Criteria for rotundity, strict monotonicity, and lower local uniform monotonicity of the Lorentz spaces Gamma(p, w) of maximal functions are given under arbitrary nonnegative weight function w. Necessary conditions are also established for uniform monotonicity of the spaces G(p, w) for 1 <= p <= infinity. Moreover, the spaces Gamma(1, w) that are uniformly monotone are characterized. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.