The deadline to register rental properties in Baltimore County passes today but those who aren’t signed up are not likely to face the $1,000 per day maximum fine just yet.
That’s for two reasons:
First, the deadline is likely to be extended to Oct. 1 (you can read about that here). That change will require a bill to alter the current law. Councilman Vince Gardina says he is going to submit such a bill and claims it has the support of the other six councilmen.
The earliest he could do that would be at the council’s July 7 legislative session. That means a work session hearing on the change would be at 2 p.m. on July 29 at the council conference room on the second floor of the Old Courthouse in Towson. A vote would come at the council’s legislative session at 6 p.m. on Aug. 4.
Second, Mike Mohler, deputy director of the Department of Permits and Development Management, says he is more interested in getting compliance. He said he understands some property owners may have received notice too late, or had trouble finding an available inspector or contractor to do required repairs.
“Get the properties registered as soon as you can, and we’ll take any (violations) on a case-by-case basis,” Mohler said.
It is estimated that about 3,500 homes already are registered out of the 12,000 to 15,000 properties believed to qualify under the program that was expanded last December.
Originally, county officials estimated that the number of qualifying properties would be as high as 55,000. That number has been reduced after it was discovered that a computer program used to make the intial count was flawed. In one instance, the county sent out a large number of notices to condominium owners whose properties are not covered by the law, Mohler said.
Information on registering properties can be found here.
Opposition to a bill that would exempt some rural properties from the county’s Rental Registration program caused Republican Councilman Bryan McIntire to wax a little nostalgic at today’s council meeting.