Rental License

Montgomery County DHCA Licensing and Registration is responsible for issuing rental licenses to over 100,000 condominiums, single-family homes, multi-family units and accessory dwelling units. Before a residential property can be rented or offered for rent in Montgomery County, the owner must obtain a rental facility license. Montgomery County Code Chapter 29, Landlord-Tenant Relations). Prior to applying for a rental license, a property should be in compliance with all zoning, housing, building, fire, and other applicable safety codes. For more information, see: Housing and Building Code Enforcement Handbook. Open all sections | Close all sections

Identifying Which Rental Properties Require a License

• Individually owned condominium units in a garden style property;
• Individually owned condominium units in a high-rise building;
• Piggyback townhouses that share a floor or ceiling with another unrelated dwelling;

A Single-family license is required for:

• Detached single-family homes;
• Structures with at least one outside entrance for occupants;
• Townhouses or structures that share side or rear walls with another unrelated dwelling;

An Accessory dwelling unit license is required for:

• Independent living facility with second, separate cooking, eating, sanitation and sleeping facilities that are in or added to an existing single-family dwelling;
• Independent living facility with second, separate cooking, eating, sanitation and sleeping facilities that are in a separate accessory structure on the same lot as an existing dwelling;
• Residential unit in or added to an existing single-family dwelling;

A Multi-family license is required for:

• Apartment complexes;
• Structures with a common outside entrance for rental units in the same building;
• Structures with units above, below, or next to other rental units;
• Mobile home park developments;

Rental Properties EXEMPT from Montgomery County Rental License:

• Room rentals (PDF): if someone who has an ownership interest in the property occupies it and rents out rooms;
• Rental properties located in the Town of Barnesville, Town of Garrett Park, and Town of Laytonsville;
• Rental properties located in the Incorporated Cities of Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Takoma Park;
• Transient Housing: guest room in an apartment, hotel, boarding house, Air BnB's, tourist home, inn, motel, school dormitory, hospital, or medical facility;
• Commercial rental property; and,
• Housing operated for religious or charitable purposes.

Apply for a Rental Housing License

To apply for a rental license, the property owner must complete a Rental Facility License Application, pay all license fees, submit all necessary documents and comply with all rental license requirements. Go to Apply, Pay or Renew - Rental License .

It takes approximately 10 business days to process a rental license application once the completed application, payment and supporting documents are received. Once a property owner is licensed, the Department automatically generates a renewal notice each year. The license fee year runs from each July 1st through the following June 30th.

Submitting a Rental Housing License Application Online

The fastest and easiest way to apply for a rental housing license is online: Apply, Pay or Renew - Rental License. An Access MCG Account is required. Step-by-step instructions on how to register for AccessMCG are available online.

Alternate Methods to submit a Rental Housing License Application

Hard copies of the rental housing application (see below) are accepted by mail or in person with a check or money order. Please mail or drop off hard copies of the application to: DHCA/Licensing and Registration, 1401 Rockville Pike, 4th floor, Rockville, MD 20850.

Renew Your Rental Housing License

If you are up-to-date on the below requirements, renew your license at Apply, Pay or Renew - Rental License .

The following requirements must be met before a rental license can be renewed (Chapter 29).

• Rental property owners who live outside Maryland must designate a Legal Agent who lives in Maryland to accept legal documents. Landlord must notify DHCA of designation either by updating your AccessMCG account, or by submitting a Profile Information Update Form.
• Owners of a rental properties built before January 1, 1978 are required to comply with the State of Maryland Lead Poisoning Prevention standards.
• An owner in a common ownership community cannot be more than 30 days past due on homeowners or condominium association fees.
• All multifamily property managers or landlords must complete the Annual Multifamily Rental Survey.

Renewal Payment Due Date:

• Renewal Payments are due by July 31 each year.
• On July 1, DHCA sends renewal Invoices for licensed rental properties to Administrative Agents (if assigned) or Primary Contacts for landlords.
• The July 31st payment deadline is not waived if the landlord or agent does not receive the DHCA renewal invoice.
• Renewal Payments will be processed on or after July 1st of the new registration year.

Update Your Contact Information

The property owner or Administrative Agent is responsible for updating their licensing record with any change in address, contact information or property sale within 10 days.

• To upload missing documents, update information or pay fees online, login to your rental license account (requires AccessMCG account).
• Online is the fastest and easiest way to make updates. If that doesn’t work for you, you can submit a Profile Information Update Form.

Penalty for Renting without a License and Other Violations

Any person who offers or operates a rental property without obtaining a License:

• Is subject to a class A violation and may have to pay $500 civil fines as a penalty for the first offense or $750 for repeat offenses;
• Is unable to pursue legal action against a tenant for unpaid rent in the District Court of Maryland;

All Notice of Violation (NOV) letters from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Licensing and Registration will list the specific violation(s) that need to be corrected next to a check box in the second paragraph. Notices of Violation are issued for lead paint compliance, Legal Agent, owner's or other contact's address, failure to apply, overdue fees, etc. All violations listed must be corrected within 10 days of receipt of NOV or a $500 Civil Citation will be issued for Operating without a Rental License.

Cancel Your Rental Housing License

If you sold your property or no longer rent, send an email to [email protected] and provide:

• License number and property address;
• Month/Year the property was last rented; and,
• If the property was sold, the date sold.

License Status & Reporting Unlicensed Properties

Check whether a property is licensed

To check whether a property is licensed, go to eProperty Data Mining. Type in the property address without street type (road, street, avenue, etc.). When the property information appears, click on “rental license” to learn whether the property is licensed.

Reporting an unlicensed rental property

A suspected unlicensed rental property can be reported by Creating a Service Request online or by calling 311 (within Montgomery County) or 240-777-0311. Please provide the address of the property and a brief description of the issue.