Maryland
Yes, when the deposit is a clear, set sum that was a reasonable forecast of the shop’s loss when the client agreed. In Barrie School v. Patch, parents who withdrew their child after the agreement’s cutoff asked for their $1,000 non-refundable deposit back, and Maryland’s highest court ruled for the school, judging the agreed damages as of signing and holding that the school had no duty to reduce its loss. That points to a policy naming a single dollar amount, sized at booking to what a no-show costs, agreed before the client pays, in plain words. A free-cancellation window before a stated cutoff helped the school too.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Maryland?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
Maryland has no statute on liquidated damages for a service, and its leading case is itself a service contract with a non-refundable deposit. In Barrie School v. Patch, parents withdrew their child after the agreement’s cutoff and demanded their $1,000 deposit back; Maryland’s highest court ruled for the school, judging the agreed damages a reasonable forecast as of the time of contracting. It held that a party keeping a valid agreed sum has no duty to reduce its loss, and it rejected the argument that the school lost nothing because it filled the seat. The summary printed at the head of the opinion records that the agreement gave a time to withdraw without penalty, so it was neither a take-it-or-leave-it contract nor grossly unfair.
“First, such a clause must provide in clear and unambiguous terms for a certain sum. Secondly, the liquidated damages must reasonably be compensation for the damages anticipated by the breach. Thirdly, ... mandatory binding agreements before the fact which may not be altered to correspond to actual damages determined after the fact.” Barrie School v. Patch, 933 A.2d 382 (Md. 2007)
Showing your refund policy
COMAR 02.01.05, the Attorney General’s refund-policy rule, makes it an unfair, abusive or deceptive trade practice for a merchant in a retail sale not to disclose its refund and exchange policy, or a policy of no refunds or exchanges, in writing: in person by a clearly visible sign or a conspicuous label on the goods, and online on a page the customer must view before completing the sale. It defines a retail sale as a sale of goods, so it does not reach a tattoo deposit; on its own definitions it reaches the jewelry a piercing shop sells, unless an exemption applies.
“for a merchant in any retail sale to fail to disclose to all customers in writing the terms and conditions of the merchant's refund and exchange policies, or a policy of no refunds or exchanges” COMAR 02.01.05.04 · COMAR 02.01.05.03
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about deposits, cancellations, refunds, receipts, prices or payments in COMAR 10.06.01.06H, the state’s body-art rule. It covers written consent kept 3 years, a record of the customer, the date and type of procedure and the technician, written aftercare, and a posted notice.
Read: COMAR 10.06.01.06
This page summarizes public law in plain language, with the source each point comes from, read at the source on 2026-09-23. It is not legal advice.