Landlord and Tenant - Residential Leases - Prospective Tenant Criminal History Records Check (Maryland Fair Chance Housing Act)

Maryland's SB 514, the "Maryland Fair Chance Housing Act," prohibits landlords from requiring or using a prospective tenant's criminal history during initial rental screening. Landlords may only consider criminal history after making a conditional lease offer and must limit checks to convictions within the past three years. The bill also bans discrimination based on arrests without convictions, expunged records, pardons, or vacated convictions, and mandates that tenant screening reports include only legally permissible information. Landlords violating the law face enforcement under Maryland's Consumer Protection Act, and the Attorney General must collect annual data on housing applications involving criminal history checks.