Prince George's County, Maryland: security deposit interest

What the county adds is an account and enforcement layer: the deposit must be held in an insured, interest-bearing escrow account at a Maryland bank, administered for the tenant's benefit and identified as escrow money, with the rental license itself at stake for violations; the money must be banked within 30 days, receipted in writing, capped at two months' rent or $50 (whichever is greater), and returned with interest within 45 days, with threefold-plus-fees exposure for unjustified withholding. One caution: the county's printed code still describes six-month interest accrual, a leftover of the pre-2015 state rule — current state law accrues interest monthly, and state law controls.

Prince George's County deposit interest at a glance

Accrual and payment

Return within 45 days after the lease terminates, with interest, less damages rightfully withheld. On accrual timing the county's printed text has not kept up with state law: § 13-159(g)(1) still says interest accrues at six-month intervals, which was Maryland's rule before June 1, 2015 — the current state statute accrues interest at monthly intervals from the day the deposit is paid, and state law governs.

Who and what is covered

The county caps the deposit at two months' rent or $50, whichever is greater, per dwelling unit regardless of the number of tenants.

Custody of the deposit

The county adds a real account layer on top of state law: the deposit must sit in an interest bearing and insured escrow account at a bank or savings and loan located within Maryland, administered for the tenant's benefit, never commingled with the landlord's assets, and identified as security-deposit escrow money — and failure is grounds for denying, suspending, or revoking a multifamily rental license. The money must be deposited within 30 days of receipt, and the tenant gets a written receipt, with $50 statutory liability if none is given.

Penalty for violation

Withholding the deposit or its accrued interest without a reasonable basis past the 45-day deadline exposes the landlord to up to threefold the amount withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees; charging an excessive deposit carries the same threefold exposure on the excess.

How this interacts with state law

Prince George's County states a deposit-interest duty in its own code but routes the rate to state law twice: the tenant is entitled to interest "as provided under § 8-203 of the Real Property Article," and the deposit comes back with "interest per annum, as determined pursuant to § 8-203." The county never states a percentage — Maryland's statewide rate (the greater of the one-year Treasury yield-curve rate set each January or 1.5 percent per year) governs in the county.

Notes and caveats

• A stale accrual clause in the county's own code — Section 13-159(g)(1) reads: interest "shall accrue at six (6) month intervals from the day the landlord deposits the security deposit," without compounding. That restates Maryland's rule as it stood before June 1, 2015, when the state moved to monthly accrual; the county clause was last amended in 2014 and was never conformed. Because the county routes the rate and entitlement to § 8-203, the state's monthly accrual governs — but a reader of the county code alone would come away with the repealed rule. The county's $50 minimum-deposit threshold for interest sits in the same vintage clause; the state statute carries its own $50 threshold.
• Why the license matters — The escrow-account duty is tied to multifamily rental licensing: failing to keep the deposit in a conforming, identified escrow account is cause for denial, suspension, or revocation of the license — an enforcement lever most jurisdictions do not attach to deposit handling.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Prince George's County, Maryland: security deposit interest (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/maryland/prince-georges-county/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified).

Citations

• Prince George's County Code § 13-159 (security deposits; escrow accounts; interest) · (c), (d), (g) (verified 2026) Official source
• Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203 (the state deposit-interest rate) · (e) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Read of all 34 sections of Prince George's County Code, Subtitle 13, Division 3 (Landlord-Tenant Regulations), with § 13-159 read in full on two independent publishers of the county code and every occurrence of interest language in the division classified; the county text compared against the current Maryland Real Property § 8-203 text and the 2015 chaptered amendment.

This page records local law on deposit interest. The statewide position — Maryland requires landlords to pay interest on security deposits, at the greater of the 1-year U.S. Treasury yield curve rate on the first business day of the year or 1.5% a year. — lives on the Maryland deposit-interest page with its own citations and verification date.