(OCEAN CITY, Md.) - Ocean City adopted a new rental license fee increase that comes with stiff penalties for those who don't abide by the rules.
In a resolution passed at a regular mayor and council meeting Mar. 21, the town now requires all renters in the R-1 district to pay a $166 rental license fee, a $50 increase from the original $116 price. The fee increase applies only to the R-1 district.
The decision comes months after town leaders discovered there was an untapped source of revenue stemming from many renters not paying for rental licenses. The additional revenue from the fee increase is proposed to offset administrative and inspection costs.
At the meeting, the council also decided that all property owners in any area of Ocean City who don't obtain a rental license will be subject to fines. An initial $500 fine for noncompliance is issued within 15 days. After 16 to 30 days, an additional $1,000 fine is issued, plus a daily $1,000 fine if the rental license isn't obtained after 30 days.
License fees for renting a residential property are due on May 1 of each year, expiring on April 30 the following year. Noise permits, which sell at $25, are also a required purchase for renting residential properties.
Councilwoman Mary Knight reluctantly voted in favor of adopting the resolution at the Mar. 21 meeting.
"I am going to vote for this, but I don't think it accomplishes what I was hoping it would accomplish," said Knight. "It doesn't accomplish, in my mind, a more livable community in the R-1 district."
Knight said she didn't see how the $8,750 in additional fee increase revenue collected from the 175 rental licenses in the R-1 district would benefit the town. Money collected from the landlord noncompliance fines, Knight said, could only potentially be beneficial from long-term rental properties, and not short-term rentals.
"It's not going to deter the problem of noise, trash, parking violations. It's not going to affect that at all. Those problems are still going to be there because it's a less than seven day rental," Knight said.
WRDE caught up with Aaron Evans Sunday afternoon, who owns several rentals throughout town.
Evans said too often it's the landlords who get the brunt of the punishment for disruptive tenants.
"It seems like they try to crack down on landlords a lot, which I understand," said Evans, "they want the landlords to abide by the law, that's definitely understandable. But at the same time I would like to see a little more enforcement on the tenant side."
Town leaders will continue to discuss the new rental license requirements at a workshop meeting Tuesday, Mar. 29 at 1 p.m.