Anne Arundel County, MD Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger
- Repeated health/safety or unsafe-structure actions
- Owner response window
- 30 days from notice
- Required safeguarding
- Board openings, post no-trespass signs
- Violation class
- Class C civil offense, daily fines
- Release
- 3 months of compliant maintenance
Summary
The Health Officer can declare a vacant, deteriorating property a nuisance property and force the owner to board it up, secure it, and clean it within 30 days of notice.
(a) Notice to property owner. Before declaring a property a nuisance property, the Health Officer shall send a notice of nuisance property to the owner of the property by first-class mail and by posting on the property... (b) Declaration. The Health Officer may declare a property a nuisance property if a property owner fails to respond to a notice within 30 days or fails to comply with a plan submitted in accordance with subsection (a)(2).
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-93: County Code is current through May, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Under Anne Arundel County Code Article 15, an unoccupied property can be labeled a nuisance property after repeated health-hazard or unsafe-structure actions against it. The Health Officer must first mail and post a notice giving the owner 30 days to safeguard the property and submit a maintenance plan; if the owner does neither, the Health Officer may formally declare it a nuisance property. Once declared, the owner must board up ground-floor openings, post no-trespassing signs, and keep the lot free of litter and rank vegetation until it is repaired, sold, or demolished.
Violations & Fines
Failing to comply with a nuisance-property notice or safeguarding order is a Class C civil offense under § 15-5-102(c), with fines assessed daily and County recovery of demolition or abatement costs by lien.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who enforces nuisance property rules in Anne Arundel County?
Can the County recover its costs if it has to secure or demolish the building?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Anne Arundel County
Compare Anne Arundel County to another location·View the Maryland property maintenance overview
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