Council Passes Bill to Prohibit Rent Increases Higher than 2.6 Percent

Montgomery County council members voted unanimously to pass the COVID-19 Renter Relief Act Thursday.  

Under the bill, landlords cannot increase residential rent higher than 2.6 percent during the COVID-19 state of emergency and for 180 days after the emergency is declared over by Gov. Larry Hogan. Any rent increase higher than 2.6 percent that takes effect during the emergency that was issued before the passing of the bill must be lowered. 

“Even before this crisis, many people were on the edge. And we need to make sure that as we stay in our homes, rightly so to minimize the health damages and make sure we control this virus so that we can protect people’s lives, we need to make sure we’re making that as easy as possible,” lead sponsor Councilmember Will Jawando said at a county council meeting. 

Council enacts #COVID19 Renter Relief Act. Press release will be posted here. pic.twitter.com/kyndA8fWDR

— Montgomery Council (@MoCoCouncilMD) April 23, 2020

About Maryam Shahzad

Maryam is a reporter with Montgomery Community Media. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. Previously, she was an intern with MCM. She can be reached at mshahzad@mymcmedia.org or on Twitter @maryam_mcm.

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