Effective October 1, 2005, Maryland law will limit the liability of a tenant for rent under a residential lease to no more than two months’ rent if the tenant provides a ‘doctor’s note’ terminating the lease before the end of the term because of a medical disability.

The tenant must provide the landlord with a physician’s written certification regarding the medical condition of an individual who is a named party in a lease or an authorized occupant under the lease and a written notice of termination of the lease stating when the tenant will vacate the premises.

Of some significance, the new law does not apply if the lease contains a liquidated damages clause that requires written notice to vacate of one month or less and imposes liability for rent less than or equal to two months’ rent after the tenant vacates.

This change to Maryland Annotated Code, Real Property Article, Section 8-212.2, is not be construed to affect a landlord’s duty to mitigate damages, nor to affect a tenant’s obligation under the lease to pay for repairs to the premises.

SB 339, passed unanimously in both the Senate and House of Delegates, and specifically provides for a doctor’s certification in substantially this form,

“I, (name of physician), hereby certify that my patient, (name of patient), is no longer able to live at his or her leased premises, (address of leased premises), because the patient has a medical condition that: (1) substantially restricts the physical mobility of the patient within, or from entering and exiting, the leased premises, and the patient reports that the patient is not able to reasonably make modifications to remove the restrictions; or (2) requires the patient to move to a home, facility, or institution to obtain a higher level of care than can be provided at the leased premises. I certify further that the expected duration of the patient’s medical condition will continue beyond the termination date of the patient’s lease, which the patient states is (termination date of lease).”

That certification must be by a physician licensed to practice medicine in Maryland, prepared on the physician’s letterhead or printed prescription form, and signed by the physician.

Prior to the effective date of this new law, at common law, as followed in Maryland, when a tenant signs a lease and later breaches the lease by abandoning the property, the landlord can hold the tenant liable for the entire amount of the rent due under the lease. By statute, a landlord has a duty to mitigate the damages caused by a tenant’s breach of the lease through terminating the occupancy before the end of its stated term. However, the landlord is under no obligation to show or lease the vacated unit in preference to other available units. The only exception to this rule exists, if a person who is on active duty with the U. S. military enters into a residential lease and subsequently receives permanent change of station orders or temporary duty orders for a period exceeding three months, the person’s liability for rent under the lease may not exceed 30 days’ rent after written notice of the assignment is given to the landlord. But today, no provision in Maryland law limits the liability to pay rent of a tenant who moves because of a disability or otherwise.

The common law will be changed by this new statute that authorizes a doctor’s note to terminate a lease because of a medical disability.

Because, as noted above, this change in law does not apply if the lease contains a liquidated damages or early termination clause that requires written notice to vacate of one month or less and imposes liability for rent less than or equal to two months’ rent after the tenant vacates; it is likely prudent for landlords to provide for greater certainty by altering their leases to provide for such an early termination in lieu of simply allowing the statute to control.