<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<baltimore-city-law heading="Part 2 – Licensing">
  <section prefix="§" num="48-6" heading="License required.">
    <para num="(a)" heading="In general.">No person may operate a short-term residential rental without a currently effective license to do so from the Housing Commissioner.</para>
    <para num="(b)" heading="Application for license.">The application for an initial or renewal short-term residential rental license must be made in the form and contain the information and documentation that the Housing Commissioner requires.</para>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 19-217</annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§" num="48-7" heading="Licensing prerequisites.">
    <para num="(a)" heading="Limitations.">
      <para num="(1)">Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a person may only be issued a short-term residential rental license for his or her permanent residence.</para>
      <para num="(2)">
        <para num="(i)">A host may be issued a short-term residential rental license for 1 additional dwelling unit if:<para num="(A)">the dwelling unit had a successfully executed booking transaction, as described in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph (2), between August 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018;</para>
          <para num="(B)">the host became the owner of the additional dwelling unit on or before December 31, 2018; and</para>
          <para num="(C)">the host applies for a short-term residential rental license for the additional dwelling unit no later than the 90&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; day after the date on which this subtitle takes effect.</para>
        </para>
        <para num="(ii)">For purposes of this paragraph (2), a booking transaction is deemed successfully executed if a fee was exchanged, whether directly or indirectly, between the host applying for the dwelling unit’s short-term residential rental license and a transient guest, for the short-term residential rental of the dwelling unit.</para>
      </para>
      <para num="(3)">Short-term residential rental licenses are not property rights, and a short-term residential rental license does not transfer on the sale or any other ownership transfer of a dwelling unit.</para>
    </para>
    <para num="(b)" heading="Additional requirements.">
      <para num="(1)" heading="In general.">All applicants for an initial or renewal license must meet the following requirements.</para>
      <para num="(2)" heading="Proof of owner’s permanent residence.">The owner must provide proof that the dwelling unit (or, if 2 dwelling units are applied for, 1 of those units) is the owner’s permanent residence.</para>
      <para num="(3)" heading="Non-owner-occupied dwellings.">For any dwelling unit that is a “non-owner-occupied dwelling unit” (as defined in City Code &lt;cite data-path="|13"&gt;Article 13&lt;/cite&gt;, Subtitle 4 {“Registration of Non-Owner-Occupied Dwellings ...”}):<para num="(i)">the dwelling unit must be currently registered, as required by that Subtitle 4;</para>
        <para num="(ii)">all registration fees and all related interest required by that Subtitle 4 must have been paid; and</para>
        <para num="(iii)">all other requirements of &lt;cite data-path="|13"&gt;Article 13&lt;/cite&gt; applicable to non-owner-occupied dwelling units must be complied with.</para>
      </para>
      <para num="(4)" heading="Sales and use tax.">The owner must be registered with the State Comptroller for the collection of the State’s sales and use tax.</para>
    </para>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 19-217</annotation>
    <annotation type="Editor's Notes">
            Section 3 of Ordinance 19-217 provides for the following exception to the preceding section
            “[N]otwithstanding &lt;cite data-path="|15"&gt;Article 15&lt;/cite&gt;, § 48-7(a)(1) and (2) and (b)(2), as added by this Ordinance:
            
              (a)
              
                (1)
                Any natural person who, as of December 31, 2018, owned and operated 1 or more short-term residential rental dwelling units in the City, none of which dwelling units qualify as his or her “permanent residence” (as defined in § 48-1(g) and otherwise a licensing prerequisite under § 48-7(a)(1) and (b)(2)), is nonetheless entitled to apply for and, if otherwise qualified, be issued a short-term residential rental license for 1, but not more than 1, of these preexisting short-term residential rental dwelling units, if:
                
                  (i)
                  the dwelling unit to be licensed had a successfully executed booking transaction, as described in paragraph (2) of this subsection, between August 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018, inclusive;
                
                
                  (ii)
                  the host became the owner of that dwelling unit on or before December 31, 2018; and
                
                
                  (iii)
                  the host applies for the short-term residential rental license for that dwelling unit no later than the 90&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; day after the date on which &lt;cite data-path="|15"&gt;Article 15&lt;/cite&gt;, Subtitle 48, as added by this Ordinance, takes effect.
                
              
              
                (2)
                For purposes of paragraph (1)(i) of this subsection, a booking transaction is deemed successfully executed if a fee was exchanged, whether directly or indirectly, between the host applying for the dwelling unit’s short-term residential rental license and a transient guest, for the short-term residential rental of the dwelling unit.
              
            
            
              (b)
              Unless the dwelling unit licensed under this section subsequently becomes the host’s “permanent residence”, the host is not eligible for any additional license under &lt;cite data-path="|15|§48-7|(a)|(2)"&gt;Article 15, § 48-7(a)(2)&lt;/cite&gt;.”
            
          </annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§" num="48-8" heading="License term and renewal.">
    <para num="(a)" heading="Term.">Each short-term residential rental license expires biennially on the anniversary of its issuance.</para>
    <para num="(b)" heading="Renewal.">
      <para num="(1)">Before a license expires, the host may apply to renew it for an additional 2-year term.</para>
      <para num="(2)">The renewal application must be submitted to the Housing Commissioner, with the applicable annual fee, at least 30 days before the current license expires.</para>
    </para>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 19-217</annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§" num="48-9" heading="License fee.">
    <text>The biennial license fee for a short-term residential rental license is $200 per dwelling unit, subject to adjustment in accordance with the City Fee Policy.</text>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 19-217</annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§§" num="48-10 to 48-14" reserved="true" />
</baltimore-city-law>
