Two new pieces of legislation introduced by Montgomery County Council members on Tuesday have similar goals: protecting tenant rights and increasing transparency between landlords and renters.
A bill sponsored by Council Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) would require a residential lease to include information related to renter’s insurance, automatic sprinkler systems and emergency evacuation and safety plans.
The legislation was inspired in part by the 2023 fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex that claimed the life of a 25-year-old woman, as well as a massive power outage at The Grand, a North Bethesda apartment complex last summer.
The bill would require multi-unit apartment complex owners to notify residents, prospective renters explicitly about whether their buildings have sprinklers and provide information about the risks of living in a building without sprinklers. It would also require complexes that sell their own insurance to explain the policies in greater detail.
“One of the things that we learned talking to residents after the Arrive fire is that many [residents], when they signed a lease, actually thought they had renter’s insurance, but it was actually insurance for the building owner,” Stewart said during the council meeting.
Stewart also said residents at Arrive and The Grand expressed frustration with the lack of emergency information and availability of building management during the incidents.
“We found that people didn’t have access to their landlords or the building management when that crisis took place in the middle of the night,” Stewart said. “We want to ensure that there’s 24-hour availability of a building representative during certain emergency situations, and notification of essential service disruptions.”
The bill will also require multi-unit rental properties to submit emergency safety plans to the county’s Department of Housing for approval.
“[This is] common sense legislation so that renters have the information they need to be safe,” said Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large), who asked to be added as a co-sponsor.
Council President Andrew Friedson (D-At-large) and councilmembers Marilyn Balcombe (D-Dist. 2), Sidney Katz (D-Dist. 3), Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5), Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large), Will Jawando (D-At-large) and Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-large) are also co-sponsoring the legislation.
A second bill, sponsored by Sayles, would amend the county’s current Ban the Box law by clarifying to renters what their rights are when a landlord performs a background check.
“Ban the box” laws aim to end discrimination against formerly incarcerated people. The county’s Housing Justice Act of 2021 prohibits a housing provider from conducting a criminal background check or credit history before making an offer to a prospective tenant during the rental application process.
The proposed legislation aims to ensure tenants are aware that they have these rights when seeking to rent a home. It would require landlords and complexes to prominently display information about the county Housing Justice Act on their websites and in rental offices. Sayles said the bill doesn’t change the content of the law itself but requires better education about it.
“The [new] bill was introduced because several months ago, a resident contacted my office complaining of a rental application denial,” Sayles said. “When my staff asked who was responsible for receiving these complaints, there was a bit of confusion about where that responsibility lies.”
Sayles said the county Office of Human Rights is responsible for processing these complaints, and she has been working with their staff to create the proposed legislation.
“This bill will build a plan for an already established law by raising awareness to our renters. It does so in a minimally invasive way,” Sayles said.
Katz, who was an original sponsor of the Housing Justice Act, asked to be added as a co-sponsor. Glass is also a co-sponsor.
“During discussion [of the Housing Justice Act], the public at first was extremely concerned about how people might feel unsafe because they didn’t know about the criminal background … of their neighbors,” Katz said. “But historically, we have had zero complaints.”
Public hearings for both bills will be scheduled at a later date.