Yes, Maryland state law protects home buyers based on both sexual orientation and gender identity. I’m Jackie Garber, a Realtor in Central Maryland. Buyers relocating from other states ask me whether Maryland LGBTQ housing protections hold up before they tour a single house. That’s a fair question. Federal housing enforcement has shifted since 2025 and again in a 2026 proposal, and both moves came from HUD. Maryland law governs the sale itself, and the federal changes mostly touch HUD’s own programs. Section 20-705 of the State Government Article is where that protection lives. The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR) enforces it. Knowing how the pieces fit makes it easier to choose an agent or a county with confidence.
What Changed in Federal Housing Enforcement?
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pulled back enforcement guidance in 2025 and proposed new regulatory language in 2026. It took two steps.
- In September 2025, HUD withdrew a 2021 memo that applied the Fair Housing Act to discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
- In April 2026, HUD published a proposed rule that would replace the phrase sexual orientation and gender identity with the single word sex across several HUD regulations.
HUD’s own notice lists the memo among its withdrawn guidance. The notice ties the withdrawals to two executive orders on deregulation. The 2021 memo had put an earlier executive order into practice at HUD. For the proposal, HUD points to women’s safety in homeless shelters and the religious liberty of faith-based shelter operators. It also cites a January 2025 executive order on how federal agencies use the word sex.
The text reaches past shelters, though. FHA loans are mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, and the proposal edits the nondiscrimination rules for them.
One footnote calls sexual orientation “often considered a subset” of sex. The proposal appeared in the Federal Register on April 28, 2026, and public comments closed on June 29. Until HUD finalizes it, the proposal has no legal force. None of this rewrites Maryland’s housing law, which the General Assembly writes on its own.
What Does Maryland Law Say About Home Sales?
Every one of the five prohibited acts in a home sale names sexual orientation and gender identity. Under section 20-705, a person may not do any of the following when selling or renting a home.
- Refuse to sell or negotiate with you after a genuine offer.
- Offer you worse terms or conditions.
- Advertise a preference for or against a buyer.
- Tell you an available home is off the market.
- Pressure owners to sell by talking about who is moving into the neighborhood.
Each of those acts names sexual orientation and gender identity in the statute’s own words. The same section covers rentals as well as sales. The protections follow a purchase from the first inquiry to closing, and none of them depends on which county you pick.
MCCR’s housing page also treats steering buyers toward or away from certain neighborhoods as discrimination. The policy statement in section 20-702 sets the same list of protected characteristics for fair housing statewide. You don’t have to take my word for it. The General Assembly’s website lets you read the full text yourself. When something feels off during a showing or a negotiation, you can hold what a seller or agent says up against the act it describes.
How Do the Federal Changes Affect a Maryland Purchase?
HUD’s draft edits HUD’s own regulations, and Maryland’s statute stays as it is. Those regulations govern HUD programs, including FHA loans. One edited provision, 24 CFR 5.105(a)(2), requires HUD-assisted and FHA-insured housing to be available without regard to actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The proposal leaves the Fair Housing Act itself alone. FHA loans aren’t the only path to a purchase, so your loan type decides how much of this applies to you.
Borrowers with an FHA loan are the ones to watch, so talk with your lender before you make an offer. Your lender can explain how HUD’s rules apply to your loan, and you can plan your budget and timeline around the answer.
The sale itself works differently. It falls under section 20-705, and MCCR’s housing page lists both characteristics among those Maryland protects. You still have a path through the state when a seller refuses your offer, offers worse terms, or falsely says a home is off the market. A pullback at HUD doesn’t strip that path away, because Maryland’s text names both characteristics itself. Sale and loan can follow different rules.
For anyone comparing states, the practical question is where a protection is written and who enforces it. Maryland answers with a statute and a commission.
Where Do You File if Something Goes Wrong?
You have two places to file, and both give you one year. Each agency enforces its own law, and the first steps look a little different.
| Agency | Law it enforces | Time limit | First step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland Commission on Civil Rights | Maryland’s housing statute, which names sexual orientation and gender identity | One year from the date of the alleged act | Submit an online complaint inquiry, then finish intake with MCCR staff |
| HUD | The federal Fair Housing Act | One year after the alleged practice occurs or ends | Submit Form HUD-903 online at hud.gov/fairhousing/fileacomplaint |
Start early. MCCR’s online inquiry isn’t the complaint itself, and a complaint isn’t official until the intake interview and signed paperwork are complete.
Waiting until the eleventh month leaves little room for intake. Reach out to MCCR well before then. I’m a Realtor, not an attorney. MCCR’s intake staff or a fair housing attorney can speak to the facts of your situation. Before you call, save everything you can, including dates, names, and copies of messages or listings. A short record of what happened and when gives intake staff a place to begin.
What Should You Check in Any State You’re Comparing?
Start with the statute’s own wording, then look at who enforces it and how long you have to act. Fair housing laws differ across the country. These four checks work on any state on your list.
- Read the statute and see whether sexual orientation and gender identity appear in its prohibited acts by name.
- Check the scope to see whether the law covers the whole purchase, from advertising to final negotiations.
- Find the enforcement agency and what its intake process looks like.
- Note the filing deadlines at the state and federal levels.
A statute that names both characteristics gives you plain words to point to if a problem comes up. Maryland’s passes the first check, since all five acts name those characteristics. Keep your findings in one place so you can compare states side by side. Share them with any agent you’re considering. Ask each agent about county and city ordinances too, because local jurisdictions can add protections on top of state law. Maryland’s answers are public, with section 20-705 covering the statute and MCCR’s housing page covering enforcement.
Ready to Talk About Buying in Maryland?
Send me a note through my contact page with the counties you’re considering, your rough timeline, and any questions about the market there, and I’ll write back directly. I want every client to find a safe, welcoming place to call home, and I’d love to help you get started. Send as much or as little detail as you like. Tell me what matters most about the neighborhood, and we’ll plan our first conversation around it.