Maryland renters signing a new lease after July 1 will now also receive an eight-page document summarizing their rights and protections as part of their agreement.

The document, called the Tenants’ Bill of Rights, was part of a law approved by the General Assembly last year as part of a broader effort to improve housing stability and affordability in a state that for years has had the highest eviction filing rate in the nation.

New protections in the 2024 law include capping security deposits at one month’s rent and guaranteeing renters a chance to buy their home in some circumstances before it is sold. The bill of rights also includes existing protections, such as limiting rental application fees, ensuring units are safe and livable and requirements to notify renters about evictions.

In addition, the law allows evictions to be postponed for medical necessity or during extreme weather. The Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office suspended evictions last week when temperatures climbed to near 100 degrees.

A new state bureau, the Office for Tenant and Landlord Affairs, which is within the state Department of Housing and Community Development, will serve as a central resource for both renters and landlords, updating and publishing the bill of rights each year. The agency will help renters find legal help, credit counseling, free support services and collect reports on housing law violations.

The law, called the Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act, was one of three housing bills championed by Governor Wes Moore last year.

“We really want to help tenants who have landlords violating serious law, and referring them to the right enforcement agencies,” said Danielle Meister, assistant secretary for homeless solutions at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

Landlords have until July 1 to attach the bill of rights to all lease agreements. An updated version will be re-published every year on Sept. 1, and landlords have one month to to attach the document to their lease agreements.

The document summarizes state and federal tenant laws in 18 different languages.

Liza Datcher, who once rented her home in Prince George’s County, said it took months to understand the full picture of her rights after disputes with her landlord arose. Datcher hopes that the bill of rights and new office will help bring justice to tenants like herself.

The Maryland Multi-Housing Association, a lobbying group for landlords and property owners, said they are working with their members and the state housing agency to be prepared for the requirement.

Del. Marc Korman, who chairs the Environment and Transportation committee that heard the bill, said his district, Montgomery County, has had an office of tenant affairs for years.

Lawmakers created a place ”for tenants to go to understand their rights and to make sure they are not taken advantage of, and for landlords to make sure they are appropriately adhering to laws,” Korman said.

Korman believes another part of the bill will also have a big impact: raising the fee landlords pay to file an eviction case.

The change , which took effect in October, raises the filing fee to $43 from $8 — which had been one of the lowest in the nation. Korman and other supporters believe that increasing the surcharge would disincentivize landlords’ using eviction as a way to collect on unpaid rent. And landlords can no longer pass on the eviction filing fee to their tenants.

The new eviction filing fee is still well below the national average of $109. And an analysis of district court eviction data shows filings and evictions have both decrease by about 10% since the fee increased.

The anticipated $13.3 million increase in state revenue as a result of the new filing fee will be added to the budget of the Maryland Legal Services Corporation Fund, which provides counsel to tenants undergoing eviction cases who otherwise could not afford counsel, and to the Statewide Rental Assistance Voucher Program.

Polling of Marylanders earlier this year identified affordable housing as their top concern, above all other issues, such as crime and taxes.

The bill of rights and new office are a part of statewide efforts to address this central issue.

Banner reporters Hallie Miller and Greg Morton contributed to this report.