Washington County, MD Code Violation Reporting: How to Report (2026)

The Livability Code for Washington County, Maryland gives the Permits and Inspections Department's Code Official, defined at § 1-101(e-1) as a county employee assigned to the Permits and Inspections Department with the duty of enforcement of this Code, the authority to act once a suspected violation is reported. Section 1-103(c)(1) lets the Code Official enter a structure or premises with the tenant's permission or on reasonable notice to the tenant, property owner, or operator to make an inspection. Section 1-103(c)(2)(i) goes further: the Code Official may enter the property to inspect once there is a belief that a Code violation has occurred, though § 1-103(c)(2)(ii) bars entering the structure itself without a court order unless the owner or tenant consents.

Once the Code Official determines or has reasonable grounds to believe a violation exists, § 2-202(a)(1) requires written notice to both the property owner and the tenant, served by hand delivery or by certified or registered mail, or by posting on the structure if mail is returned undelivered (§ 2-202(b)). The Code Official also coordinates with other county inspecting agencies to avoid duplicate visits when a complaint triggers inspections by more than one department (§ 1-103(g)). A tenant who reports a violation is protected: § 2-204(e) bars a property owner from evicting a tenant solely because the tenant complained to the Code Official.