Ft. Detrick/W. Reed Army Med. Housing v. Wynn

CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJune 23, 2026
Docket28/25
StatusPublished

This text of Ft. Detrick/W. Reed Army Med. Housing v. Wynn (Ft. Detrick/W. Reed Army Med. Housing v. Wynn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ft. Detrick/W. Reed Army Med. Housing v. Wynn, (Md. 2026).

Opinion

Fort Detrick/Walter Reed Army Medical Center Housing LLC v. Robert Wynn, No. 28, September Term, 2025. Opinion by Biran, J.

UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION – ENCLAVE CLAUSE – ACCEPTANCE OF JURISDICTION BY THE UNITED STATES – The Enclave Clause of the United States Constitution provides that Congress has the power to “exercise exclusive Legislation … over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings[.]” U.S. CONST. art. I, § 8, cl. 17. For the United States to obtain exclusive jurisdiction over property under the Enclave Clause, three things must occur: (1) the State must consent to the United States’ acquisition of the property in question; (2) the State must cede its jurisdiction over the property to the United States; and (3) the United States must indicate its acceptance of the ceded jurisdiction. The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the fact that the United States obtained legal title to the property at issue did not indicate the United States’ acceptance of jurisdiction over that property.

REAL PROPERTY – SUMMARY EJECTMENT ACTION – PROOF OF EXEMPTION FROM LICENSURE – A landlord that does not possess a required residential rental license may not file a summary ejectment action under Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. (“RP”) § 8-401 (1974, 2023 Repl. Vol.) seeking to evict a tenant. Under RP § 8- 406, a landlord in a jurisdiction mandating licensure of residential rental property must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence at trial in a summary ejectment action that the property listed in the complaint is licensed, exempt from licensure, or unlicensed due to one of several enumerated reasons. The landlord in this case claimed that it was exempt from Montgomery County’s rental license regulations because the United States has exclusive jurisdiction under the Enclave Clause over the landlord’s apartment complex. The Supreme Court of Maryland held that because the landlord failed to show that the United States has exclusive jurisdiction over the property underneath the apartment complex, the landlord failed to establish that Montgomery County’s rental regulations are preempted by the Enclave Clause. Because the landlord failed to meet its burden at trial to show that it is exempt from Montgomery County’s license requirements, the District Court should have entered judgment for the tenant. Circuit Court for Montgomery County Case No.: C-15-CV-24-003800 Argued: December 5, 2025

IN THE SUPREME COURT

OF MARYLAND

No. 28

September Term, 2025

FORT DETRICK/WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER HOUSING LLC

v.

ROBERT WYNN

Fader, C.J. Watts Booth Biran Gould Eaves Killough,

JJ.

Opinion by Biran, J.

Filed: June 23, 2026

Pursuant to the Maryland Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act (§§ 10-1601 et seq. of the State Government Article) this document is authentic.

2026.06.23 16:20:44 -04'00' Gregory Hilton, Clerk Montgomery County requires that the owner of a residential property located within

the County obtain a license before operating the property as rental housing. A landlord that

does not possess a required rental license may not file a summary ejectment action in the

District Court of Maryland seeking to evict a tenant. This case involves an unlicensed

landlord in Montgomery County that filed such an action. The landlord contends that it is

exempt from the County’s licensure requirement because the property in question is subject

to the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States.

Petitioner/Cross-Respondent Fort Detrick/Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Housing LLC (the “Landlord”) owns and operates Glen Haven Apartments (“Glen

Haven”), a multi-family housing complex in Wheaton, Maryland, located on land first

acquired by the United States in 1941. Glen Haven was constructed in 2005 as part of the

Military Housing Privatization Initiative (“MHPI”), 10 U.S.C. § 2871 et seq., which was

enacted to facilitate affordable private housing for servicemembers. Glen Haven’s tenants

include servicemembers assigned to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

(“Walter Reed”) and their families.

Under the terms of the MHPI, the Landlord prioritizes the leasing of units at Glen

Haven to servicemembers. However, if there are vacant units at Glen Haven that are not

needed by servicemembers, the Landlord may lease them to civilians. Respondent/Cross-

Petitioner Robert Wynn was a civilian tenant at Glen Haven. After Mr. Wynn failed to pay

rent that was due under his lease, the Landlord filed a summary ejectment action in the

District Court of Maryland sitting in Montgomery County, seeking Mr. Wynn’s eviction. Mr. Wynn moved to dismiss the case, based on the Landlord’s failure to obtain a

rental license. In response, the Landlord claimed that it is exempt from licensure because

Glen Haven is located on land covered by Article I, Section 8, clause 17 of the United

States Constitution. That relatively obscure provision of the Constitution, which is known

as the Enclave Clause, states that Congress has the power to exercise exclusive jurisdiction

over all property purchased by the federal government, with the consent of the legislature

of the state in which the property is located, for the purpose of erecting forts, magazines,

arsenals, dockyards, and other “needful [b]uildings[.]” The Landlord asserted that, because

Glen Haven constitutes a “needful” building located within a federal enclave, it is subject

to the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, and the County licensure regulations do not apply.

The District Court ruled that Glen Haven is exempt from licensure and entered an

order of summary ejectment against Mr. Wynn. Mr. Wynn appealed to the Circuit Court

for Montgomery County, which reversed the judgment of the District Court. The circuit

court concluded that Glen Haven is located within a federal enclave, but nevertheless ruled

that the Landlord is required to obtain a license with respect to units the Landlord rents to

civilians.

The parties filed cross-petitions for certiorari, which we granted to decide whether

the Enclave Clause preempts Montgomery County licensure regulations that would

otherwise be applicable to Glen Haven and, in particular, to units rented to civilians. After

we granted review, the case proceeded down a somewhat long and winding road, as we

recount below. The premise upon which the parties litigated the case in the lower courts –

2 that Glen Haven is located on land that is covered by the Enclave Clause – turned out to be

debatable.

It was the Landlord’s burden at trial to demonstrate by a preponderance of the

evidence that it is exempt from otherwise applicable rental licensing requirements. Because

the Landlord did not establish at trial that any portion of Glen Haven is subject to the

exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, the Landlord failed to meet its burden. For this

reason, we affirm the circuit court’s judgment in favor of Mr. Wynn on different grounds.

I

Background

A. Glen Haven and the MHPI

The United States acquired the approximately 20-acre parcel of land upon which

Glen Haven sits (the “Property”) by condemnation in August 1941, see United States v.

James F. Windham et. al., Civil Docket No. 1304 (D. Md. 1941), 1 and has held fee simple 0F

title to the Property since that time.

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Bluebook (online)
Ft. Detrick/W. Reed Army Med. Housing v. Wynn, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ft-detrickw-reed-army-med-housing-v-wynn-md-2026.