Maryland RUBS & Apartment Utility Billing Rules (2026)

RUBS disclosure starts before the lease

For covered residential rental property using a ratio utility billing system, § 8-212.4 requires prospective tenants to receive a written statement identifying the allocated utilities, copies of the landlord’s last two utility bills, the allocation method for each utility, the prior calendar year’s average monthly bill across dwelling units, the tenant record-inspection right, and any additional service or administrative charges.

The statute says a lease provision requiring payment of RUBS charges is unenforceable if the landlord fails to provide the required information in writing. Keep the application packet, quote, lease and utility addendum together so you can compare what was disclosed before signing.

RUBS is allocation, not actual per-tenant metering

Maryland defines a ratio utility billing system as allocation of one or more master-metered landlord utility charges among tenants by a method that does not measure actual per-tenant usage. The covered utility definition includes electricity, gas, wastewater/sewage disposal and water.

That distinction matters when comparing two bills: a change in the allocated property bill, occupancy input or allocation formula is not the same thing as a change in a resident’s metered consumption.

Ask to inspect the records behind the allocated bill

Section 8-212.4 gives tenants a written-request right to inspect records retained by the landlord that document a RUBS utility bill. That makes the underlying master bill, billing period and disclosed allocation method central evidence when a charge appears unusually high.

Local jurisdictions may adopt comparable laws that are more stringent, provide stronger protection or broader applicability, so a statewide review should still check county or municipal rules when they exist.

Gas and electric submetering use a different statewide framework

Public Utilities § 7-303 directs Public Service Commission standards for apartment gas and electric submetering. Under the statute, passed-through utility costs are limited to charges authorized by the Commission and actually imposed by the gas or electric company, allocated in proportion to actual measured usage.

The statute separately permits an administrative/billing service charge of no more than $1 per unit per month. A property using actual gas/electric submeters therefore should not be analyzed as though it were automatically using RUBS.

A new water-submeter law is enacted but not yet effective

Maryland Chapter 262 of 2026 creates a new individual water-submeter framework and related landlord-tenant requirements, but the enacted law states that it takes effect October 1, 2026. This page was reviewed September 1, 2026, so RentBillCheck labels that layer as future-effective instead of silently applying it to bills governed by the law in force before October 1.

For a billing period that crosses or follows October 1, 2026, re-check the effective statutory text and the property’s water-billing method before relying on a pre-October summary.

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