| Your Local Baltimore Team |
You are assigned a dedicated Baltimore property manager and a dedicated leasing agent working out of our St Paul Street office in Mount Vernon, backed by an in-house accounting team and Maryland-licensed leadership. Once a tenant is placed, your property manager becomes the single point of contact for you and your tenant. |
One person handles leasing calls, bookkeeping, vendor scheduling, and tenant communication — often at the same time, and often after hours. |
| Baltimore City Rental License & Registration |
Baltimore City requires every non-owner-occupied rental to hold an active rental license backed by a passed inspection, and prohibits collecting rent on an unlicensed property. We coordinate the initial licensing inspection, license issuance, and renewal timeline so the property stays legally rentable. |
You navigate Baltimore City's licensing process yourself — scheduling the inspection with a licensed inspector, submitting paperwork to the city, tracking the license expiration, and renewing on time. Renting without a valid license means you cannot legally collect rent or file in Rent Court. |
| Maryland Lead Paint Registration & Risk-Reduction Certificates |
For properties built before 1978, Maryland requires MDE registration with an assigned tracking number, an accredited lead inspection resulting in a Risk-Reduction Certificate before each new tenancy, and turnover documentation at every vacancy. We coordinate the inspector, maintain the records, and time the certificate to align with the leasing schedule. |
You determine whether the property falls under MDE requirements, hire an accredited lead inspector, complete required remediation, schedule inspections at every turnover, and maintain the records needed for leasing and any subsequent legal action. A lead-compliance lapse can prevent leasing and expose owners to serious liability. |
| Rowhome Stock & Basement Flooding Patterns |
Baltimore's rowhome housing stock brings its own maintenance profile — shared party walls, formstone or brick facades that periodically require pointing, flat roofs prone to ponding after storms, and basements vulnerable to sewer backups during heavy rain events. We schedule seasonal roof inspections, monitor basement conditions after major storms, and coordinate with adjoining property owners when repairs affect a shared wall. |
You track the rowhome-specific maintenance calendar yourself, respond to basement flooding calls after storms, negotiate shared-wall repair costs with neighbors, and coordinate roof and facade maintenance across a housing type unfamiliar to owners from single-family markets. |
| Baltimore City Rent Court & Failure-to-Pay-Rent Process |
Baltimore City requires a proper Failure to Pay Rent notice before an owner can file. We monitor balances, communicate with the tenant, serve the required notice, file the FTPR action in Baltimore City Rent Court, appear at the hearing, and coordinate the warrant of restitution and eviction with the sheriff when necessary. When BMG handles the filing, no additional fee applies and any court-recovered amounts credit back to the owner. |
You track the balance yourself, prepare and serve the notice, file in Rent Court, appear in person, request the warrant, and coordinate the eviction — often while the property is not producing income. |
| Ground Rent Payments & Legacy Land Tenure |
Many Baltimore properties still carry ground rent — a colonial-era land tenure arrangement where the property owner pays an annual ground rent to a separate ground-rent holder. Unpaid ground rent can result in a ground-rent lien or a redemption action. We track ground-rent obligations, ensure payments are made, and flag any redemption or transfer issues that affect the property. |
You research whether your property carries ground rent, identify the current ground-rent holder (which can be difficult when ownership has changed hands), make annual payments, and handle any redemption paperwork. Missed ground-rent payments can compound into legal action affecting title — a Baltimore-specific risk owners from other markets rarely see coming. |
| Charm City Historic Districts & CHAP Review |
Federal Hill, Fells Point, Canton, Mount Vernon, Bolton Hill, and other Baltimore historic districts fall under Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) review for exterior work — windows, doors, siding, roofing, signage. We coordinate with CHAP where required, keep leasing paperwork aligned with district rules, and identify when planned repairs need historic-district approval before work starts. |
You determine whether your property sits in a CHAP district, submit exterior work for review where required, and confirm you're not violating preservation rules when marketing or making changes to the property. |
| Rent Benchmarking Across Baltimore Neighborhoods |
Baltimore's neighborhoods price very differently — Canton and Federal Hill support premium rents for waterfront and downtown-adjacent rowhomes, Hampden and Mount Vernon draw creative and student tenants at a different range, Roland Park attracts family renters at higher price points, and neighborhoods east of the Jones Falls have different dynamics again. We benchmark against comparable rentals in your specific neighborhood, not the citywide average, and adjust for seasonal timing and demand. |
You research comps in your specific neighborhood and set the number alone. Priced against the wrong comp set — a citywide average, or the wrong neighborhood entirely — leaves rent income on the table or extends vacancy. |
| Security Deposits & Maryland Interest Requirement |
Maryland caps deposits at two months' rent and requires interest to be paid on deposits over $50 held for six months or longer, currently at 1.5% simple annually. Deposits must be returned within 45 days of move-out with an itemized deduction list. We handle the escrow account, interest calculation, timing, and documentation backed by move-in and move-out condition reports. |
You maintain the escrow, calculate interest correctly, meet the 45-day return deadline, and document any deductions to a standard that will hold up in court. Errors can expose owners to threefold penalty liability under Maryland law. |
| What It Costs |
A management fee ranging from 5% to 8% of collected rent, a $99 startup fee, a leasing fee equal to the first month's rent, and a lease renewal fee of 25% of one month's rent. All fees are stated upfront in the management agreement — no surprise assessments and no marked-up maintenance charges. |
No management fee. The real costs live off the fee schedule and get bigger in a heavily regulated market: Baltimore City fines from a missed license inspection or renewal, MDE penalties from a lead-compliance lapse, treble-damages exposure from a mishandled deposit, ground-rent lien risk, and the vacancy that follows a rent-court case that could have been prevented with better screening. |