Maryland · Fifth Judicial Circuit
Selling a house in Howard County
Howard County sits between Baltimore and Washington, built around Columbia — a planned town rather than a grown one. Cases are filed at 9250 Judicial Way in Ellicott City, and the Land Records Office is in the same building, up in Suite 1900.
- 11 Maryland counties
- I read the county's records
- A live phone within a minute
- Sold as-is
Where a case on your house would be filed
Cases on Howard County houses go to the Circuit Court for Howard County, at 9250 Judicial Way, Ellicott City, MD 21043. It sits in the Fifth Judicial Circuit. Those records are public, and that’s how I read a docket before I call.
Where the deed lives
Every Maryland county keeps its land records in the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office. For Howard County that’s Ellicott City. Deeds, mortgages and liens all go there. They’re online too, through MDLandRec, which the State Archives runs. That’s the second record I read.
Where in Howard County I buy
Anywhere in Howard County — Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge, North Laurel, Savage, Jessup, Scaggsville, Fulton, and everywhere between them. One note on that list: Howard County has no incorporated towns or cities, so every place below is a Census-designated place. I haven’t ranked them by size, because I couldn’t verify a ranking from an official source, and a made-up one is still made up.
- Columbia
- Ellicott City
- Elkridge
- North Laurel
- Savage
- Jessup
- Scaggsville
- Fulton
- Ilchester
- Highland
- Lisbon
One more thing about Howard County
Howard County was created in 1851 and is Maryland's youngest county. Columbia opened on 21 June 1967, developed by The Rouse Company under its founder James W. Rouse. At the 2020 Census the jurisdiction had 332,317 residents.
What I actually do here
I buy directly and as-is. No repairs, no cleaning, nothing hauled out. There’s no commission, because there’s no listing side. I pay the customary buyer’s closing costs, and you pick the date. If a case has already been filed in Ellicott City, you can still sell — settlement just has to land before the sale date, and those dates are set by statute, so you can know them ahead of time, so they are knowable in advance rather than a surprise.