Maryland Just Told Every Short Term Rental Host What Has to Be Inside the Unit

If you host a short term rental anywhere in Maryland, a new state law already applies to you. Not your county. Not your city. The state.

On April 14, 2026, Governor Wes Moore signed the Jillian and Lindsay Wiener Short Term Rental Safety Act (HB 1221 / SB 624) into law. It's named for two sisters from Potomac, Jillian and Lindsay Wiener, who died in a 2022 fire at a short term rental on Long Island that had no working smoke detectors. Their mother spent the past year working with lawmakers and the state fire marshal's office to get this passed.

It's being called the first statewide short term rental safety law in the country. Here's what it actually requires, and what's still coming.

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What has to be in your unit right now

The equipment requirements took effect on July 1, 2026, so this part of the law is already active. Every short term rental unit in Maryland, meaning any unit rented out for less than 30 consecutive days, must have:

• Working smoke alarms
• A working carbon monoxide alarm
• A fire extinguisher
• A posted evacuation diagram showing exit routes
• Posted emergency contact numbers for police and fire, visible in the unit

If your listing is missing any of these, you're currently out of compliance with state law, regardless of what your city or county requires on top of it.

The alarm rule that will quietly catch people out

The law also sets a specific replacement standard for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. You have to replace a unit's alarm if it stops working, if it's more than 10 years old based on the production date stamped on the back, or if there's no production date on it at all.

That last part matters. A lot of hosts inherited alarms from a previous owner or installed them years ago without tracking the date. If you can't find a production date on the back of your alarm, the law treats that the same as an alarm that needs replacing. It's worth walking through every unit and physically checking the back of each device.

Airbnb and Vrbo are about to get involved

This law doesn't stop at the host level. Booking platforms are required to electronically notify every Maryland host who uses their service about these fire safety requirements, and to require hosts to confirm compliance back to the platform.

In practice, that means you should expect a notice from whichever platform you list on, likely with some kind of attestation or checkbox confirming your unit meets the requirements. Getting your equipment in place now means you won't be scrambling when that notice lands.

Counties have until 2028 to add inspections, but the rules won't wait for the deadline

The equipment and alarm rules are statewide and already in effect. The inspection piece is where local government comes in. By July 1, 2028, every county in Maryland, plus Baltimore City, has to pass its own local law or regulation requiring annual inspections of short term rental units, and has to report certain information back to the State Fire Marshal.

Local governments are also allowed to set their own registration fees to pay for enforcement, and can authorize third party inspectors instead of doing inspections in house. That means the inspection process, the fees, and the paperwork are going to look different depending on which Maryland county your property is in. Watch for your county's specific rollout as 2028 approaches, since some counties are likely to move well before the deadline.

Because this is a new statewide law rather than a single city or county program, there isn't yet one central application portal to link you to. The official bill text and status are posted directly on the Maryland General Assembly's site, and that's the best place to track any future amendments: HB 1221 on the Maryland General Assembly website.

Frequently asked questions

Does this apply to my property if my county already has its own short term rental rules? Yes. This is a state law that sits on top of whatever your city or county already requires. If your local rules require less than this, the state requirement is now the floor.

I already have smoke detectors. Am I done? Only if they're working, connected properly, audible in sleeping areas, and either under 10 years old or have a visible production date. You also still need a carbon monoxide alarm, a fire extinguisher, a posted evacuation diagram, and posted emergency numbers, all four together.

What happens if my county hasn't set up inspections yet? The inspection requirement isn't due until July 1, 2028, so your county may not have a program running yet. That doesn't affect the equipment requirements, which are already in force statewide.

Will Airbnb or Vrbo shut down my listing if I don't confirm compliance? The law requires platforms to notify hosts and require confirmation of compliance, but it doesn't spell out platform enforcement mechanics. Expect each platform to handle this differently once their notification process rolls out.

Where can I find the exact legal language? The full bill text, fiscal notes, and current status are available through the Maryland General Assembly's legislation tracker linked above.

Running a rental is enough work on its own. You don't have to track all of this yourself, let Lodge Compliance take it off your plate, handling permits, tax registration, and renewals so nothing slips through. Get your free compliance report at lodgecompliance.com.

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