Annapolis Code Chapter 17.44 does not set an explicit liability insurance dollar minimum for short-term rentals at the city level; the city's licensing focus is on a Maryland Sales & Use Tax license, a local property manager (if the owner is non-resident), occupancy and life-safety standards, and remittance of the Anne Arundel County use-or-occupancy tax. Hosts should still verify coverage through their hosting platform and a private STR or commercial-liability policy.
Annapolis regulates short-term rentals through Title 17, Chapter 17.44 (Rental Unit Licenses) of the City Code. The city's published application checklist and Chapter 17.44 require a Maryland State Sales & Use Tax license, a 'Local' property manager within city limits when the licensee is not a full-time Annapolis resident, listing-platform disclosure, smoke-alarm and reservation-log compliance, and the per-bedroom occupancy cap discussed in §17.44.010. The city's official 'Applying for a Short-Term Rental' guide and Chapter 17.44 do not, in their published text, impose a specific dollar minimum of liability insurance on hosts. Maryland has no single statewide STR licensing statute; transient lodging is taxed under MD Code, Tax-General §11-101 et seq. (state sales and use tax) plus county-level hotel/use-occupancy taxes. Some other Maryland jurisdictions (e.g., Prince George's County, Gaithersburg) require hosts to carry $1,000,000 commercial liability insurance, but those are local rules and do not automatically apply in Annapolis. Hosts should confirm whether their platform's automatic host-protection coverage (e.g., Airbnb AirCover, Vrbo Liability Insurance) meets their needs, and whether their underlying homeowner's policy excludes short-term rental activity, which most standard HO-3 policies do. Ordinance O-17-25 (adopted October 2025) added the 10% blockface cap and lottery framework but did not introduce a city-level liability insurance minimum.
Operating a short-term rental without an Annapolis rental license, failing to remit the Anne Arundel County use-or-occupancy tax, or violating Chapter 17.44 standards (occupancy, smoke alarms, reservation log) is a municipal infraction subject to fines and license revocation. Lack of insurance is not an Annapolis-specific code violation, but uninsured hosts may face full personal liability for guest injuries or property damage.
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