# How to Serve an Eviction Notice in Maryland: Every Method, Every Notice Type (2026) Maryland's legal service methods for each eviction notice: first-class mail with certificate of mailing, posting with photos, electronic service, and sheriff. - Published: 2026-10-08 - Author: Jordan Walsh - Canonical: https://www.evictpro.us/blog/how-to-serve-eviction-notice-maryland --- Most Maryland eviction cases don't die on the law. They die on service: a notice that was mailed the wrong way, posted without a photo, emailed to a tenant who never agreed to email, or handed over with nothing to prove it. The landlord did the work, the tenant owed the rent, and the case still lost, because service is the part the judge can verify and the tenant can contest. This is the service manual: which methods are legal for each notice type in the Maryland eviction sequence, and how to build proof of service that survives a contested hearing. - **3**: Statutory NOI methods (mail + certificate, posting, electronic) - **Form 3817**: Certificate of mailing (not certified mail) - **$5**: Per-tenant summons service (DCA-109 fee schedule) > Service is the only part of your case the tenant can erase with one sentence: "I never got it." Proof of service is how that sentence stops working. **The short version:** Serve the 10-day Notice of Intent by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, by affixing it to the door, or electronically if the tenant elected it, and keep the receipt, photo, or transmission log. The court's summons is served by the sheriff or constable, not you. The scheduled-eviction-date notice (CC-DC-CV-123) uses the same mail, posting, and electronic methods on your county's day count. For every notice: statutory method, same-day proof, one service log per tenant. ## The Four Service Events in a Maryland Eviction A Maryland nonpayment eviction has four distinct moments where a document must reach the tenant, and each has its own rules: 1. **The 10-day Notice of Intent (DC-CV-115)**, served by you before filing. 2. **The court summons**, served by the sheriff or constable after you file the DC-CV-082. 3. **The scheduled-eviction-date notice (CC-DC-CV-123)**, served by you after the warrant issues. 4. **Case-type notices** (breach of lease, holdover), served by you before filing in non-FTPR cases. Mixing up which rules apply to which event is where service errors start. ## Serving the 10-Day Notice of Intent (§ 8-401(c)) [Md. Code, Real Property § 8-401(c)](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=8-401&enactments=false) names three methods for the [DC-CV-115](https://www.courts.state.md.us/sites/default/files/court-forms/dccv115.pdf) Notice of Intent. Any one of them is sufficient; the notice is effective when delivered by that method. ### Method 1: First-class mail with certificate of mailing Take the notice to a post office, mail it first-class to the tenant at the premises, and ask the clerk for a **certificate of mailing (USPS Form 3817)**. The clerk stamps it with the date and destination. That stamped slip is your proof. Two traps: - **Certified mail is not the statutory method here, and it can backfire.** Certified mail needs a signature, and a tenant who declines the carrier leaves you holding proof of refusal. The statute's method, first-class mail plus certificate of mailing, requires nothing from the tenant. - **A metered stamp or your own mailing log is not a certificate of mailing.** Only the USPS-stamped form carries weight. ### Method 2: Affixing to the door Post the notice on the door of the premises. Do it in a way you can prove: - Photograph the notice **on the door**, close enough to read the document, wide enough to identify the door. - Capture the **address or unit number** in the frame or in a second shot. - Use a camera or app that embeds a **timestamp**, and keep the original file with its metadata. A posting without a photo is a posting the tenant can deny. ### Method 3: Electronic service, if the tenant elected it If the tenant has agreed to receive notices electronically, § 8-401(c) permits delivery by **email, text message, or tenant portal**, provided the method gives you **proof of transmission**. The election is the gate: keep the signed lease clause or written opt-in on file, and save the transmission record with the notice. Without a documented election, electronic notice alone does not satisfy the statute, however certain you are that the tenant saw it. **The clock starts at service, and it must finish:** The 10-day period runs in calendar days from service, and it must fully expire before you file. Filing on day 9 is a dismissal even with perfect service. Log the service date the moment you serve, and calendar the earliest filing day from it. A worked example: you post the notice on the door and photograph it on March 3. Day 1 of the notice period is March 4, day 10 is March 13, and March 14 is the earliest day the DC-CV-082 can be filed. If the tenant pays $600 of a $1,200 balance on March 9, the notice remains valid, but the complaint you file on March 14 claims $600, not $1,200. Both numbers, the service date and the filing-date balance, come straight from the records you made at service. The full day-count rules are in the [10-day notice guide](/blog/maryland-10-day-notice). **Generate the notice, then serve it right**: https://www.evictpro.us/notice-of-intent ## Serving Breach of Lease and Holdover Notices Non-FTPR cases start with their own notices: the 30-day (or 14-day danger) notice to vacate for breach of lease, and the lease termination notice for holdover. For these, serve by the most provable method available and check both the statute and your lease, because leases often specify a notice method, and a lease-specified method binds you. When in doubt, first-class mail with a certificate of mailing **plus** a photographed posting covers both bases. The case-type differences are covered in the [holdover eviction guide](/blog/maryland-holdover-tenant-eviction). ## The Summons: The Sheriff Serves, Not You Once your DC-CV-082 is filed, service changes hands. The court issues the summons and the **sheriff or constable** serves it on the tenant. You do not serve the summons yourself, and you should not try. What you control is what the sheriff works from: - **Every tenant of record named**, spelled as on the lease. An unnamed adult leaseholder is an unserved defendant with a ready defense. - **A complete premises address**, unit number included. - **The service fee**: Maryland's DCA-109 fee schedule sets a $5 fee per tenant of record, plus $5 per location in Baltimore City. With EvictPro, the $99 Filing with Court stage includes the base court filing fee, and the $5-per-tenant service fee is itemized at cost at checkout. If the sheriff cannot serve because the names or address were wrong, the hearing date slips and the delay is yours. ## Serving the Eviction-Date Notice (CC-DC-CV-123, § 8-407) After judgment and warrant, Real Property § 8-407 (the 2025 HB 767 regime) requires you to notify the tenant of the **scheduled eviction date** using form [CC-DC-CV-123](https://www.courts.state.md.us/sites/default/files/court-forms/ccdccv123.pdf). The approved methods mirror the NOI's: - **First-class mail with a certificate of mailing** - **Posting on the property, documented with a photo** - **Electronic delivery, if the tenant agreed** The day count is the moving part: **6 days minimum statewide**, but counties may require 4 to 14 days, and Baltimore City requires **14 days by mail plus a separate 7-day posting**. Serve on the wrong county's clock and the sheriff cancels the eviction while the warrant's 60-day execution window keeps burning. The current day counts are tabulated in [Maryland eviction notice requirements by county](/blog/maryland-eviction-notice-requirements-by-county), and the form itself is walked through in the [CC-DC-CV-123 guide](/blog/cc-dc-cv-123-eviction-date-notice). ## Proof of Service That Survives a Judge's Scrutiny Contested service comes down to whose story has paper behind it. Build the record the same day you serve, every time: - **A service log entry per tenant per notice**: who served, what document, which date and time, which method, which address. - **The stamped certificate of mailing**, stapled or scanned to the copy of the notice it accompanied. - **Original photo files** of postings, timestamps and metadata intact, showing document, door, and address. - **Transmission records** for electronic service, kept with the tenant's written election. - **The served copy itself.** Keep an exact duplicate of what went out, not just the template. Two habits separate records that hold up from records that don't. First, **contemporaneity**: a receipt and photo created at service beat testimony reconstructed weeks later. Second, **consistency**: the service date in your log must match the date on the certificate, the photo timestamp, and the date you certify on the complaint. A one-day discrepancy hands the tenant's side its cross-examination. ## Common Service Failures, Ranked 1. **Certified mail that came back unclaimed**, offered as notice. The statute wanted first-class mail with a certificate of mailing. 2. **Posting with no photo.** True but unprovable. 3. **Email or text with no documented election.** Delivery without authorization. 4. **Filing before the notice period fully ran.** Perfect service, premature complaint. 5. **Serving the statewide 6-day eviction-date notice in a 14-day county.** Right form, wrong clock. 6. **A missing tenant name at filing**, so the sheriff served some but not all defendants. Every one is preventable at the moment of service for the cost of a receipt, a photo, or a calendar check. One more habit worth building: **serve every named tenant, not just the one you talk to**. Maryland practice treats each leaseholder as a party entitled to notice, and the notices themselves have space for every tenant of record. A notice addressed to one of two leaseholders invites the second to argue they were never notified at all, and that argument has carried in contested hearings. Address the notice to all tenants, log service for all tenants, and name all tenants on the complaint so the sheriff serves all of them. ## How EvictPro Keeps Service Clean Service discipline is a systems problem, and EvictPro treats it that way for a single rental or a thousand-unit portfolio: - The **Notice of Intent is free** at [/notice-of-intent](/notice-of-intent), with every statutory element and the service checklist built in. - **Filing with Court is $99**, base court filing fee included, Maryland's $5-per-tenant service fee billed at cost, and the filing is validated against your notice dates before submission, so premature filings get caught before a judge sees them. - **Jurisdiction-aware eviction-date notices** apply your county's current day count, including Baltimore City's dual mail-and-posting steps. - **Every proof lives in the case file**: certificates, photos, transmission logs, service dates, one click away when a tenant says "I never got it." **The service discipline:** One rule per notice, one proof per service. NOI: mail with certificate of mailing, door posting with photo, or elected electronic delivery, then let the full 10 days run. Summons: the sheriff serves from the names and address you filed. Eviction-date notice: same methods, your county's day count. And every single service gets same-day documentation, because the notice you can't prove is the notice you never served. **Not legal advice**: This article is general educational information about Maryland landlord-tenant law and procedure. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws, court fees, and local rules change over time. For advice on your specific situation, consult a licensed Maryland attorney or a qualified housing counselor. **Related reading:** - [Maryland's 10-Day Notice Requirement: What Landlords Need to Know in 2026](/blog/maryland-10-day-notice) - [Maryland Eviction Notice Requirements by County](/blog/maryland-eviction-notice-requirements-by-county) - [CC-DC-CV-123: Maryland's Eviction-Date Notice, Explained](/blog/cc-dc-cv-123-eviction-date-notice) - [How to Fill Out DC-CV-082, Field by Field](/blog/dc-cv-082-how-to-fill-out) - [The Maryland FTPR Process, Step by Step](/blog/ftpr-maryland-process-step-by-step) Start with the first notice, served the right way, proven the same day: **Free Notice of Intent, compliant service, one case file**: https://www.evictpro.us/pricing ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I serve a 10-day Notice of Intent in Maryland? Real Property § 8-401(c) gives three statutory methods for the Notice of Intent (DC-CV-115): first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, affixing the notice to the door of the premises, or electronic delivery by email, text, or tenant portal if the tenant has elected electronic notice. One method is sufficient, but you must keep proof: the stamped certificate of mailing, a dated photo of the posted notice, or the transmission record. ### What is the difference between a certificate of mailing and certified mail? A certificate of mailing (USPS Form 3817) is a stamped receipt proving you mailed an item on a specific date to a specific address; the tenant signs nothing. Certified mail requires the recipient's signature, which a tenant can simply decline, leaving you with proof of refusal instead of proof of notice. Maryland's notice statutes for the NOI and the eviction-date notice specify first-class mail WITH a certificate of mailing, so use Form 3817 at the counter and keep the stamped copy. ### Can I serve an eviction notice by email or text in Maryland? Yes, but only if the tenant agreed to electronic delivery. Real Property § 8-401(c) allows the Notice of Intent by email, text message, or tenant portal when the tenant has elected that method, and § 8-407 similarly allows electronic service of the scheduled-eviction-date notice when the tenant agreed. The system must give you proof of transmission. Without a documented election, electronic notice alone does not satisfy the statute. ### Who serves the court summons in a Maryland eviction case? The sheriff or constable, not the landlord. Once the DC-CV-082 complaint is filed, the court issues the summons and the sheriff or constable serves it on the tenant, typically by personal service or by posting on the property with mailing. Maryland charges a per-tenant service fee for this (the DCA-109 fee schedule, $5 per tenant of record, plus $5 per location in Baltimore City). The landlord's job is accurate tenant names and addresses on the complaint. ### What proof of service do Maryland judges actually want to see? Contemporaneous records made at the moment of service: the stamped USPS certificate of mailing matched to the notice date, timestamped photos of a posted notice showing both the document and the door or address, transmission logs for electronic delivery, and a service log naming who served what, when, where, and how. Reconstructed testimony weeks later carries far less weight than a receipt and a photo made the same day. ### Can I just hand the notice to my tenant? Hand delivery is fine as a supplement, but the statutes name the methods that count: mail with certificate of mailing, posting on the door, or elected electronic delivery. If you hand a tenant the notice and they later deny it, you have a credibility contest instead of a receipt. Serve by a statutory method with proof, then hand over a courtesy copy if you like. ### What happens if service of a notice was defective? The stage built on that notice fails. A defective NOI service means the FTPR case is dismissed and the 10-day clock restarts, costing weeks. A defective eviction-date notice means the sheriff cancels the eviction while the warrant's 60-day execution window keeps running. Service defects are the most preventable loss in Maryland eviction practice: pick a statutory method, document it the same day, and match the day count to your county.