The Maryland Home Builder Registration Act requires all home builders, with limited exceptions, to register with the Consumer Protection Division before entering into any contracts with consumers for the construction or sale of a new home. This registration helps the state and consumers hold home builders accountable to state requirements.
Current Registrants
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Registration Requirements
Who Must Register
The Home Builder Registration Act requires registration from:
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Home builders who construct new residential properties in Maryland
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Sales entities or persons that enter into contracts to sell new homes to consumers
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Sales Representatives who work for home builders (including those in Montgomery County).
Click for more information on Sales Representatives.
A sales representative is defined as "an individual employed by a home builder as the home builder's representative to consumers regarding the purchase of a new home from the builder."
Note: Some builders have a single legal entity that both builds the home and sells it to the consumer. For such a builder, that single legal entity will have to register as a home builder.
Other builders have one legal entity construct the home and a separate legal entity sell it. For such a builder, both legal entities will have to register as a home builder.
Registration Fees
- Initial Registration Fee: $800
Renewal Registration Fees:
- 10 or fewer building permits in the preceding year: $400
- 11-74 building permits in the preceding year: $800
- 75 or more building permits in the preceding year: $1,200
Additional Fees:
- Guaranty Fund Administrative Fee for builders who build only in Montgomery County: $250
- Sales Representative Registration: $300
Exemptions from Registration
The following entities are NOT required to register under the Act:
- An employee of a registrant who does not hold themselves out for hire in home building except as an employee of a registrant
- Subcontractors or other vendors hired by the registrant to perform services or supply materials for the construction of a new home who do not otherwise meet the requirements of this title;
- The manufacturer of industrialized buildings intended for residential use or of mobile homes, unless the manufacturer also installs the industrialized buildings or mobile home
- A real estate developer who does not construct, or enter into contracts with consumers to provide or construct, homes
- a financial institution that lends funds for the construction or purchase of residential dwellings in the State
- a person who erects or constructs new homes solely in Montgomery County.
How to Register
Builders can apply to register in one of two ways:
Option 1: Online Registration
Complete the registration process and pay the $800 fee online using Visa, Mastercard, check, or money order at our registration portal.
Registered home builders
New builders
Option 2: File by Mail
Print and complete the following forms.
Note: You can also call and request the Home Builder Registration Unit send the forms to you. In the Baltimore area, call (410) 576-6573; state-wide, call toll free (877) 259-4525.
Mail the completed forms and a check or money order for $800 (payable to the Office of the Attorney General) to:
Home Builder Registration Unit
Consumer Protection Division
200 St. Paul Place
Baltimore, MD 21202
Identify All Principals
All builders will have at least one principal and all principals must be disclosed to the Home Builder Registration Unit. Under the Act, "principal" means:
(a) a sole proprietor, officer, director, general partner, or limited liability company manager of the applicant;
(b) a person with at least 10 percent ownership in either the applicant or a subsidiary of the applicant; or
(c) parents, spouses, and children with a combined 10 percent ownership in the applicant or a subsidiary of the applicant.
Contract Requirements
The Act requires builders to include specific information in their contracts (except for contracts in Montgomery County). This information must be printed in conspicuous type and includes:
- The builder's registration number
- A statement that the new home will be constructed according to all applicable building codes
- References to the performance standards or guidelines that apply to the new home and that will be applicable in any arbitration or adjudication of a claim arising from the contract
- Information detailing the buyer's right to receive a consumer information pamphlet as provided under the Home Builder Registration Act.
Performance Standards
Builders must specify in their contracts which of these performance standards will apply:
- Standards adopted by the National Association of Home Builders
- Standards under the Federal National Manufactured Housing and Safety Standards Act
- The builder's own standards (if they're equal to or more stringent than applicable national standards)
- County or municipal standards (if they're equal to or more stringent than applicable national standards)
Consumer Information Pamphlet
Builders must provide each consumer with the consumer information pamphlet developed by the Home Builder Registration Unit before signing a contract for the sale of a new home. Builders can request copies of this pamphlet by emailing a request to
[email protected].
Advertising Requirements
All advertisements must display the builder's registration number in one of these formats:
- "Maryland Home Builder Registration No. ______", or
- "MHBR No. ________"
This requirement doesn't apply to promotional items like magnets, pens, key chains, and other trinkets.
Relevant Laws and Resources
Forms for Home Builders
