Short-term rentals in Montgomery County, explained properly.

Both are certifications in Sec. 54-43(n) and (o). The DHCA FAQ repeats that an application may only be submitted if the HOA, condominium document or lease does not prohibit it.

The applicant certifies the notices under Sec. 54-43(m). Within 30 days after an application is filed, a resident or owner within 300 feet, the municipality, an HOA or condominium, or the owner may file a challenge (Sec. 54-46); the Director then has 60 days to decide after receiving it.

The applicant also posts rules and the representative's emergency contact information inside the rental (Sec. 54-43(i), (k)).

The Director may inspect the property (Sec. 54-45(b)).

Executive Regulation 27-25 lists what the record must contain (name, home address, age, room and check-in and check-out times of each overnight visitor); the copy we saved shows no effective date for it.

If a challenge is filed under Sec. 54-46, the Director has 60 days after receiving it to decide.

A person aggrieved by issuance, renewal, denial, suspension or revocation may appeal to the Board of Appeals within 30 days (Sec. 54-48). The Director may require the licensee to show cause first (Sec. 54-47(b)). We haven't reviewed the civil-penalty sections the DHCA page cites (Sec. 54-13 and Chapter 1, Sec. 1-19), so fine amounts are not shown.

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.