Residential Real Property - Local Limits on Summoning Law Enforcement or Emergency Services
SB125 prohibits counties and municipalities from enforcing local laws or ordinances that punish or treat as a nuisance the act of calling law enforcement or emergency services to a residential property. The bill specifically bars local governments from setting a threshold number of calls as grounds to designate a property a nuisance, and from imposing penalties on owners, owner-occupants, tenants, or operators for making such calls or for another person’s decision to do so.
The bill also creates a presumption that certain local measures are prohibited if they impose monetary fines, trigger eviction or lease nonrenewal, or cause suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal of a rental license. It preserves local authority over several related areas, including residential security alarm systems, property maintenance and sanitation, parking enforcement, certain false or harassing noise-related calls, and short-term rental units. The law takes effect July 1, 2025, and amends Maryland Real Property law, specifically Section 14-126.
SB125 amends Article 14-126 of the Maryland Real Property Code to preempt local ordinances that restrict or penalize residents for summoning police, fire, rescue, ambulance, or mobile crisis services to residential property. It gives tenants, owners, and owner-occupants a defense and a private right to seek damages, attorney’s fees, court costs, reinstatement of a rental license, and other relief if a county or municipality attempts to enforce a prohibited ordinance. The bill limits local nuisance-property and rental-licensing enforcement tools where they are based on emergency calls, while leaving other local regulatory powers intact.
The bill appears to have broad legislative support, passing the Senate 45-0 and the House 102-36. The vote totals suggest strong overall agreement with the bill’s core policy goal of preventing local governments from discouraging residents from seeking emergency help. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record shows support through final passage rather than detailed debate.
The main policy tension is between protecting residents’ access to emergency services and preserving local nuisance-property enforcement authority. Opponents or skeptics would likely focus on the bill’s restriction on local governments’ ability to address repeated calls, nuisance conditions, or problematic rental properties through fines, lease actions, or licensing consequences. Supporters, by contrast, would emphasize that residents should not face penalties for calling police or emergency responders, especially in situations involving safety, domestic conflict, or crisis intervention. The bill addresses this by carving out exceptions for false or harassing calls and for unrelated local code enforcement areas.