge ask a question the other forms never raise: was the breach substantial enough to justify taking the home? This is the field-by-field walkthrough of the current form (Rev. 10/2025), plus the proof standard behind it.

On DC-CV-082 the judge asks whether the rent was paid. On DC-CV-085 the judge asks whether the breach was serious enough to end a tenancy. That is a harder question, and the form is only as strong as the evidence behind item 3.

DC-CV-085's official title is Complaint and Summons Against Tenant in Breach of Lease, filed under Md. Code, Real Property § 8-402.1. The current PDF lives at mdcourts.gov/.../dccv085.pdf. Work from a freshly downloaded copy; the October 2025 revision is current as of this writing, and clerks notice outdated forms.

Picking the right case type matters more here than anywhere else in Maryland landlord-tenant practice. Nonpayment belongs on DC-CV-082. A tenancy that has ended belongs on DC-CV-080; see Maryland Holdover Tenant Eviction. For the full strategy picture of when breach of lease is worth filing at all, read Breach of Lease Eviction in Maryland.

Before You Open the Form

A breach of lease case is built weeks before the complaint exists:

• Read the lease for a repossession clause. Item 3 of the form swears that the lease permits the landlord to recover the premises on breach. No clause, no case. Most professionally drafted Maryland leases have one; older or homemade leases often do not.
• Serve the written breach notice and let it run. 30 days is the default. The 14-day track exists only when the breach causes a clear and imminent danger of serious harm to others or the property. Do not talk yourself into the 14-day track because a situation is annoying; judges read that phrase narrowly.
• Keep the notice. The form requires the notice date and a copy attached to the complaint.
• Build the evidence file. Dated photos, witness complaints, police or code-enforcement reports, texts and emails. The substantial-breach finding is won with documentation.
• Check your rental license. The form asks, and in licensing jurisdictions the answer is checked.

The Maryland People's Law Library keeps a plain-language overview of the breach of lease action at peoples-law.org/breach-lease.

DC-CV-085, Field by Field

The Header and Caption

Enter the District Court for the city or county where the property is located and its address; the clerk assigns the case number. In the caption, list the landlord (plaintiff) exactly as the deed and lease identify the owner (an LLC-owned property means the LLC is the plaintiff), and every tenant (defendant) exactly as the lease names them, with the property address and telephone details the form requests.

Item 1: Premises and Lease Expiration

"Plaintiff is the landlord of the premises located at ___, occupied by the defendant(s) as tenant(s), under a written lease which expires on ___."

Two details hide here. First, the premises address must match the lease exactly, unit number included. Second, the item presumes a written lease with an expiration date. Enter the current term's end date. If your arrangement is oral or the lease has already expired, stop and reassess the case type; an expired tenancy with a tenant still in place usually points to holdover on DC-CV-080 instead.

Item 2: The Rental License Question

Identical in structure to the other 2025-revision complaints:

• No, the property is not required to be licensed; or
• Yes, with the license number and expiration date; or
• Yes, but unlicensed because: exempt, a reason under RP § 8-406(c)(1)(iii), (iv), or (v), or Other.

Answer accurately with the license in front of you. An expired license in a licensing jurisdiction can end the case at the bench regardless of how bad the breach was.

Item 3: The Breach Itself

The heart of the form, in two sworn parts:

1. "The lease permits the landlord to recover the premises if the tenant(s) breaches the lease." Confirm the clause exists and know its section number; expect to point to it at trial.
2. "The tenant(s) is (are) in breach of the lease, because ___" with instructions to attach a second sheet if necessary.

Write the breach description like the evidence exhibit it is: specific conduct, dates, the lease provision violated. "Tenant keeps two dogs in violation of Section 14 (no pets); notice served March 3; dogs still on premises April 10" beats "tenant refuses to follow the lease" in every courtroom in the state. Use the second sheet if the history is long; a cramped, vague item 3 reads as a weak case.

Item 4: The Notice Track and Date

Checkboxes for the two notice paths:

• 30 days written notice, the default for ordinary breaches; or
• 14 days written notice, available only "because the breach causes a clear and imminent danger of serious harm to others or the property."

Then the date of the written notice, and the statement that a copy is attached to this complaint. The math gets checked: the notice period must have fully run before filing, and a 14-day filing without facts that genuinely fit the danger standard invites dismissal or a reset to the 30-day track.

Item 5 and the Request for Relief

Item 5 states the tenants or persons in actual possession have not vacated. Then the prayer: an Order of Restitution of the possession of the leased premises, with a checkbox for court costs of $ ___.

Notice what is absent: rent. DC-CV-085 is a possession action. If the tenant also owes rent, that claim travels separately, most often as an FTPR case that begins with the free DC-CV-115 Notice of Intent.

Just below sits an easy-to-miss checkbox: "All the tenant(s) on the lease are listed above." Check it only if it is true, and make it true by listing everyone. An unnamed leaseholder is a judgment that does not bind them.

The SCRA Block

Before judgment, federal law requires the court to know each tenant's military status. The form offers three sworn options:

• At least one tenant is in the military service, with names;
• No tenant is in the military service, with specific supporting facts for each tenant who is a natural person; or
• Unable to determine.

A free Department of Defense lookup at scra.dmdc.osd.mil generates a certificate, and the form has a checkbox for DOD verification. Empty or boilerplate SCRA statements are among the most common reasons breach filings stall.

Affirmation, Summons, and the Court's Pages

You sign under penalties of perjury, with printed name, date, telephone, and email (attorneys add an attorney number). The summons section, the sheriff or constable's return of service, and the final disposition page belong to the court. The disposition page is worth reading once anyway: it records judgment for the landlord or tenant, possession, costs, and, notably, execution stayed by filing an approved appeal bond, which is exactly how a tenant lawfully stays in place during a 10-day appeal.

Filing Day: Fees and Logistics

Per the District Court's DCA-109 cost schedule (Rev. 03/2026):

• Breach of Lease filing fee: $56 in all counties except Baltimore City; $66 in Baltimore City (includes the city sheriff surcharge).
• Service by sheriff or constable adds per-defendant fees under the schedule.

Confirm the current numbers at mdcourts.gov/courts/feeschedules before you go. Bring the signed complaint, the attached breach notice plus copies for each defendant, the lease, license documentation, and your evidence file.

After Filing: Trial, the Substantial-Breach Standard, and Appeal

The court issues the summons with a hearing date. At trial you must prove the lease clause, the breach, the notice, and, critically, that the breach was substantial and warrants an eviction. This is where breach cases diverge from FTPR: a rent ledger speaks for itself, but a lease violation gets weighed. Bring the strongest documentation you have and a witness where one exists.

If judgment enters for possession, either side may appeal within 10 days, and a tenant can stay execution only by posting an approved appeal bond. Warrant and eviction-day logistics then follow the same post-judgment machinery as other Maryland possession cases, including the jurisdiction-specific scheduled eviction notice rules.

The Five DC-CV-085 Errors That Lose Cases

1. No repossession clause in the lease. Item 3's first sentence was never true, and the case fails at its foundation.
2. The 14-day shortcut without real danger. The imminent-danger standard is narrow; stretching it costs you the filing and the time.
3. A vague breach description. No dates, no lease section, no conduct. Substantial breach is a fact-heavy finding, and item 3 is where the facts start.
4. Notice defects. Wrong day count, notice not attached, or the complaint filed before the period fully ran.
5. Treating it as a rent-collection tool. DC-CV-085 gets you possession and costs, not a rent judgment. Landlords who need the money too should run the FTPR track in parallel, starting with the free notice at /notice-of-intent.

Related reading:

• Breach of Lease Eviction in Maryland
• How to Fill Out DC-CV-082: A Field-by-Field Maryland Filing Guide
• Maryland Holdover Tenant Eviction: The 2026 Landlord Guide to § 8-402
• How to Evict a Tenant in Maryland: The Complete 2026 Guide

Whichever Maryland eviction path your facts demand, the discipline is identical: right form, right notice, right day counts, evidence ready.