Public Safety - Short-Term Rental Units - Safety (Jillian and Lindsay Wiener Short-Term Rental Safety Act)
Summary
HB1221 requires the governing bodies of certain common ownership communities to post resale-disclosure information on their websites. For cooperative housing corporations, condominiums, and homeowners associations, the bill requires that the information already provided to purchasers under existing resale-disclosure laws be maintained online, excluding information about individual units or lots. The posted material must be available in a downloadable format and provided at no cost.
The bill applies to cooperative housing corporations under the Corporations and Associations Article, condominiums under the Real Property Article, and homeowners associations or certain property management companies under the Real Property Article. It does not change the underlying disclosure content itself; rather, it adds a new delivery method by requiring online publication of the required documents and statements. The bill takes effect October 1, 2025.
Impact
HB1221 amends Maryland’s common ownership community disclosure laws by adding website-posting requirements for resale disclosure materials. It creates new obligations for cooperative housing corporations, condominium councils of unit owners, homeowners associations, and in some cases property management companies, while preserving existing resale disclosure content and exemptions. The bill affects developers, sellers, governing bodies, property managers, and purchasers by making disclosure information more accessible and standardizing it in downloadable, no-cost form.
Sentiment
The available record shows no committee transcript, recorded votes, or other debate materials, so there is no documented floor or committee sentiment to summarize. Based on the bill’s structure, it appears to be a transparency and consumer-access measure rather than a controversial policy change, and the absence of recorded opposition suggests it may have been treated as a technical or administrative update.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of concern, based on the bill text, could include the administrative burden on common ownership communities and property management companies to maintain and update websites, the cost of compliance, and the need to exclude individual-unit or individual-lot information from public posting to protect privacy. However, no speaker or vote record is available to show who raised those issues or whether they were disputed.