Eviction Day in Maryland: How the Sheriff Schedules, Notices, and Executes Your Eviction

Every stage of a Maryland eviction before this one happens on paper. Eviction day is the one that happens on a doorstep, with a sheriff's deputy, a moving crew, a locksmith, and, more often than new landlords expect, a tenant holding an envelope of certified funds that legally stops the whole thing.

This is the complete guide to how eviction day actually works in Maryland: how the sheriff gets scheduled, what notice the tenant must receive first, what you are responsible for bringing, what happens to the tenant's property, and the doorstep redemption rule that surprises landlords at the worst possible moment.

The sheriff supervises, the landlord executes. Deputies do not carry furniture, do not bring locks, and do not wait around while you find a crew. If you are not ready when they arrive, the eviction does not happen that day.

Step 1: From Warrant to Sheriff's Calendar

Eviction day exists only because a warrant of restitution was requested within 60 days of your judgment and issued by the District Court. If you are not there yet, start with the warrant of restitution timeline; this post picks up at issuance.

Once the warrant reaches the sheriff's office (or constable, in some jurisdictions), it enters a scheduling queue. Queue length is the least predictable part of the whole Maryland eviction process: a low-volume county may schedule within days, while high-volume offices can run several weeks behind. Two rules govern the wait:

• The warrant must be executed within 60 days of issuance, or it lapses. Backlogs do not extend the clock; extension petitions do. The full mechanics are in the two 60-day warrant clocks.
• The tenant's eviction-date notice must run before the date. The scheduling office builds this in, but you should verify the math for your county, because a notice defect at this stage reschedules the eviction and burns warrant life.

Step 2: The Eviction-Date Notice (CC-DC-CV-123)

Maryland no longer lets an eviction date arrive unannounced. Under Md. Code, Real Property § 8-407, enacted by HB 767 (2025) and effective October 1, 2025, the tenant must receive written notice of the scheduled eviction date, delivered on the court form CC-DC-CV-123, Notice to Tenant of Pending Eviction (the official PDF is at mdcourts.gov; the related CC-DC-CV-124 handles cancellation or rescheduling of a scheduled eviction).

The day count is jurisdiction-dependent, and this is where multi-county landlords get burned:

• Statewide default: a single notice of at least 6 days before the scheduled date, sent by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, posted at the property with a photograph, and sent electronically if the tenant agreed to electronic delivery.
• Counties may set their own period between 4 and 14 days, so the default is a floor pattern, not a universal rule.
• Baltimore City: 14 days' notice by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, plus a separate 7-day posting at the property, under City Code § 8A-2.
• Montgomery County: 14 days under county Bill 31-25.

If you operate across county lines, treat the eviction-date notice period as a per-county variable, exactly like filing fees and courthouse addresses. Our deep-dive on the form itself is at the CC-DC-CV-123 guide.

Step 3: What the Landlord Brings on Eviction Day

The sheriff's role is narrow: supervise the execution, keep the peace, and document the outcome. Everything else is yours.

People:

• You or an authorized representative. No landlord presence, no eviction.
• A moving crew. Enough hands to clear the unit within the sheriff's time window. Deputies in busy counties allot limited time per eviction; an understaffed crew is one of the most common reasons an eviction fails and reschedules. Some sheriffs publish minimum crew expectations; ask when you schedule.
• A locksmith, or someone competent to change locks on the spot. Possession is restored when the property is secured.

Paper:

• The warrant of restitution and the judgment.
• A certified, current rent ledger. If the tenant tenders redemption funds at the door, you need to know the exact figure that satisfies the judgment plus costs, on the spot.
• Photo ID, and your property manager authorization if a representative attends instead of the owner.

Conditions:

• Weather. District Courts stay evictions during extreme weather: extreme cold, winter storms, and National Weather Service excessive heat warnings all trigger postponements, and the sheriff reschedules after conditions pass. Winter-specific planning is covered in winter evictions in Maryland.
• Timing. Evictions run on the sheriff's schedule, typically business hours. Arrive early; a missed window is a missed date.

Step 4: The Tenant's Property

Maryland reworked its rules on post-eviction belongings, and the old image of furniture stacked on the curb is now legally wrong in much of the state:

• Under Maryland's summary ejectment framework, personal property remaining in the unit when the warrant is executed is treated as abandoned, and disposal becomes the landlord's responsibility.
• Baltimore City prohibits placing evicted property on the public right-of-way. Plan for hauling or lawful disposal, not curbing.
• Local practice on disposal logistics varies. Confirm current requirements with your sheriff's office when you schedule, and when the property left behind is substantial or valuable, get advice from a licensed Maryland attorney before disposing.

Photograph the unit's condition and contents before your crew touches anything. It is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy against a later claim.

Step 5: Redemption at the Door

Here is the moment that stuns first-time landlords. In an ordinary FTPR case, Maryland's right of redemption under Md. Code, Real Property § 8-401 lets the tenant stop the eviction at any point before the warrant is actually executed by tendering the complete judgment amount plus court costs in cash or certified funds. Yes, including on the doorstep, with the crew standing behind you.

If a proper tender happens, the eviction does not proceed. You take the money, the tenancy continues, and the sheriff leaves. This is why the certified ledger matters: disputes about the correct payoff figure at the door go badly for the unprepared side.

The exception is a judgment entered without the right of redemption (NRR), available when the tenant has 3 prior FTPR judgments in the preceding 12 months statewide, or 4 in Baltimore City. With an NRR judgment, tender at the door does not stop execution. If you have a chronic repeat payer, the NRR request belongs in your complaint, not in your regrets on eviction day.

If the Tenant Is Already Gone

A meaningful share of scheduled evictions arrive at an empty unit: the tenant left days earlier without a word. Do not just let yourself in the week before. Until the warrant is executed or the tenant clearly surrenders possession (keys returned, written confirmation of move-out), changing the locks on your own risks a wrongful-eviction claim. The clean play is to keep the sheriff's appointment: the deputy confirms the unit is vacant, the warrant is executed against an empty apartment, and your possession is restored on the record instead of on a hunch. It costs you a morning and buys you a documented, defensible retake of the property.

After Execution

Once the unit is cleared and the locks are changed, the deputy documents the completed execution and possession is legally restored. Same day, do three things:

1. Secure and photograph the property, every room.
2. Note the execution date in your case file; it closes the warrant and starts any post-eviction obligations.
3. Reconcile the money judgment. Execution restores possession; collecting the judgment is a separate track.

How EvictPro Gets You to a Completed Eviction Day

Eviction day failures are coordination failures: a notice period miscounted, a crew too small, a warrant quietly expiring in a scheduling queue. EvictPro manages the Maryland eviction pipeline end to end so each stage hands off cleanly to the next:

• Notice of Intent (DC-CV-115): free at evictpro.us/notice-of-intent, no account required.
• Filing with Court: $99, base court filing fee included, Maryland's $5-per-tenant service fee billed at cost.
• Warrant of Restitution: $199, the $50 DC-CV-081 court fee included.
• Sheriff Scheduling: $49 and Eviction Day: $225, covering the coordination and execution-day support described above.

Every deadline in this post, the date-notice day count for your county, the 60-day warrant life, the redemption posture, lives on your case timeline, whether you manage one door or a thousand. See the full pricing breakdown.

Related reading:

• Right of Redemption in Maryland: A Landlord's Guide
• Maryland Warrant of Restitution Timeline: From Judgment to Sheriff Eviction in 2026
• CC-DC-CV-123: The Eviction-Date Notice, Explained
• The Two 60-Day Warrant of Restitution Clocks in Maryland