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

Baltimore County's inspection power for rental housing sits in § 35-5-103(c) of the Livability Code. The Code Official can enter a structure or premises with the tenant's permission to make an inspection or carry out a duty under the rental-property subtitle. If the Code Official instead believes a Subtitle 3 unsafe-structure violation exists, entry to inspect requires a court order; the Code Official cannot go inside without one. A tenant who lets the Code Official in is protected once that complaint leads to enforcement: § 35-5-204(e), part of the displacement provisions, states plainly that a property owner may not evict a tenant solely because the tenant complained to the Code Official about an alleged violation of the code. That protection sits alongside the broader six-month anti-retaliation window in § 35-4-201(k)-(m) for tenants who report code violations in good faith.

If a landlord or tenant refuses entry outright, the county does not force its way in on its own; instead § 35-5-103(e) lets the county seek an ex parte order for right of entry from a court, supported by evidence establishing probable cause that a violation exists. Once the Code Official does inspect and issues a notice or order, the tenant also owes a reciprocal duty under § 35-5-103(f) to give the property owner or the owner's agent reasonable access to make the repairs the order requires.