Maryland bill would require landlords to give eviction-date notice and 10 days to reclaim belongings

Delegate Jen Terrassa introduced House Bill 767 on Feb. 18 before the House Environment and Transportation Committee, proposing that landlords must notify tenants of a scheduled eviction date at least 14 days in advance and allow a 10‑day reclamation period after an eviction for tenants to recover possessions.

The bill, the Tenant Possessions Recovery Act, aims to make the eviction process more predictable and reduce the number of tenants who lose medicines, documents, family photos and other personal items when sheriffs execute lockouts, backers told the committee.

“This process is incredibly dehumanizing and often unpredictable,” Delegate Jen Terrassa said while presenting the proposal. “Not only are they losing the place they call home, they often lose access to valuable personal belongings including medicine, pictures, family mementos, and important papers.”

Why it matters: Under current Maryland practice, once a landlord obtains a judgment and a warrant of restitution, the sheriff may schedule and execute an eviction without any statewide requirement that the tenant be told the exact eviction date. That can leave tenants who believe they still have a statutory right of redemption scrambling to pay rent or to move possessions, supporters said.

Terrassa said HB 767 would require landlords to provide tenants with at least 14 days’ notice of the…