Short-term rentals in Berlin, explained properly.

Sec. 8-30(b) defines short term residential rental as the use of all or any part of a dwelling unit to provide accommodations, not to exceed 28 consecutive days, to guests for sleeping or lodging purposes in exchange for monetary remuneration, including accommodations facilitated by an internet hosting platform. A Bed and Breakfast is not included in this definition. The section's stated intent is to maintain the character of residential neighborhoods and protect health, safety and general welfare while allowing short term rentals to exist under certain conditions and circumstances.

Sec. 8-30(d)(2) says licenses are issued for one fiscal year concurrent with the Town of Berlin's fiscal year and will not be pro-rated. Under (d)(3) a license may be renewed as long as the licensee complies with the section and other sections of the Town Code and pays the $200.00 annual license fee. Under (d)(4) a license that is not in compliance with the section or other sections of the Town Code for more than 30 calendar days is deemed expired and the owner must complete a new application. The Town reserves the right to inspect licensed properties at any time and before annual renewal. The dates of the Town's fiscal year are not shown here.

Sec. 8-30(d)(1) says a short term residential rental license is not transferable. The license belongs to the property owner who applied for it, and a license that lapses (d)(4) requires a new application.

Sec. 8-30(d)(1) requires each property owner to give the name and contact information for one or more responsible agents available for contact 24 hours per day and seven days per week. A responsible agent must be capable of responding to the property at any hour and be located within a 30 mile radius of the Town of Berlin's incorporated limits. The licensee is responsible for keeping accurate emergency contact information on file with the Town.

Sec. 8-30(d)(1) makes the owner agree to make the dwelling unit available for inspection to verify compliance with all applicable building code provisions, including those of the Worcester County Fire Marshal's office. Applications must include a floorplan showing the intended rental space and an emergency egress plan, and floorplans with an emergency egress plan are required to be posted in each rented sleeping area. The Town reserves the right to inspect at any time and before annual renewal.

Sec. 8-30(d)(1) says short term residential units are subject to the State of Maryland lodging taxes as administered by the Worcester County Maryland Treasurer's office. Rates and how the tax is collected are not shown here, and this page does not add State and local taxes into a total. The State sales tax rules for short-term rentals are on the Maryland layer of this page.

Sec. 8-30(d)(5) says every bedroom occupied for sleeping accommodations shall contain not less than 70 square feet of floor area, unobstructed other than by furniture, for each occupant. The number of occupants may not exceed the sum of all occupants permitted in each bedroom of the structure under Chapter 6, Article V (Housing Standards), Sec. 6-121 (Floor space and occupancy). Sec. 6-121 hasn't been reviewed yet, so its own limits are not shown here.

Sec. 8-30(d)(6) requires one additional off-street parking space per each bedroom rented, in addition to the parking required in the zoning district where the structure is located. The district parking counts are in Chapter 108, which hasn't been reviewed yet.

Sec. 8-30(d)(1) says the rental license shall be posted in both a prominent interior location and a prominent exterior location on the addressed side and visible from the roadway. All advertising, whether print, electronic, audible or in any other form, used to inform of the availability of the licensed property for rent shall contain the valid rental license number for the property.

Sec. 8-30(d)(7) says a record of the names of all lodging guests who stay at the property, including their address, phone number, email address and the amount of monetary remuneration received, shall be provided on request to Town officials and to Worcester County Treasurer's Office officials. A retention period is not shown here.

Sec. 8-30(d)(8) says on premise signage shall not be permitted on licensed property. The sign rules of Chapter 108 haven't been reviewed yet.

Sec. 8-30(d)(9) prohibits hosting functions and events in association with any short term rental, including but not limited to wedding ceremonies, wedding receptions, family reunions, birthday and anniversary celebrations, corporate and employee parties, and other similar gatherings of persons other than the authorized lodging guests, regardless of whether any compensation or barter has been paid or received for the event.

Sec. 8-30(e)(1) says renting a property as defined by the section without a license will result in a reoccurring fine of $600.00. Under (e)(2) a violation of any other requirement of the section or other sections of the Town Code will result in a civil violation of $100.00; repeat or continuing violations will result in a fine of $200.00 per day and may result in revocation of the short term rental license for the remainder of the licensing period plus one year. How often the $600.00 fine recurs is not shown here.

Sec. 8-30(e) makes violations and enforcement the responsibility of the planning director or housing inspector pursuant to the Town Charter. A decision by the Planning Director to revoke a license may be appealed to the housing board of review. The appeal deadline and procedure are not shown here.

Section 11-101 of the Tax-General Article defines a short-term rental as the temporary use of a short-term rental unit (a residential dwelling unit or part of one, including a house, apartment, condominium or cooperative) to provide accommodation to transient guests for lodging purposes in exchange for consideration, and lists both an accommodation (a right to occupy a room or lodgings as a transient guest) and a short-term rental as tangible personal property. Section 11-104(a) sets the general sales and use tax rate at 6 cents for each exact dollar of the taxable price. The Comptroller of Maryland's 2016 tax alert on accommodations says that individuals who rent out their homes or rooms are accommodations providers who must register with the Comptroller and collect the tax, that the tax does not apply to monthly or permanent residents, and that all rentals in resort areas for terms of 4 months or less are subject to the tax. Local room or hotel taxes are shown on each place's page.

Section 11-101 defines a short-term rental platform as an Internet-based digital entity that advertises short-term rental units and is paid for facilitating reservations or processing booking transactions for the owner, operator or manager, and lists a short-term rental platform as a vendor. Section 11-403(a)(5) says sales include a booking transaction made through a short-term rental platform, and 11-403(b) requires a vendor to collect the sales and use tax from the buyer. Under 11-101(l)(5), when a platform facilitates a stay, the taxable price is the full amount the guest pays, not counting any tax remitted to a taxing authority; a commission paid by the host after the booking is not included. The Comptroller's 2016 alert says hosting platforms that collect payments on behalf of an owner must register and collect the tax, and that an owner's duty to collect is waived only when the platform gives the owner a resale certificate. A 2025 law (Chapter 638) rewrites these definitions from July 1, 2027 so that an accommodations intermediary includes a short-term rental platform. The sources read do not say whether a host who books through a platform that collects must still file returns; check with the Comptroller.

Chapter 9 of the 2026 Laws of Maryland (House Bill 1221) added Public Safety Article sections 9-1101 to 9-1106, effective October 1, 2026. They apply only to a short-term rental unit offered for less than 30 consecutive days. The host must conspicuously post an evacuation diagram identifying all exits and a list of emergency numbers for police and fire rescue, and provide a working fire extinguisher and working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Booking services must electronically notify hosts of these requirements and require each host to provide the inspection confirmation for each unit. By July 1, 2028, each county and Baltimore City must, by local law or regulation, require annual inspections of all short-term rental units for these requirements (this does not apply to a county that prohibits short-term rentals) and may charge an inspection fee. The law does not require a county or Baltimore City to allow short-term rentals and does not preempt other local measures. In the 2026 session, House Bill 993 (local rules on short-term rentals run by tenants) passed the House; its last action shown, on April 13, 2026, was Second Reading Passed in the Senate, and it has no chapter number.