Annapolis Code Chapter 17.44 caps short-term rental occupancy at two individuals per bedroom (excluding small children) and limits short-term residential rentals to no more than 120 consecutive days in a calendar year. The owner must post an occupancy notice on the back of the main entrance door.
Under Annapolis City Code Title 17 (Buildings and Construction), Chapter 17.44 (Rental Unit Licenses), short-term rentals are dwelling-unit rentals to transient guests for up to 120 consecutive days in a calendar year. Section 17.44.010 requires that during a short-term tenant occupancy the owner must not allow more than two individuals per bedroom (small children excluded) and must post a notice on the back of the main entrance door stating that limit. The owner must also keep a reservation log with owner and guest information and install interconnected smoke alarms with detection on each level plus battery-operated smoke alarms in each bedroom as required by Chapter 17.40. The 120-day window also defines the County's use-or-occupancy tax obligation under Anne Arundel County Code Β§4-6-105: tax is due on the first 120 consecutive days of a stay, after which the rental no longer charges the County use-or-occupancy tax. Annapolis's separate density rule (Ordinance O-17-25, adopted October 2025) caps new short-term rental licenses at 10% of any blockface, with grandfathered renewals through November 2027 and a lottery for over-cap blockfaces, but it does not change the per-bedroom occupancy cap. Maryland HB 20 (2024) addresses statewide ADU policy, not short-term rental occupancy. Annapolis residential zoning districts (R1A, R1B, R1, R2, R3, R3-R, R4, R4-R) generally permit short-term rentals subject to licensing.
Failure to comply with the per-bedroom occupancy cap, the posted-notice requirement, the reservation-log requirement, or the smoke-alarm requirements is a municipal infraction subject to fines set by the City Council and may result in loss of the rental license under Chapter 17.44.
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