Frederick, MD Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

Section 15-38 of the City Code covers any sale of personal property or merchandise on private property, expressly including yard sales, garage sales, and basement sales. Subsection (a) bars any person, organization, association, club, or business from holding more than four yard sales per calendar year without first obtaining the zoning permits and licenses needed to run a commercial business. , and a single sale is capped at three consecutive days. A sale that runs longer than three days, or is held on non-consecutive days, is treated as a separate yard sale for counting purposes toward the four-per-year cap, which pushes a household toward the licensing threshold faster than spacing sales out might suggest.

The property owner, tenant, or occupant running the sale is also responsible for keeping city rights-of-way, streets, curbs, and sidewalks free of obstruction throughout, and for removing and storing all sale merchandise out of sight of the right-of-way once the daily hours end, except during the sale itself.