Under requirements of Montgomery County law, the Voluntary Rent Guideline (VRG) is updated annually to represent the prior year increase in the rental component of the Consumer Price Index for the Washington Metropolitan Area. Based on that, the VRG for Montgomery County has been set at 5.8 percent. That guideline went into effect on Feb. 24.
The VRG for 2022 was 0.4 percent.
Per the County law, a notice of rent increase must be in writing and delivered to a tenant at least 90 days prior to the effective date of the rent increase.
The limit on rent increase notices applies to all County-licensed residential rentals, including rental units in multifamily buildings, houses, townhouses, individual condominium units and accessory dwelling units.
In the absence of a formal rent stabilization mechanism, the County’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs encourages all licensed residential rentals to refrain from increasing rents by more than the 2023 VRG. The established guideline reflects the inflationary pressures of the real estate industry in the Washington metropolitan area.
For more information on the VRG, including the history of VRG increases, go to https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DHCA/housing/landlordtenant/voluntary_rent_guideline.html.
