Montgomery County Council passes bill requiring landlords to disclose fire safety, maintenance issues
ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Montgomery County Council unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that requires landlords to disclose fire safety, insurance, and building maintenance issues.
The bill, proposed by Council Vice President Kate Stewart, requires residential leases to include specific details about what insurance covers and whether there is an automatic sprinkler system.
"We can and need to make real strides to protect people where it matters most – in their homes," Councilwoman Stewart said in a press release.
'She was a great person': Family mourns loss of daughter killed in Silver Spring apartment fire
The family of Melanie Diaz, the woman killed in Saturday's deadly fire at a Silver Spring apartment building, says she filled everyone's life with happiness.
The bill’s passage comes just over one year after the death of Melanie Diaz, a 25-year-old woman who died in the Arrive Silver Spring apartment fire last February.
Since then, her father, Cesar Diaz, has been advocating for a bill that would force landlords to tell tenants if their building’s sprinklers and alarm systems are working.
Grieving father champions Montgomery County fire safety bill in daughter's memory
The father of a woman who died in a Silver Spring apartment fire in 2023 delivered emotional testimony Tuesday to lawmakers in Montgomery County.
The bill passed Tuesday also stipulates that residential leases must detail emergency safety plans, a building representative must be available 24 hours a day and residents must be notified of any disruption to essential services, such as broken elevators. Additionally, landlords of multifamily dwellings must propose emergency safety plans for each of their buildings to be approved by the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services.
County Council grapples with landlord disclosure legislation after tragic Silver Spring apartment fire
The father of a woman who died in a Silver Spring apartment fire in 2023 delivered emotional testimony Tuesday to lawmakers in Montgomery County. It came as the Montgomery County Council opened hearings on a new bill to force landlords to tell tenants if their buildings have working sprinkler systems. FOX 5's Tom Fitzgerald has the story.