Short-term rentals in Gaithersburg, explained properly.

Sec. 18AA-3.1(5) requires the host to maintain a minimum short-term rental liability insurance policy of at least one million dollars ($1,000,000.00), which names the city as an additional insured.

Sec. 18AA-3.1(3) requires all dwelling units to have approved working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms in every bedroom and on every level of the home as required by Chapter 11 of the City Code. Chapter 11 was not read.

Sec. 18AA-3.1(4) requires this information to be posted in a conspicuous place within each dwelling unit used as a short-term rental.

Sec. 18AA-3.1(6) requires the host to maintain, and keep readily available for inspection, a guest registry that includes at least the name of each guest, check in/out dates and rent paid.

Sec. 18AA-3.1(7) requires the valid license number on every listing that advertises the dwelling unit.

Sec. 18AA-3.1(8) makes remitting all local taxes and required fees part of the license. The sections read here do not name a City lodging tax rate or a fee amount, so none is shown on this page.

Sec. 18AA-5(a) provides that the city manager or designee issues the license on a completed application and the required fee and causes an inspection of the premises. The license is posted in a conspicuous place on the premises or maintained in the custody of the property manager.

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.