News reports published last week disclosed that the Montgomery County, Maryland, County Executive plans to encourage legislation imposing a 3 percent rent increase limitation for a period of “at least another six months.”

County Executive Marc Elrich announced the proposal on May 19 at the County’s annual Affordable Housing Conference in Bethesda. No legislation has been introduced to date.

Given the upcoming elections (six Council seats and the County Executive position), it is difficult to predict if and when any rent control legislation may be considered. There are County Executive and Council candidates on both sides of this issue, so the elections may have significant economic consequences. The County’s primary is Tuesday, July 19, 2022, and the general election is Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

As we previously reported, County Code § 29-54(a) requires landlords to provide tenants with written notice at least 90 days prior to increasing rent. While generally such rent caps are voluntary, the former 0.4 percent cap is no longer applicable leases in Montgomery County due to the emergency nature of the bill. The proposed 3 percent cap would presumably also apply to all residential leases if passed as an "emergency bill."

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