OCEAN CITY, Md. — With spring beginning March 20, Ocean City is filling up with tourists on weekends leading up to summer.
Thousands of visitors stay at homes located in what are known as R1 or MH Districts.
R1 areas are described as low density single family residential developments, while MH stands for mobile homes.
On March 3 Ocean City's Mayor and Council shook up rental requirements leaving some property owners concerned.
Any R1 or MH rentals booked on or after March 3, 2025 now require a minimum five-night stay.
Come January 1, 2027 that requirement increase to a minimum 31 days.
The Council says the new ordinance aims to "prevent overcrowding of land and avoid undue concentration of population in the wrong zones caused by rental properties, to protect against noise and other disturbances."
Lawmakers also said their goal is to "promote long term property ownership and quality of life for year round resident populations."
This caused many home owners wanting to sell their properties, since they'd already booked future rental reservations.
In response, Ocean City is prohibiting existing rental licenses from being part of any property sale.
This means new property buyers would be forced to reapply for their own rental license, with death being the only exception.
Beginning February 3, 2025, Ocean City took that option away as well by implementing an 11 month moratorium on short-term rental licenses in R1 and MH Districts.
Here is a map of R1 rentals impacted by the new policies.
To read a full description of the newly passed ordinances, click here and scroll pages 120-132.
