Anne Arundel County, MD Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)
Key Facts
- Registration field required
- before any listing goes live
- Records retention
- 3 years, open to County inspection
- Occupancy tax duty
- platform must collect and remit
- Penalty
- Class C civil offense
- Applies to
- unincorporated county, not Annapolis/Highland Beach
Summary
Booking platforms in Anne Arundel County must require a valid registration number before listing a short-term rental and must remit occupancy tax to the County.
A hosting platform may not advertise, list, post, or otherwise facilitate a booking transaction for a short-term residential rental without having a registration field in place for hosts to input their valid, current registration numbers from the Department for short-term residential rentals... A hosting platform shall collect from the host and remit to the County the occupancy tax required by § 4-6-105 of this Code.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-93: County Code is current through May, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Airbnb, Vrbo, and similar hosting platforms must include a registration-number field before allowing a short-term rental listing, display the host's registration number in the listing, and pull ads for hosts whose registration is suspended or revoked. Platforms must also keep booking records for at least three years and collect and remit the county occupancy tax under Anne Arundel County Code § 4-6-105. This applies countywide, including unincorporated communities like Glen Burnie and Severna Park, but not Annapolis or Highland Beach, which have their own codes.
Violations & Fines
Violating any hosting-platform duty under Title 13A is a Class C civil offense under Anne Arundel County Code § 9-2-201, alongside host-side registration, tax, and record-keeping obligations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a platform list an Anne Arundel rental without a registration number?
Does this apply to a Glen Burnie or Severna Park rental?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Anne Arundel County
Compare Anne Arundel County to another location·View the Maryland short-term rentals overview
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