On February 20, 2024, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko submitted written testimony to the House Environment and Transportation Committee in support of HB 783- Homeowners Associations- Restriction on Long-Term Rentals- Prohibition. This bill prohibits a homeowners association from restricting long term rentals for periods of 6 months or longer.
For the 2024 Maryland General Assembly Session, MACo has made it a priority – one of the Association’s four legislative initiatives – to Advance Comprehensive Housing Solutions. Much like climate change and sea level rise, the challenges surrounding affordable housing are vast and call for a large, multipronged effort. While in other policy areas, it may be easy to deduce a simple cause-andeffect relationship, housing is a complex web of multifaceted factors. Addressing challenges like workforce, financing, interest rates, broad economic trends, supply chain, and large out-of-state corporate interests – among many other obstacles – requires an all-hands-on-deck effort from policy makers at all levels.
One of the biggest obstacles to unlocking additional housing supply is the artificial removal of certain units from the market. HB 783 prohibits homeowners associations from banning long term rentals (6 months or longer) and in effect will serve to promote the total number of units available. As Maryland’s current housing crisis is multifaceted and requires a multipronged solution, smart policy prescriptions like this move Maryland another step in the right direction.
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