Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland

Re: Return of Security Deposit

You may have to pursue the landlord in small claims court to recover your money. It will be economically unfeasible to pay an attorney in that there is such a small amount at stake. The landlord is probably "testing" you, thinking you won't know what to do or want to invest the time involved to recover your money.

Go to the District Court of Maryland in your county and go to the civil clerk's office. Ask them for a complaint form and fill it out--it's pretty self-explanatory. Sometimes the clerks will help you if they're not too busy. You pay a $5 filing fee and also a sheriff's service fee if you choose to have the papers served on the landlord by sheriff. Your other service options are by certified mail or by having a private process server do it. You can hire a professional process server if you think the landlord will be hard to serve, but anyone over 18 except you can serve the papers. You don't have to necessarily deliver the papers directly to the landlord himself; anyone else living with him except a young child can accept them to complete valid service. Make sure you file the affidavit of service with the clerk's office after completing service; ask the clerk for more information about this.

When you receive the papers back from the clerk after filing, a court date will appear on the complaint. That's your trial date, assuming you serve the landlord by the indicated deadline. Be sure to have all your paperwork ready to show the judge at your trial--termite report, cancelled checks for the water bill, etc. It probably won't get this far, but you need to convince the judge that you're legally entitled to a refund to prevail. Good luck!