Prince George's County Eviction Guide: Rent Court in Hyattsville and Upper Marlboro, Licensing, and the Real Timeline

Prince George's County runs one of the busiest landlord-tenant dockets in Maryland. High rental volume, two District Court locations, a county rental licensing regime with real teeth, and a sheriff's office that publishes its eviction list all combine into a jurisdiction where prepared landlords move steadily and unprepared ones stall for months.

This guide covers where to file, what it costs, the licensing prerequisite that trips up more county landlords than anything else, and what the timeline actually looks like.

In Prince George's County the licensing question comes before the eviction question. A landlord without a current DPIE rental license is fighting uphill before the case number is even assigned.

The process backbone is statewide law: Md. Code, Real Property § 8-401 governs Failure to Pay Rent cases in every Maryland jurisdiction, on the same forms (DC-CV-115 notice, DC-CV-082 complaint, DC-CV-081 warrant). If the pipeline is new to you, start with The Maryland FTPR Process, Step by Step. Below is the Prince George's County layer.

Where to File: Hyattsville or Upper Marlboro

The District Court of Maryland for Prince George's County (District 5) hears landlord-tenant cases at two locations:

• Hyattsville: 4990 Rhode Island Avenue, Hyattsville, MD 20781. General information: 301-298-4200.
• Upper Marlboro: 14735 Main Street, Suite 173B, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772. General information: 301-298-4000.

The court assigns cases by property location, roughly northern county to Hyattsville and central/southern county to Upper Marlboro. The split is the court's call, not the landlord's: call the clerk with the property address before filing and put the correct location on the DC-CV-082. County-level jurisdiction is the part that is fatal if wrong; a case filed in the wrong county is dismissed, not transferred.

What Filing Costs

Under the current District Court cost schedule (DCA-109, Rev. 03/2026):

• $50 filing fee for a summary ejectment (Failure to Pay Rent) case, the standard fee in every Maryland county outside Baltimore City
• $5 service fee per tenant of record, so name every tenant and budget accordingly

Fees are non-refundable, including when a case is dismissed for a defective notice or a licensing problem. A dismissed filing costs the fee twice plus weeks of calendar. The field-by-field complaint walkthrough is here: How to Fill Out DC-CV-082.

The DPIE Rental License: The County's Signature Prerequisite

Prince George's County requires a rental license for residential rental property, administered by the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (DPIE). Verified contours of the program:

• Single-family rentals (a building or related buildings with one or two dwelling units) need their own license, as do multifamily properties under the parallel multifamily program.
• Licenses run on a 2-year cycle.
• New applicants receive a temporary license (30 to 90 days) while a county inspector schedules and completes the property inspection; the permanent license follows a passed inspection.
• Limited exemptions exist, including renting to close family members (parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, in-laws) and certain owners on active military, diplomatic, or employment relocation who maintain the property as their permanent residence.
• Some incorporated municipalities in the county run their own licensing programs, so a city license may be required instead of or in addition to the county's. Check both.

Why this leads the guide: an unlicensed rental undermines the landlord's position in court and exposes the owner to county enforcement, and judges can and do ask about licensing status in landlord-tenant cases. Renew before it lapses, bring the license to the hearing, and if you just acquired a tenant-occupied property, get the license application in before you need the courtroom. For the statewide picture on lead paint (a separate, statewide prerequisite for pre-1978 properties), the MDE certificate rules apply in Prince George's County exactly as everywhere else.

The Process, County Flavor Included

1. 10-day Notice of Intent (DC-CV-115) under § 8-401(c). The full 10 days must elapse before filing; day 9 is a dismissal. Generate it free at evictpro.us/notice-of-intent.
2. File DC-CV-082 at Hyattsville or Upper Marlboro. $50 plus $5 per tenant.
3. Hearing. Prince George's County runs a high-volume docket; expect a crowded courtroom and block calls. Bring the original lease, a rent ledger through the hearing date, proof of notice service, the DPIE license, and the lead certificate if the property is pre-1978.
4. Judgment, then the 4-day appeal window. A tenant appeal stays the warrant only if bonded.
5. Warrant of restitution after the statutory wait under § 8-401(f)(1)(i): 7 days, treated in practice as 7 business days (9 to 11 calendar days). Request the warrant within 60 days of judgment; execute within 60 days of issuance.
6. Sheriff scheduling. The Prince George's County Sheriff's Office executes warrants and publishes the list of properties scheduled for eviction. Confirm current crew and logistics requirements with the Sheriff's Office when your date is set.
7. Eviction-date notice. Statewide law (RP § 8-407, effective October 1, 2025) requires at least 6 days' notice of the scheduled eviction date by first-class mail with certificate of mailing plus posting with a dated photo, on court form CC-DC-CV-123. Counties may set 4 to 14 days; we could not verify a Prince George's County change to the default as of mid-2026, so plan on the 6-day floor and confirm with the court when the warrant issues. County-by-county day counts live in Maryland Eviction Notice Requirements by County.
8. Eviction day. The tenant can redeem by paying the full judgment plus costs before the eviction completes, unless the court granted No Right of Redemption (3 prior FTPR judgments in the prior 12 months, the statewide threshold).

One more county note: Prince George's County has enacted local rent stabilization measures in recent years, and the details have shifted more than once. Before raising rent, verify the current county rules and give Maryland's statewide 90-day increase notice under RP § 8-209. An increase that exceeded a county cap invites a defense that part of the claimed rent is not lawfully due.

The Timeline Reality

The statewide uncontested range is 45 to 75 days from notice to eviction (the full breakdown is in How Long Does an Eviction Take in Maryland?). In Prince George's County, plan for the longer end. The county's rental volume is among the highest in the state, which shows up in docket settings and sheriff scheduling, and every complication (contested hearing, bonded appeal, redemption at the door, a rescheduled eviction date) adds weeks.

You can see the county's actual case flow yourself: EvictPro publishes a free Prince George's County eviction data dashboard tracking warrant and eviction volumes from Maryland's open data, refreshed daily. It is the fastest way to sanity-check what the county's pipeline is doing right now rather than relying on averages.

How EvictPro Handles Prince George's County Cases

The pipeline is the same whether you own one Hyattsville duplex or a portfolio spread across the county:

• Free Notice of Intent at evictpro.us/notice-of-intent: compliant DC-CV-115, $0, no account required.
• Filing with Court: $99, base court filing fee included, the $5-per-tenant service fee billed at cost, routed to Hyattsville or Upper Marlboro automatically.
• Court Hearing representation: $249 with an experienced Maryland agent at the docket call.
• Warrant of Restitution: $199 with the court fee included, and the appeal window, warrant wait, and both 60-day clocks tracked on the case timeline.
• Sheriff Scheduling ($49) and Eviction Day ($225) close out the process, coordinated against the Sheriff's Office's current requirements.

Free to start, $99 total if the tenant cures after filing, $298 through the warrant uncontested, and every notice, receipt, and proof of service in one auditable case file.

Related reading:

• How Long Does an Eviction Take in Maryland?
• How to Fill Out DC-CV-082: Field-by-Field Guide
• Maryland Eviction Notice Requirements by County
• The Maryland FTPR Process, Step by Step
• Maryland Warrant of Restitution Timeline

See the live data:

• Prince George's County Eviction Data: warrants requested, executed, and cancelled in the county, refreshed daily from Open Data Maryland.

Every Prince George's County FTPR case starts with the 10-day notice, and it is free: