# Real Property (GRP)

## Title 13. Land Patents

### Subtitle 5. Issuance of Patent

#### Section 13-501

(a) The Commissioner shall prepare a patent within 30 days after:

  (1) The Commissioner or a circuit court, as the case may be, finds that a patent should issue;

  (2) That finding has become final by:

    (i) Failure to file an appeal before expiration of the period within which an appeal may be taken; or

    (ii) The rendering on appeal of a final decision; and

  (3) The purchase price for any vacant land and all outstanding expenses are paid.

(b) The patent shall contain:

  (1) The name of the person to whom it is issued;

  (2) The name given to the land;

  (3) The name of the original applicant;

  (4) The date of issuance of the warrant;

  (5) The name of any person substituted as applicant and the date of the substitution;

  (6) The date of filing the certificate or amended certificate of survey on which the patent is based;

  (7) A description of the land, as contained in the certificate of survey; and

  (8) The Commissioner's certificate that the patent is proper to be issued.

#### Section 13-502

(a) After a patent is prepared by the Commissioner, if the Commissioner's certificate that the patent is proper to be issued is based on a final judgment for declaratory relief that was rendered in a proceeding referred to a circuit court under Sec. 13-407 of this title or, except for an appeal that was taken under Sec. 13-410(a)(1) of this title and in which the only contested issue was the purchase price established by the Commissioner in his final judgment, if the certificate is based on a final decision of court that was rendered in an appeal taken under Sec. 13-410 of this title:

  (1) The Commissioner immediately shall send the patent to the Governor for his signature;

  (2) The Governor promptly shall sign the patent and cause it to be sealed with the Great Seal of the State of Maryland; and

  (3) The patent shall be recorded:

    (i) In the patent records of the Commissioner; and

    (ii) In the land records for each county in which is located any portion of the land for which the patent was issued.

(b)

  (1) After a patent is prepared by the Commissioner, if the Commissioner's certificate is based on a final judgment that was rendered by the Commissioner in a proceeding heard by him under Sec. 13-406 of this title, from which final judgment no appeal was taken, or if the Commissioner's certificate is based on a final decision of court that was rendered in an appeal taken under Sec. 13-410(a)(1) of this title and in which the only contested issue was the purchase price established by the Commissioner in his final judgment:

    (i) The Commissioner immediately shall send the patent to the Board of Public Works for its review; and

    (ii) Unless the Board of Public Works, within 45 days after its receipt of the patent, rejects for cause the Commissioner's certificate that the patent is proper to be issued, the patent shall be signed, sealed, and recorded as provided for in subsection (a) of this section.

  (2) If the Board of Public Works rejects for cause the Commissioner's certificate within the period specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the patent may not be issued and the applicant is entitled to reimbursement from the State of all reasonable expenses and reasonable attorney's and surveyor's fees incurred by the applicant in the application proceedings. The Board shall provide for payment of the reimbursement from funds available to it and make the reimbursement as soon as is practicable.

(c) The issuance of a patent under this title is not subject to the provisions of Title 10 of the State Finance and Procurement Article governing the sale or disposition of State property.

#### Section 13-503

(a) The issuance of a patent operates as a quitclaim of the interest of the State in the land.

(b) The interest of the State does not pass and is not affected until a patent is issued.

(c) A patent issued on a warrant to resurvey land previously patented does not affect or impair any mortgage, deed of trust, easement, right-of-way, or similar interest in the land.

#### Section 13-504

(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, if, after the exhaustion of all available defenses and appeals, a court of competent jurisdiction determines that the patent is invalid as to any portion of the vacant land for which it was issued, the person to whom the patent was issued is entitled to reimbursement from the State of that portion of the entire purchase price paid that is equitably attributable to the vacant land held to have been invalidly patented, based on a pro rata apportionment of the entire purchase price or any other factor which the Board of Public Works determines to be relevant.

(b) Any person claiming a right to reimbursement under this section shall apply to the Board of Public Works for reimbursement within six months of the final court decision on which the claim is based. The application shall set forth in detail the basis of the claim. It shall be signed and verified by the person making the claim and contain a certification that a copy of the application was mailed to the Commissioner.

(c) If the Board of Public Works determines that the applicant is entitled to reimbursement under this section, it shall establish the amount of the reimbursement, provide for payment of the reimbursement from funds available to it, and make the reimbursement as soon as is practicable.

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Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. (as displayed at mgaleg.maryland.gov, October 16, 2026)