Evicted in Cold or Heat? DC, MD & VA Weather Rules

In DC, the 8 a.m. weather forecast can decide whether you keep your home today.

Here is the bottom line. DC bars evictions on freezing days, on days with rain or snow, and now on days forecast above 95 degrees. Maryland law requires a judge to stay evictions in extreme weather. Virginia has no statewide weather rule at all.

None of these rules cancels an eviction. They move it. If you need more than a few days, you need a different tool.

Can I be evicted in DC when it’s freezing?

No. D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(k) bars a housing provider from evicting you on any day the National Weather Service predicts, at 8:00 a.m., that the temperature at the National Airport weather station will fall below 32 degrees.

The same section bars an eviction while precipitation is falling at your rental unit. Rain, sleet, or snow stops the U.S. Marshals that day.

Can I be evicted in DC in extreme heat?

Not on the worst days. In February 2026 the DC Council passed the Extreme Heat Eviction Protection Amendment Act, sponsored by Councilmember Janeese Lewis George. It took effect April 16, 2026, and is now part of the DC Code.

The heat rule mirrors the cold rule. No eviction on any day the National Weather Service predicts, at 8:00 a.m., that the temperature at National Airport will rise above 95 degrees.

That matters in a DC summer. July and August can stack up a week or more of 95-degree days.

What the DC weather rule does not do

It postpones. It does not dismiss your case, erase your judgment, or forgive the rent. The Marshals reschedule for the next day the weather allows.

There are also three exceptions under § 42-3505.01(k-1): an adjudicated illegal act, a court finding of undue hardship to other tenants or neighbors, and a court finding that you abandoned the unit.

Use the days. Line up housing, talk to the landlord, or call a lawyer.

Can I be evicted in Maryland in cold or hot weather?

Not in extreme weather, and you don’t have to ask. Under Real Property § 8-401(f)(2), a Maryland judge “shall stay” an eviction when the weather is extreme. Each of the District Court’s twelve districts carries that out by standing order.

The statute sets the triggers: a temperature, or next-day forecast, of 32 degrees or lower, and National Weather Service winter storm, blizzard, hurricane, tropical storm, and excessive heat warnings. Rain or snow alone is not on the list. The Prince George’s and Montgomery County orders still let the sheriff postpone if precipitation is falling, or about to, when the eviction is set to start.

A postponed eviction does not go away. The law gives it priority and requires it to be completed within five days after the weather clears.

The courts use these stays. In Prince George’s County, the District 5 court postponed evictions for weather on June 23 through 26, July 17, and July 30, 2025. In 2026 it has postponed them on January 20, February 4, 5, 6, and 9, March 16, and July 1, 2, 15, 16, and 17.

Check the Maryland Judiciary’s eviction postponement page the morning your eviction is scheduled. It lists the dates by district.

Can I be evicted in Virginia during a blizzard?

Yes. Virginia has no statewide law that stops an eviction for weather. A sheriff’s office may postpone in bad conditions, but nothing requires it.

Virginia does have timing rules worth knowing. The court issues a writ of eviction, which Virginia stopped calling a writ of possession in 2019. Under Va. Code § 8.01-471, a writ that is not executed within 30 days of issuance is vacated by law, and the landlord has to go back for a new one.

How much warning will I get, and can I still pay?

All three require notice of the eviction date, and all three let you stop a rent eviction by paying in full in time.

	Notice of the eviction date	Pay in full to stop it
DC	At least 21 days, from your landlord, by phone or electronic message, first-class mail, and posting at your door	Any time before the eviction is completed
Maryland	At least 6 days, by mail and posting on your door. Montgomery County requires 14 days.	Any time before the eviction is carried out, unless you have had three judgments for unpaid rent in the past 12 months
Virginia	At least 72 hours, from the sheriff	Up to 48 hours before the scheduled eviction. A landlord with four or fewer units can limit this to once per lease.

In DC, if an approved ERAP application covers the full amount, tell your landlord at least 48 hours before the eviction. The landlord then has to cancel it.

Weather buys you days. Bankruptcy can buy more.

If the eviction is driven by debt you cannot pay, filing bankruptcy triggers the automatic stay. That stops most collection the moment the case is filed, in any weather.

But here is what you actually need to know. If your landlord already has a judgment for possession before you file, the stay is far weaker. Section 362(b)(22) of the Bankruptcy Code lets the eviction go forward unless you meet strict conditions on the day you file.

Those conditions are narrow. When you file, you certify that local law lets you catch up after the judgment, and you deposit the next 30 days of rent with the bankruptcy court. That keeps the stay in place for 30 days.

To keep it longer, you have to pay everything owed under the judgment within those 30 days and file a second certification. DC, Maryland, and Virginia all allow that catch-up, but Maryland takes it away after three rent judgments in a year, and Virginia cuts it off 48 hours before the eviction.

Timing is the whole game. Call me before the judgment, not after the Marshals or the sheriff are on the calendar.

If you own your home and the threat is a foreclosure sale, the analysis is different and usually better. A Chapter 13 filed before the sale stops it and lets you catch up the arrears over time.

Call me before the next forecast

I handle eviction-driven and foreclosure-driven bankruptcies in DC, in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties, and in Northern Virginia. I know the local rules.

Call (202) 448-5136 for a free, confidential consultation. No fee, no obligation.

Don’t wait.