Prince George's County, MD Short-Term Rentals: Extended Home Share (2026)

Sec. 10 of the County Code, titled Exemptions, states that the short-term rental licensing requirements found throughout Division 8 of Subtitle 5 do not restrict or apply when a buyer or seller of real property enters into a Settlement Occupancy Agreement. This is a narrow but complete carve-out: rather than a longer duration tier within the license itself, it removes the licensing requirement altogether for that specific occupancy. Settlement Occupancy Agreements are the standard real-estate mechanism that lets a seller remain in the home for a set period after closing, or lets a buyer move in before closing, typically while financing or moving logistics are finalized.

Without this exemption, such an arrangement could otherwise be read to fall within the Division's broad definition of a short-term rental at Sec. 5-174(l), a dwelling occupied by a transient guest for fewer than 31 consecutive days in exchange for compensation, which would trigger the licensing, insurance, smoke/carbon-monoxide-detector, and neighbor-notice requirements that apply to every other Division 8 host. Because the exemption in Sec. 10 was added by CB-37-2020, later than the Division's original 2018 enactment, it reflects a deliberate legislative decision to keep ordinary real-estate settlement logistics outside the short-term rental licensing scheme, distinct from the Division's 30/90/180-day duration tiers that continue to apply to every licensed rental.