Montgomery County, Maryland, is working on a bill that puts part of the responsibility for licensing on booking platforms. Bill 42-26 was introduced on September 15, 2026, and had a public hearing on October 6. The Council’s Planning, Housing and Parks Committee scheduled a worksession for October 26, according to a staff memo and The MoCo Show. We found no report on the committee’s decision yet, and the bill is not law.
What the bill would do
According to the staff memo, the bill would:
- Require a platform to verify a rental license before listing a short-term rental in the county
- Require the Department of Housing and Community Affairs to offer a public online system to check whether a license is valid, expired, suspended or revoked
- Bar platforms from collecting or processing payment for an unlicensed rental
- Require an annual report for each rental that was occupied, with the address, the operator’s name and contact details, the license number and the dates of occupancy
- Make violations a Class A violation under county law
Under the current county law, a short-term rental is generally a rental for less than 30 consecutive days. Operators must renew a license every year, and the application certifies that the unit is the applicant’s primary residence. County law puts no direct requirements on platforms so far, the sponsors say, and the bill is meant to close that gap.
Why the county wants this
The memo cites an Inspector General report: in 2023, the county had 177 licensed short-term rentals but an estimated 1,486 units available for rent, which means about 85% were operating without a license. Staff also point to a Fifth Circuit ruling from August 2026 that upheld a city’s power to require platforms to verify permits before processing bookings, and to New York City’s registration law. The Maryland Hotel Lodging Association supports the bill. According to the memo, the county received testimony in support, in conditional support and in opposition.
What does this mean for you?
If you host in Montgomery County, make sure your license is current and your license number is on your listing. Under this bill, an unlicensed listing could lose its bookings at the platform level, not just draw a fine later. Remember the primary residence condition in the license application, too.
Hosting elsewhere? Platform checks are spreading, so it is worth keeping your local license current before your city adopts something similar. The final text may change, so have a local attorney check the details.
