DSCR Loans in Maryland (MD)

Maryland rents are high, $1,822 a month at the 2025 median, and so are values, against a $419,900 median value (2020-2024). The details that decide where you can borrow and what you net are local: one lender skips the city of Baltimore, the transfer and recordation taxes are split between the state and the county, and Maryland caps deposits at 1 month's rent and late fees at 5%.

DSCR lenders in Maryland

Coverage from each lender's own Maryland page or state list; rates and minimums from its DSCR page, read November 2, 2026.

Baltimore investors, read this first: Upright's Maryland page says it does not currently offer DSCR loans in the city of Baltimore (Upright), while Easy Street Capital names Baltimore and Silver Spring among the places it lends statewide (Easy Street). Check the lender's map before you order an appraisal on a city rowhouse. Short-term flip and bridge lenders are on Maryland hard money lenders.

Maryland rents against DSCR minimums

Maryland's median gross rent rose 5.9% to $1,822 in 2025 from $1,721 in 2024 (Census ACS 2025, B25064). The chart divides it by each lender's minimum ratio:

At Kiavi's 0.8x minimum and 6.375% starting rate, and leaving room for the $341.08 a month that the median Maryland tax bill works out to ($4,093 a year, Census B25103), the median rent can support a 30-year loan of about $310,300 before insurance.

The rent at three different floors, with the median tax bill set aside first:

Rent by bedroom on an 80% loan

On the $419,900 median value (2020-2024), 80% is $335,920. At 6.375% that is $2,095.70 a month in principal and interest, or $2,436.79 with the median tax bill:

Bedroom rents are 2020-2024 medians (Census B25031). At the median price only the 4 bedroom rent clears Kiavi's 0.8 minimum; 3 bedrooms comes to just under it. So in most of Maryland the deal works on a below-median purchase price, a bigger down payment, or a multi-unit property whose rents add up.

Baltimore, Frederick and Annapolis in Census figures

Baltimore's $229,600 median value against $1,331 rent is the one Maryland market here with a Pennsylvania-style yield, and it is the city one lender excludes. Annapolis and Frederick behave like the state as a whole.

Maryland's housing stock and multi-unit rentals

Small apartment buildings are scarce in Maryland: 37,364 units in two-unit buildings and 54,736 in three- and four-unit buildings, 3.6% of 2,560,784 housing units (Census B25024). With so few small multifamily units, the bedroom rents above are the figures most Maryland DSCR files will be tested against. When a 2 to 4 unit building does come up, the lender counts every unit's rent against one payment.

Short-term rentals in Maryland

Easy Street Capital requires no short-term rental history; Upright refinances short-term rentals at 1.15x with documented income but does not finance purchases. Check the county's short-term rental licensing before you count nightly income in the ratio. More on DSCR loans for short-term rentals.

Worked example: Baltimore, Frederick and Annapolis at their own medians

Price a rental at each city's Census median value, borrow 80% at Kiavi's 6.375% starting rate, tax it at Maryland's median bill as a share of value (0.97%) and rent it at the city median. The ratio before insurance, and how many of the 9 published minimums among the Maryland lenders above it clears:

Baltimore comes closest, at 0.99, just short of a 1.00 floor, and Upright's 0.90x is one of the minimums it clears on paper but cannot use, because Upright does not lend in the city. Frederick at 0.75 clears only the 0.75 floors of New Silver and LendingOne. Annapolis at 0.58 needs a lender with no minimum, such as Easy Street Capital, or a lower price, more down or more rent. Tax bills differ by county and by Baltimore City, so use the bill on the listing.

The gap between rent and the median house

At the $419,900 median value with 20% down, the $2,436.79 payment needs $1,950 of rent at Kiavi's 0.8x, $128 a month more than the $1,822 median rent. Rent is moving the right way: it rose $101 a month in a year, which lifted the loan the median rent supports at 0.8x from about $290,100 to $310,300. The gap is still wide enough that most Maryland DSCR purchases are priced below the median, carry more than 20% down, or have more than one rent.

Maryland renters

Renters occupied 793,554 of Maryland's 2,428,843 occupied homes in 2025, 32.7% (Census B25003). Each month a unit sits empty costs the whole payment, $2,436.79 at the median value with 20% down, so a vacancy reserve matters more here than in a cheaper state.

Maryland next to the other DSCR states

Of the ten states with a DSCR page here, Maryland's $1,822 median rent is the third-highest, its 5.9% one-year rise is the fourth-fastest, and its 32.7% renter share is the fifth-highest. High rents, but values higher still: that is why none of the bedroom ratios above reaches 1.00.

Cash to close on a median-priced Maryland rental

Recordation tax is set per $500 by each county and Baltimore City and can apply to the deed of trust as well as the deed, so it grows with your loan amount. Ask the title company for both county figures before you sign.

Maryland transfer and recordation taxes

The state transfer tax is 0.5% of the consideration (Tax-Property 13-203), $2,099.50 on the 2020-2024 median value. Recordation tax is charged per $500 of the price or of the debt secured, at a rate each county or Baltimore City sets by law (Tax-Property 12-103), so it can apply to the deed of trust on your DSCR loan as well as the deed. County transfer taxes come on top; ask the title company for the county figures before closing.

Maryland landlord rules that change the numbers

• Deposit cap: no more than 1 month's rent per unit, regardless of the number of tenants, with up to 2 months allowed in limited cases the statute lists (Real Property 8-203); 1 month is $1,822 on the median rent.
• Deposit return: within 45 days after the tenancy ends, with interest; withholding without a reasonable basis exposes you to up to threefold the amount.
• Late fees: capped at 5% of the rent due for the period (8-208), $91.10 on the median rent.
• Ending a tenancy: 60 days' written notice for a month-to-month tenancy or a lease of more than a week, with exceptions in the statute (8-402).

On a median-priced purchase: 20% down on $419,900 is $83,980, plus $2,099.50 of state transfer tax, county taxes, lender points and reserves.

Foreclosure and the loan documents

A Maryland mortgage or deed of trust may authorize a sale (power of sale) or an assent to a decree (Real Property 7-105), but foreclosure on residential property still starts with an order to docket or a complaint filed in court, with notice and mediation rules (Md. Real Prop. 7-105.1, 7-105).

Before you apply in Maryland

1. Confirm the lender lends in your city, especially Baltimore.
2. Budget the taxes: 0.5% state transfer tax plus county transfer and recordation taxes.
3. Use Maryland's deposit and late-fee caps in your cash-flow plan, not the lease you used elsewhere.
4. Ask about prepayment: Visio Lending says none is required in Maryland.

All lenders and states: DSCR lenders. Neighbors: DSCR loans in Pennsylvania. Run your rent through the DSCR calculator.