WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor                        Ch. 5

Occurred: Ch. 645, Acts of 1974.

8-401.

(b) (1) Whenever any landlord shall desire to repossess
any premises to which he is entitled under the provisions of §
8-401(a), he or his duly qualified agent or attorney[,] shall
make his written complaint under oath or affirmation, before the
District Court of the county wherein the property is situated,
describing in general terms the property sought to be
repossessed, and also setting forth the name of the tenant to
whom the property is rented or his assignee or subtenant with the
amount of rent due and unpaid; and praying by warrant to
repossess the premises, together with judgment for the amount of
rent due and costs. The District Court shall issue its summons,
directed to any constable or sheriff of the county entitled to
serve process, and ordering him to notify by first-class mail the
tenant, assignee, or subtenant to appear before the District
Court at the trial to be held on the fifth day after the filing
of the complaint, to answer the landlord's complaint to show
cause why the prayer of the landlord should not be granted, and
the constable or sheriff shall proceed to serve the summons upon
the tenant, assignee or subtenant in the property or upon his
known or authorized agent, but if for any reason, neither the
tenant, assignee or subtenant, nor his agent, can be found, then
the constable or sheriff shall affix an attested copy of the
summons conspicuously upon the property. The affixing of the
summons upon the property after due notification to the tenant,
assignee, or subtenant by first-class mail shall conclusively be
presumed to be a sufficient service to all persons to support the
entry of a default judgment for possession of the premises,
together with court costs, in favor of the landlord, but it shall
not be sufficient service to support a default judgment in favor
of the landlord for the amount of rent due.

(e) In any action of summary ejectment for failure to pay
rent where the landlord is awarded a judgment giving him
restitution of the leased premises, the tenant shall have the
right to redemption of the leased premises by tendering in cash,
certified check or money order to the landlord or his agent all
past due rent and late fees, plus all court awarded costs and
fees, at any time before actual execution of the eviction order.
This subsection does not apply to any tenant who has received
more than three [summons] SUMMONSES containing copies of
complaints filed by the landlord against the tenant for rent due
and unpaid in the 12 months prior to the initiation of the action
to which this subsection otherwise would apply.

DRAFTER'S NOTE:

Error: In § 8-401 of the Real Property Article,
extraneous punctuation in subsection (b)(1) and
incorrect word usage in subsection (e).

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