* Legislative History: M.C. 1961, Art. 15, § 1; Ord. No. 1985-48, § 2, 9/9/1985 (former Ch. 6, Art. 9, Licensing of Rental Units, § 6-120, Definitions); Ord. No. 1986-45, 11/10/1986 (former Ch. 6, Art. 9, Licensing of Rental Units, § 6-101, Definitions); Ord. No. 1992-2, § 1, 1/27/1992 (former Ch. 6, Art. 7, Landlord-Tenant Relations, § 6-79, Definitions); Ord. No. 1992-26, § 1, 6/22/1992; Ord. No. 1992-36, § 1, 11/23/1992 (former Ch. 6, Art. 8, Tenant Opportunity to Purchase, § 6-100, Definitions); Ord. No. 1993-2, § 1, 1/25/1993 (former Ch. 6, Art. 6, Unsafe Buildings, § 6-63, Definitions); Ord. No. 1993-5, § 1, 4/12/1993; Ord. No. 1995-43, § 1, 12/11/1995 (former Ch. 6, Art. 7, Landlord-Tenant Relations, § 6-79, Definitions, and former Ch. 6, Art. 9, Licensing of Rental Units, § 6-120, Definitions); Ord. No. 1999-38, § 1, 9/27/1999 (former Ch. 6, Art. 7, Landlord-Tenant Relations, § 6-79, Definitions); Ord. No. 2002-26, 7/29/2002 (former Ch. 6, Art. 6, Unsafe Building; Public Nuisance Abatement, § 6-63, Definitions, and former Ch. 6, Art. 2, Property Maintenance Code, § 6-301, Property Maintenance Code--Amendments).

In case of conflict between any provisions of this title and any other title of this Code, or an enactment by the County in which the premises are located, the provision which establishes the higher standard for the promotion and protection of the health and safety of the people shall prevail, and the provision containing the lower standard, if contained in this Code, is repealed to the extent of the conflict. (Ord. 2003-7 § 1 (part), 2003: prior code § 6-100)

Pursuant to the authority conferred by Article 23A, Section 2B of the Annotated Code of Maryland and by Section 1-203 of the Montgomery County Code, the City of Takoma Park, Maryland, specifically exempts itself from the provisions of Chapter 29, Landlord-Tenant Relations, except for the provisions of Chapter 29 relating to common ownership communities registration and the appeal of rental housing license denials, revocations, or suspensions, of the Montgomery County Code. (Ord. 2003-24 § 1 (part), 2003/ Ord. 2003-7 § 1 (part), 2003: prior code § 6-101)

For the purposes of this title, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
“Accessory apartment” means an apartment that is part of an existing one-family detached dwelling, or is located in a separate existing accessory structure on the same lot as the main dwelling, with provision within the accessory apartment for cooking. eating, sanitation and sleeping. Such an accessory apartment is subordinate to the main dwelling.
“Affected tenant” means any tenant whose health, safety and welfare is or reasonably may be impaired by a violation of this title. For purposes of filing a Commission complaint, an “affected tenant” includes a bona fide prospective tenant and a former tenant.
“Anniversary date” means the date established for a rent increase on a rental unit. This date shall be at least 12 full months from the date of the last rent increase for the rental unit.
“Apartment” means any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling forming a single habitable unit and including cooking facilities.
“Building” means any building or structure of any kind and shall include units in and parts of any building or structure and any premises and grounds appurtenant to the building or structure.
“Business” means any person or entity with a fixed location in nonresidential premises in the City, which operates or conducts a trade, business, commercial activity, occupation or profession.
“Business premises” means any building or structure or portion of a building or structure which is used for any type of business or commercial activity, industrial activity, trade or commerce, manufacturing or repairing of any item or thing or the storage of any part of thing used or to be used in any of the activities described above. Business premises include any parking area and grounds appurtenant to the building or structure or portion of a building or structure.
“City” means the City of Takoma Park, Maryland.
“Commission” or “COLTA” means the City of Takoma Park Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs. The term “Commission” or “COLTA” shall include the Commission members, the Commission’s Executive Director, and the Commission’s Rents Analyst.
“City Manager” means the City Manager of the City of Takoma Park, Maryland, or his or her designee.
“Code Official” or “Code Enforcement Officer” includes Code enforcement officers, inspectors, employees, and City contractors or agents charged with the responsibility of inspecting buildings and property in the City for purposes of determining compliance with the Property Maintenance Code, issuing rental housing and commercial occupancy licenses, determining whether any condition exists that renders a building an unsafe building, and investigating complaints filed by any person to the effect that a building or property is or may be in violation of the terms of this title.
“Consumer Price Index” means the Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers, DC-MD-VA-WV, All Items, November 1996 = 100 (“CPI-U”) or any replacement or successor index.
“Defective tenancy” means any condition in a rental facility that constitutes a violation of the terms of the lease, the Landlord-Tenant Relations Law, or the Property Maintenance Code.
“Department” means the Department of Housing and Community Affairs of the City of Takoma Park.
“Domestic partners” means persons who are registered as domestic partners under City law.
“Family member of an owner” means any of the following:
1. An owner’s spouse or domestic partner;
2. An owner’s former spouse or former domestic partner;
3. An owner’s parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews;
4. An owner’s spouse or domestic partner’s parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.
“Judgment rate of interest” means the interest rate set forth in accordance with Section 11-107(a) and (b) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended.
“Landlord” means any person who is the owner, the owner’s agent, or a lessor or a sublessor of the rental unit or rental facility and, in addition, shall mean any person authorized to exercise any aspect of the management of the rental facility, except those persons engaged solely in custodial and maintenance functions.
“Lease” means any agreement, whether written or oral, that establishes or modifies the terms, conditions, rules, regulations or any other provisions concerning the use and occupancy of a rental unit or a rental facility.
“Limited equity housing cooperative” means a cooperative housing corporation, either domestic or foreign, qualified in the State of Maryland, either stock or nonstock, in which each shareholder or member has a cooperative interest in the corporation and in which the appreciation of share values or membership interests is limited to the annual rate of inflation or other comparable index.
“Maximum allowable rent” means the highest lawful rent amount that can be charged for a rental unit subject to rent stabilization.
“Nonresidential structure” means any structure or portion of a building, structure, or premises not used for residential purposes.
“Occupant” means any person who, lawfully or unlawfully, is living, sleeping, cooking, eating in or in actual possession of a building. An “occupant” shall include a tenant.
“Owner” means any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others:
1. Has a legal or equitable ownership interest in a rental facility;
2. Has a legal, equitable or beneficial interest in a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, trust or other entity that has a legal or equitable ownership interest in a rental facility; or
3. Has charge, care or control of a rental facility as personal representative, executor, administrator, trustee, guardian, or conservator of the estate of the owner.
“Owner-occupied group house” means a house that is occupied as the principal residence of the owner or a family member of an owner and by one or more other individuals.
“Party” means the landlord, tenant or tenant association in a Commission complaint or the landlord filing a petition, and any tenant whose rent is proposed to be increased in a rent increase petition.
“Person” means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, trust, association, organization, or any other legal entity.
“Petition” means a request by a landlord for rent increases above the rent stabilization allowance, including capital improvement petitions and hardship petitions.
“Rental facility” or “residential rental structure” means any building or group of buildings operated as one entity in which the landlord provides one or more rental units to a tenant for rent or other consideration. A rental facility does not include the following:
1. Hospitals, nursing homes, convalescent homes, hospices, and other health care facilities;
2. Religious facilities such as churches, synagogues, parsonages, rectories, convents and parish homes;
3. Transient facilities such as hotels, motels, tourist homes, bed and breakfast facilities;
4. School dormitories; and
5. Owner occupied group houses.
“Rental unit” means either an apartment, single-family house or rooming unit which is occupied or is intended to be occupied by one or more tenants.
“Rents Analyst” means the Rents Analyst for the Commission, whose duties include reviewing rent increase petitions and issuing preliminary administrative decisions.
“Rent stabilization allowance” means the percentage by which the rent for a rental unit may be increased on or after 12 full months from the last rent increase for that rental unit.
“Rent stabilization report” means the report of rents submitted by a landlord to the Department.
“Rooming unit” means a rental unit comprised of any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling and forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used for living and sleeping, but not for cooking.
“Sale” means the transfer of a legal or equitable ownership interest in a rental facility. Sale does not include a transfer of the rental facility by will, trust, intestate succession, gift, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or a trade of the rental facility for other real or personal property. Consideration may include money, transfer of other valuable assets, and the giving or assuming a promissory note or other financial obligation. For rental facilities owned by a corporation, the term “sale” includes the transfer, within a 12-month period, of a majority of the outstanding shares of stock in the corporation. For rental facilities owned by any other business entity, the term “sale” means the transfer, within a 12-month period, of a majority interest in the business entity. The term “sale” also means the leasing of the entire rental facility for a period of more than 7 years to one lessee, which includes a person or business entity such as a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, or joint venture that has a legal or equitable interest in the rental facility.
“Security deposit” means any payment of money, including a pet deposit and payment of the last month’s rent in advance of the time it is due, given to a landlord by a tenant in order to protect the landlord against nonpayment of rent, damage due to breach of lease, or damage to the leased premises, common areas, major appliances, and furnishings.
“Serious violation” means any violation of the Property Maintenance Code that poses an imminent danger to health, safety or welfare or a substantial hardship to the tenant.
“Single-family rental facility” means a dwelling containing not more than one rental unit plus an accessory apartment. “Single-family rental facility” includes attached rental units, where the units are under separate ownership such as cooperative and condominium units.
“Tenant” means any person who occupies a rental unit or dwelling as a residence with the consent of the landlord and has an obligation to pay rent or other consideration to the landlord for such accommodations. A tenant does not include an occupant of an owner-occupied group house, or an employee of the landlord (such as a resident or property manager, nanny, babysitter, au pair or maid).
“Tenant association” means an organization whose members represent tenants in at least 1/3 of the occupied rental units in the rental facility.
“Workmanlike” means executed in a skilled professional manner with materials applied or equipment installed in accordance with manufacturer’s specifications and generally accepted standards of craftsmanship. (Ord. 2003-24 § 1 (part), 2003/Ord. 2003-7 § 1 (part), 2003: prior code § 6-102)