Landlords in Montgomery County, Maryland, will be required to provide more safety information to tenants under legislation passed by the Montgomery County Council on Tuesday.
The measure was prompted by the fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex that took the life of 25-year-old Melanie Diaz last year.
“We were working with members of the public and listening to their stories and what they went through during that event, and realized there was so much we could do here at the county (level) to make sure that there was better preparation for emergencies and better information sharing,” said Montgomery County Council Vice President Kate Stewart, who sponsored the legislation.
Stewart said the legislation is also arriving after a massive power outage at The Grand apartment complex in Bethesda.
“We realized in talking with them that we needed to have better communications and emergency planning in our buildings,” Stewart said.
Under the newly-passed bill, landlords must put in the lease if there are working sprinkler systems and alert tenants to the risks of living without them. The measure also requires landlords to share with tenants maintenance issues, emergency evacuation and safety plans, and how to get renters insurance.
The council also passed an amendment introduced by Councilwoman Kristin Mink that requires multifamily properties “generating a high volume of fire-related service calls” to submit a safety plan with ways to address the root cause.
An amendment proposed by the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington was also passed that requires emergency safety plans be approved by the county’s Department of Permitting Services, “safety plans should clarify that a landlord is not required to relocate displaced tenants and establish a centralized Office of Fire Safety to coordinate amongst several relevant departments,” according to the bill summary.
