Rental Licensing

The Rental Licensing Program is designed to promote safety, health, and habitability in rental housing and to encourage responsible management and operation of rental facilities and support property values, including those of neighboring properties.

This program was approved by Mayor and Council on October 22, 2002 and revised on March 18, 2003, April 22, 2003, May 20, 2003, August 24, 2004, September 26, 2006, April 24, 2007, October 23, 2007, December 18, 2007, June 17, 2008, May 25, 2010, March 18, 2014, August 26, 2014, November 22, 2016, September 25, 2018, and October 25, 2022.

Mandatory Registration

Any rental facility entering into a residential lease with a tenant for a rental unit or permit occupancy of any rental unit by another.

To register, property owners must submit:

    • A fully completed, signed application, including a supplemental lead paint form.
    • A nonrefundable annual license fee of $75 per rental unit.

It is the property owner’s responsibility to notify Neighborhood Services of any information changes throughout the program year.

Exceptions to Registration

Rental facility does not include:

    • New construction, within the first four years following the issuance of the Use and Occupancy permit.
    • Existing rental facility renovated under permit to the Partners in Economic Progress (PEP) standards during the four (4) year period immediately following the issuance of the Use and Occupancy permit.
    • “Owners-plus-one”, which are rental facilities where a portion of the premises is owner-occupied and said premises contain no more than one rental unit.
    • Rental facilities owned and operated by Hagerstown Housing Authority
    • Single unit rental properties occupied by tenants who are related within a certain degree to the owner are exempt from paying the application fee, but still must register. These exempt tenants are: parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, and siblings, whether naturally, step, or in-law.
    • Rental facility occupied as the primary residence by a purchaser of the facility under a land installment that is in compliance with the requirements of the Maryland Real Property Article § 10-101 et seq and which contains no more than one rental unit.

Exterior & Interior Inspections