A majority of Montgomery County Council members want to require landlords to give tenants two full weeks of notice before evicting them — more than double the six days required by a new state law.

“These new requirements would give tenants certainty, enable them to make firm plans for their belongings and their next steps for housing,” District 5 council member Kristen Mink said when introducing the bill at Tuesday‘s council meeting.

The bill is enabled by the new state law that went into effect Oct. 1. In addition to requiring landlords to provide at least six days’ notice before an eviction, it allows local jurisdictions to require notice of up to 14 days.

Mink said that the extension of the time between notification and an eviction would make it easier to connect residents facing eviction with county programs that might help them pay rent. The county sponsors several programs for constituents facing the threat of eviction and homelessness, including rental assistance and special housing grants. Additional programs serve households that include people with disabilities.

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Many tenants, aware of an impending eviction, are able to remedy their situations “prior to that knock on the door,” Mink said. “By providing these two weeks’ notice ... we can extend those benefits to everyone.”

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said it receives approximately 10,000 formal requests for evictions annually — but that the number fluctuates from year to year. Some of these disputes, however, are resolved between tenants and landlords before an eviction takes place.

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According to a county staff report, 979 evictions took place in Montgomery County in fiscal year 2024. This translates to 12% of requests for eviction resulting in actual evictions that year. Evictions have been on the rise in the county over the past five years. In 2020, 7.4% of notices resulted in evictions.

Mink’s bill has several cosponsors, including Council President Kate Stewart, Council Vice President Will Jawando, and council members Gabe Albornoz, Natali Fani-González and Dawn Luedtke.

The legislation will be considered at a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. during the Oct. 28 council meeting.