Lease Option Agreements
For the purposes of this section, a "lease option agreement
" means any clause in a lease
agreement or separate document that confers on the tenant some power, either qualified or unqualified, to purchase the landlord's interest in the property.
Required statement in agreement
A lease option agreement
to purchase improved residential property, with or without a ground rent, executed after July 1, 1971 shall contain a statement in capital letters: THIS IS NOT A CONTRACT
TO BUY.
In addition, the agreement shall contain a clear statement of its purpose and effect with respect to the ultimate purchase of the property which is the subject of the lease
option
.
Failure to comply
If a lease option agreement
fails to comply with subsection (b) of this section and is otherwise enforceable, the lease
, the lease option agreement
, or both may be voided at the option
of the party that did not draft the lease option agreement
. Read the Law: Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-202
Is this legal advice?
This site offers legal information, not legal advice. We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information and to clearly explain your options. However we do not provide legal advice - the application of the law to your individual circumstances. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney. The Maryland State Law Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, sponsors this site. In the absence of file-specific attribution or copyright, the Maryland State Law Library may hold the copyright to parts of this website. You are free to copy the information for your own use or for other non-commercial purposes with the following language “Source: Maryland's People’s Law Library – www.peoples-law.org. © Maryland State Law Library, 2010.”

