Washington County, MD Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

When a tenant believes a rental unit violates the Livability Code for Washington County, Maryland, the tenant may bring the complaint to the Permits and Inspections Department's Code Official. Section 1-103(c)(1) authorizes the Code Official to enter a structure or premises with the tenant's permission, or upon reasonable notice to the tenant, property owner, or operator, to make an inspection or perform a duty under the Code; entering the structure itself without consent still requires a court order (§ 1-103(c)(2)(ii)). Once a tenant files a complaint, § 2-204(e), titled Tenant, provides that a property owner may not evict a tenant solely due to the tenant's complaint to the Code Official of an alleged violation of this Code.

This retaliation protection applies regardless of whether the inspection ultimately finds a violation. Tenants also have duties tied to the inspection process: § 2-206(c) requires a tenant to keep the space they occupy clean and sanitary and to maintain tenant-supplied fixtures, and § 1-103(f) requires the tenant to give the property owner or operator access at reasonable times once notice is given, so the owner can make repairs the inspection requires. If the Code Official substantiates the complaint, written notice issues to both the owner and tenant under § 2-202(a), and the owner has 30 days to correct a non-emergency violation or 48 hours for one the Code Official deems an emergency (§ 1-103(d)(4)).