# What Counts as "Rent" in a Maryland FTPR Case? What You Can (and Can't) Claim on DC-CV-082

Maryland narrowed what landlords can claim as rent in an FTPR case: base rent, capped late fees, court costs. Not utilities, not fees, whatever the lease says.

- Published: 2026-08-27
- Author: Jordan Walsh
- Canonical: https://www.evictpro.us/blog/what-counts-as-rent-maryland-ftpr

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Maryland rent court answers one question: did the tenant fail to pay
**rent**? Not fees. Not utilities. Not the balance your accounting
software shows under "total due." Rent.

For years, leases blurred that line with "additional rent" clauses
that folded utilities, fees, and penalties into the rent column. In
March 2024 the Supreme Court of Maryland ended the practice, and
District Court judges now police the number on DC-CV-082 more closely
than any other field. Claim the wrong things and the best case is a
reduced judgment. The common case is dismissal.

Here is exactly what belongs in a Failure to Pay Rent claim, what
doesn't, and why the difference decides cases.

  - **3**: Claimable categories (Rent, late fees, court costs)
  - **5%**: Late fee ceiling (Of monthly rent, all-inclusive)
  - **0**: Utility charges claimable as rent (Residential FTPR)

> Rent is the fixed, periodic payment for use or occupancy of the premises. Everything else is a different debt with a different remedy, no matter what the lease calls it.

**The short version:**
  On DC-CV-082 you may claim base rent outstanding on the filing date, late fees the lease
  authorizes up to 5% of monthly rent, and court costs the judge awards. You may not claim
  utilities, administrative fees, deposit installments, damage charges, or attorney's
  fees, even if the lease labels them "additional rent." Apply tenant payments to rent
  first: allocation clauses that route payments to fees first violate § 8-208(d)(2). Over
  claim and you risk dismissal, not just a haircut.

## Where the Definition Comes From

[Real Property § 8-401](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp&section=8-401&enactments=false),
Maryland's summary ejectment statute, lets a landlord repossess when
the tenant "fails to pay rent when due and payable." The statute never
defines rent, and for decades landlords and tenants fought over the
gap.

The Supreme Court of Maryland closed it in
[Westminster Management, LLC v. Smith](https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2024/4a23.pdf)
(No. 4, Sept. Term 2023, opinion filed March 25, 2024). The holdings
that matter to every residential landlord in the state:

1. **"Rent" under § 8-401 means the fixed, periodic payments a tenant
   is required to make for use or occupancy of the premises.** The
   base rent. Not the various other sums a tenant may owe the landlord
   from time to time, "even if the lease characterizes them as 'deemed
   rent' or 'additional rent.'"
2. **Lease allocation clauses can't manufacture an eviction.** A
   provision that applies the tenant's payment to fees or other
   charges first, leaving "rent" unpaid and the tenant exposed to
   summary ejectment, violates
   [RP § 8-208(d)(2)](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp&section=8-208&enactments=false).
3. **The 5% late fee cap is all-inclusive.** Penalties for late
   payment, capped at 5% of the monthly rent due, swallow any other
   collection charges except costs the court itself awards.

Your lease cannot draft around any of this. The definition is
statutory, as interpreted by the state's highest court, and it
controls what the District Court can do regardless of what the tenant
signed.

## What You CAN Claim on DC-CV-082

Three categories, and only three:

### 1. Base rent through the filing date

The contract rent for each unpaid period, summed, **minus every
payment received**, through the date you file. Not the amount on your
10-day notice: if the tenant paid $400 during the notice window, the
complaint amount drops $400. The number must reconcile to a
chronological [rent ledger](/blog/maryland-rent-ledger-for-court),
because that ledger is the exhibit the judge will read.

### 2. Late fees, if the lease authorizes them, capped at 5%

Two conditions, both mandatory. First, the lease must actually
provide for late fees: no clause, no fee. Second, the fee cannot
exceed **5% of the monthly rent due**: $1,600 rent supports at most an
$80 late fee per late month. The cap is absolute and inclusive of
collection costs, so "$80 plus a $25 processing fee" is an over-claim.
The full mechanics are in
[Maryland's 5% Late Fee Cap](/blog/maryland-late-fee-5-percent).

### 3. Court costs, as awarded

The filing fee and allowable costs of the suit get added to the
judgment if you prevail. You request them in the prayer for relief on
[DC-CV-082](https://www.mdcourts.gov/sites/default/files/import/district/forms/civil/dccv082.pdf);
the court awards them. They are never folded into the rent claim
itself. In residential cases that is the end of the list: attorney's
fees are recoverable only in nonresidential summary ejectment where
the lease provides for them.

**The DC-CV-082 amount formula:**
  Claim = (base rent for each unpaid period, summed) + (late fees ≤ 5% of monthly rent,
  if the lease authorizes them) − (all payments received through the filing date). Court
  costs ride separately in the prayer for relief. Nothing else goes on the form.

## What You CANNOT Claim (Even If the Lease Says Otherwise)

- **Utilities and utility reimbursements.** Water, gas, electric,
  trash, RUBS allocations, submeter charges. After *Westminster*,
  labeling them "additional rent" changes nothing in a residential
  FTPR. And § 8-401 separately requires the court to **deduct** any
  utility bills, fees, or security deposits the tenant paid to the
  utility under Public Utilities Article § 7-309, which happens when a
  landlord's own utility account faces termination.
- **Administrative, amenity, and processing fees.** Parking, pet rent
  labeled as a fee, month-to-month surcharges styled as penalties,
  "lease violation fees." Different debt, different remedy.
- **Security deposit installments.** A deposit is security, not rent.
  See the [Maryland security deposit guide](/blog/maryland-security-deposit-law-landlord-guide).
- **Damage and repair charges.** Mid-tenancy chargebacks for a broken
  window are a contract claim, not rent.
- **Attorney's fees** in residential cases, full stop.
- **Late fees beyond 5%,** including stacked daily fees and
  collection add-ons.

None of these debts evaporate. You can pursue them in a small claim,
deduct qualifying items from the security deposit at move-out, or
recover them under the lease after the tenancy ends. What you cannot
do is use the eviction docket as the collection tool for them.

**Payment allocation is the silent over-claim:**
  Most software defaults to applying payments oldest-charge-first or fees-first. If a
  $1,500 payment hit a $75 late fee and $50 utility line before rent, your ledger shows
  more unpaid "rent" than Maryland law recognizes. Under § 8-208(d)(2) and Westminster,
  that allocation cannot create an FTPR claim. Re-run the ledger rent-first before you
  compute the complaint amount.

## Why Over-Claiming Gets Cases Dismissed

Judges in Baltimore City and across the state see the same inflated
claims daily, and the consequences escalate:

1. **Reduction from the bench.** The court strikes non-rent items and
   over-cap late fees, and enters judgment for the corrected figure.
   You lose credibility and any amount the tenant already matched.
2. **Dismissal when the over-claim is material.** If stripping the
   improper items drops the true arrears to or below what the tenant
   paid or tendered, there is no failure to pay rent, and the case is
   gone. Refile means a fresh notice, a fresh filing fee, and 3-6 more
   weeks of occupancy.
3. **A poisoned notice.** The 10-day Notice of Intent (DC-CV-115)
   states the rent due. A notice demanding utilities and fees as rent
   is a defective notice, and defective notice is Maryland's leading
   FTPR dismissal cause. The whole sequence, from
   [notice](/notice-of-intent) through
   [DC-CV-082](/blog/dc-cv-082-how-to-fill-out), has to carry the same
   clean number.
4. **Exposure beyond the case.** *Westminster* was a class action.
   Systematically collecting non-rent sums through rent court is the
   fact pattern that turns one dismissal into a lawsuit against you.

**File with the right number the first time**: https://www.evictpro.us/pricing

## A Worked Example

Tenant rents at $1,500/month, lease authorizes a 5% late fee, and the
lease bills back $60/month for water "as additional rent." The tenant
missed June and July and paid $500 on July 10.

**Wrong claim:** $1,500 + $1,500 + $150 late fees (two months at a
flat $75... so far so good) + $120 water + $35 "collection fee" −
$500 = **$2,805**. The water and collection fee are not rent or
awardable fees. A judge who catches it strikes $155 and starts asking
what else is inflated.

**Right claim:** $1,500 + $1,500 + $75 + $75 − $500 = **$2,650**,
with court costs requested separately in the prayer for relief. The
$120 of water stays on the tenant's account as a contract debt for
small claims or move-out reconciliation.

The $155 difference is not worth your case. It never is.

## Commercial Leases Are Different

*Westminster*'s rent definition addressed residential leases.
Nonresidential summary ejectment still allows the court to award
reasonable attorney's fees where the lease authorizes them, and
commercial "additional rent" structures (CAM, taxes, insurance) are
evaluated differently. If you hold commercial units, don't import
residential rules, and don't export commercial lease language into
your residential templates.

## The Pre-Filing Checklist

- [ ] Ledger applies every payment to rent first
- [ ] Claim = base rent only, through the filing date
- [ ] Late fees ≤ 5% of monthly rent, authorized by the lease,
      no add-ons
- [ ] No utilities, fees, deposits, damages, or attorney's fees in
      the claim
- [ ] 10-day notice amount and DC-CV-082 amount reconcile (net of
      payments since notice)
- [ ] Non-rent debts tracked separately for small claims or deposit
      reconciliation

**The rule in one sentence:**
  If it isn't the fixed periodic charge for occupying the unit, it isn't rent, and it
  doesn't belong on DC-CV-082: claim base rent plus capped late fees, request court
  costs, and collect everything else through the remedies built for it.

**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 5% Late Fee Cap: What Landlords Can Actually Charge](/blog/maryland-late-fee-5-percent)
- [How to Fill Out DC-CV-082: A Field-by-Field Maryland Filing Guide](/blog/dc-cv-082-how-to-fill-out)
- [The Rent Ledger That Wins in Maryland Rent Court](/blog/maryland-rent-ledger-for-court)
- [Maryland's Tenants' Bill of Rights: Landlord Compliance Guide](/blog/maryland-tenants-bill-of-rights-landlord)
- [The Maryland FTPR Process, Step by Step](/blog/ftpr-maryland-process-step-by-step)

Every clean FTPR claim starts with a clean 10-day notice stating the
right rent figure:

**Generate a compliant Notice of Intent, free**: https://www.evictpro.us/notice-of-intent

## Frequently asked questions

### What counts as rent in a Maryland Failure to Pay Rent case?

The fixed, periodic payment the tenant owes for use or occupancy of the premises: the base monthly rent stated in the lease. The Supreme Court of Maryland held in Westminster Management v. Smith (March 2024) that this is what "rent" means under Real Property § 8-401 for residential leases. Late fees and court costs can be awarded on top of rent, but they are not themselves rent, no matter how the lease labels them.

### Can I include utilities in my FTPR claim?

Not as rent in a residential case. Even if the lease declares utility charges to be "additional rent" or "deemed rent," they are not fixed periodic payments for use or occupancy and cannot support a residential summary ejectment claim. Unpaid utility reimbursements are a breach-of-contract debt you pursue separately, not on DC-CV-082. The statute also requires the court to deduct certain utility payments the tenant made under Public Utilities Article § 7-309.

### Can I include late fees on DC-CV-082?

Yes, as a separate item the court may award in addition to rent, and only if the lease authorizes them. Late fees are capped at 5% of the monthly rent due, and the Supreme Court of Maryland held the 5% cap is inclusive of any collection costs other than court-awarded costs. A lease clause charging 10%, a flat fee exceeding 5%, or daily penalties on top of 5% is unenforceable to the extent it exceeds the cap.

### What is a rent allocation clause and why is it a problem?

A lease clause that applies the tenant's payments to fees, utilities, or other charges first, so the "rent" line stays unpaid and the tenant stays exposed to eviction. In Westminster Management v. Smith, the Supreme Court of Maryland held that allocating payments of rent to other obligations, and then using the resulting "rent" shortfall for summary ejectment, violates Real Property § 8-208(d)(2). If your lease or your ledger applies payments fees-first, fix it before filing.

### Can I recover attorney's fees in a Maryland FTPR case?

Not in a residential case. Under § 8-401 the court may award rent due, late fees, and costs of the suit in a residential FTPR. Attorney's fees are only available in nonresidential (commercial) summary ejectment cases where the lease authorizes them. Residential lease clauses purporting to make attorney's fees collectible as rent do not survive Maryland's rent definition.

### What happens if I over-claim on DC-CV-082?

The judge can reduce the claim from the bench, and when the over-claim is material, dismiss the case outright. Over-claiming also revives the tenant's defenses: an inflated demand can invalidate the underlying 10-day notice amount and reset your timeline by weeks. Claim base rent through the filing date, minus payments received, plus late fees capped at 5%, and nothing else.