Montgomery County MD rent increase calculator Bill 15-23: CPI + 3%, hard 6% ceiling — RY 2025-2026 VRGA is 5.8%.
Enter a rent-stabilized Montgomery County unit's current rent and the planned effective date. We'll pick the controlling Rent Year (RY 2025-2026 through June 30, 2026, or RY 2026-2027 from July 1, 2026), surface the VRGA-capped new rent, the 90-day notice math, the 12-month one-increase-per-unit rule, and a reminder to check the rolling 23-year new-construction exemption before you serve the notice.
Scope: Montgomery County, Maryland rent-stabilized units — most multifamily rentals with more than 4 units under a single landlord entity. Rolling 23-year new-construction exemption (the building's first use-and-occupancy permit must be 23+ years old). Single-family rentals where a natural-person landlord owns 4 or fewer total units in the county are exempt. Federally-subsidized units (Section 8 HAP, LIHTC, HUD-insured) follow the contract rent rule instead. Takoma Park has a separate, overlapping city rent-stabilization scheme.
Statute summary
What Chapter 29 Article VII actually says.
In plain English:
- Annual cap = CPI-U (Washington-Arlington-Alexandria MSA, May-to-May) + 3 percentage points, hard-capped at 6%. The formula lives in Chapter 29 Article VII and was added by Bill 15-23. DHCA publishes the Voluntary Rent Guideline Allowance (VRGA) each mid-June for the following Rent Year.
- Current cap (through June 30, 2026) = 5.8%. DHCA's RY 2025-2026 VRGA, published June 2025 from the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria CPI-U May-to-May 2024→2025 reading (~2.8%) plus 3, under the 6% ceiling.
- Next cap (from July 1, 2026) = pending. DHCA publishes the RY 2026-2027 VRGA on or about June 15, 2026 from the May 2026 CPI reading. Absent the final number, assume the 6.0% statutory ceiling and recompute once DHCA publishes. We refresh this page within 7 days.
- Rent Year runs July 1 through June 30. The effective date of the increase — not the notice date — determines which VRGA applies. A notice served in May 2026 with a September 2026 effective date uses the RY 2026-2027 VRGA, not RY 2025-2026.
- Scope: rent stabilization applies to most multifamily rental buildings in unincorporated Montgomery County — Silver Spring, Bethesda, Wheaton, Germantown, Olney, unincorporated Chevy Chase. If the property sits in Takoma Park, the city's separate rent-stabilization law also applies and may be stricter. Gaithersburg and Rockville have their own incorporated-municipality rules.
- Rolling new-construction exemption: a building is exempt if its first use-and-occupancy (U&O) permit was issued less than 23 years before the proposed effective date. This is a rolling exemption — a building permitted January 15, 2003 becomes rent-stabilized on January 15, 2026 and stays stabilized thereafter.
- Small-landlord exemption: single-family rental dwellings where the landlord is a natural person (not an LLC, REIT, trust, or corporation) owning 4 or fewer total rental units in Montgomery County.
- Notice period: the increase cannot take effect until at least 90 calendar days after the tenant receives the notice — regardless of whether the tenancy is month-to-month or fixed-term. Maryland Real Property §8-208 separately requires 60 days on month-to-month rent changes, but the 90-day county rule is the stricter prevailing requirement.
- No statutory form. The notice is landlord-authored and must include: landlord name/contact, tenant name/unit address, current and new rent, effective date, Rent Year, VRGA used, and a statement that the increase complies with Chapter 29 Article VII.
- 12-month rule: no more than one rent increase on any unit in any rolling 12-month window. The clock resets on a legal vacancy.
- Vacancy-reset: on a legal vacancy (voluntary move-out, lease expiration without renewal, tenant breach for non-payment or material violation, accepted relocation payment), the landlord may reset rent for the next tenant at market; the VRGA then applies to that new tenancy going forward. Retaliatory or discriminatory vacancies do NOT qualify.
- Capital improvements and fair return: to exceed the VRGA, the landlord must petition DHCA with documented costs and a DHCA administrative hearing. Self-help surcharges — adding a line item above the VRGA without an approved petition — are overcharges.
- Overcharge remedy: the tenant files a complaint with the DHCA Office of Landlord-Tenant Affairs. DHCA can order rent rollback, refund, and civil penalties. Overcharges are a defense to eviction for non-payment of the unlawful portion.
Full statute: Bill 15-23 (enacted July 25, 2023) · DHCA Rent Stabilization page.
Draft your Montgomery County Chapter 29 worksheet — free.
The free preview gives you the Article VII-capped new rent pre-computed against the controlling Rent Year (5.8% through June 30, 2026 vs. the pending RY 2026-2027 VRGA from July 1, 2026), the 90-day notice-period math, the 12-month next-eligible date, and a reminder to verify the 23-year rolling U&O exemption. The paid $9 flow archives the worksheet to your unit's compliance log keyed to your account, with the Rent Year stamped so you can defend the computation if DHCA opens a complaint inquiry. Pro subscribers ($19/mo) get unlimited worksheets and a Pro stamped PDF.
Frequently asked
Montgomery County MD rent stabilization FAQ
What is the Montgomery County Rent Stabilization Law and who enforces it?
Bill 15-23, enacted by the Montgomery County Council on July 25, 2023 and effective July 23, 2024, added Article VII to Chapter 29 of the county code. It caps annual rent increases on most rent-stabilized units at CPI-U (Washington-Arlington-Alexandria MSA, May-to-May) + 3 percentage points, with a hard 6% ceiling. The Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA), through the Office of Landlord-Tenant Affairs, administers day-to-day compliance and publishes the annual Voluntary Rent Guideline Allowance (VRGA) in mid-June each year.
What is the 2026 Montgomery County rent cap?
It depends on when the increase takes effect. Through June 30, 2026: the cap is the RY 2025-2026 VRGA of 5.8%, published by DHCA in June 2025 (Washington-Arlington-Alexandria CPI-U May-to-May 2024→2025 ~2.8%, plus 3, under the 6% ceiling). Starting July 1, 2026: the RY 2026-2027 VRGA applies; DHCA publishes that figure on or about June 15, 2026 from the May 2026 CPI reading. Absent a final publication, assume the statutory ceiling of 6.0% and recompute when DHCA publishes. We refresh this page within 7 days of any DHCA publication.
Is my property covered by the Rent Stabilization Law?
Probably yes if you own a multifamily rental building with more than four units in unincorporated Montgomery County — Silver Spring, Bethesda, Wheaton, Germantown, Olney, unincorporated Chevy Chase. You are likely exempt if: (a) your building's first use-and-occupancy permit was issued less than 23 years before the proposed effective date (rolling new-construction exemption); or (b) you are a natural person (not an LLC or corporation) owning 4 or fewer rental units total in Montgomery County (small-landlord exemption); or (c) your unit is federally-subsidized (Section 8 HAP project-based, LIHTC, HUD-insured with rent-restriction overlay) where the contract rent rule supersedes. If the property is in Takoma Park specifically, a separate city rent-stabilization law also applies and may be stricter. Gaithersburg and Rockville have their own incorporated-municipality rules.
What notice do I give the tenant, and what form do I use?
There is no county-issued notice form. The notice is landlord-authored in writing and must include: the landlord's name and contact information, the tenant's name and unit address, the current and new rent amounts, the effective date, the Rent Year, the VRGA used, and a statement that the increase complies with Montgomery County Code Ch. 29 Art. VII. Under Bill 15-23 the increase cannot take effect until at least 90 calendar days after the tenant receives the notice, regardless of whether the tenancy is month-to-month or fixed-term. Maryland Real Property §8-208 separately requires 60 days written notice for rent changes on month-to-month tenancies, but the county's 90-day rule is the stricter prevailing requirement for rent-stabilized units and is the number you serve against.
Can I raise rent more than once in a year?
No. Article VII bars more than one rent increase on any single unit in any rolling 12-month period, regardless of tenant turnover within the 12 months. If you served a notice with an effective date of November 1, 2025, the next rent increase on that same unit cannot take effect earlier than November 1, 2026. The 12-month clock resets on a legal vacancy (tenant voluntarily moves, lease expires without renewal, breach of lease), but not on retaliatory or discriminatory termination.
How is the VRGA computed each year?
DHCA takes the 12-month change in the BLS CPI-U series for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan statistical area measured May to May. It adds 3 percentage points. It takes the lesser of that number and 6.0%. The resulting figure is the VRGA for the Rent Year beginning the following July 1. DHCA publishes the figure in mid-June along with a public notice. For the RY 2024-2025 cycle (the first full year the law was operative), DHCA published 6.0% — the ceiling — because CPI was running above 3% at the May 2024 reading. For RY 2025-2026 the published VRGA is 5.8%.
What happens on vacancy?
A legal vacancy lets the landlord reset the rent for the next tenant at market — the VRGA applies to the next tenancy starting from the new rent, not from the old one. A legal vacancy means the tenant voluntarily moved out, the lease expired without renewal, the tenant breached the lease for non-payment or material violation, or the tenant accepted a lawful relocation payment. Vacancies caused by retaliatory or discriminatory eviction do NOT qualify — the VRGA still caps the rent for the new tenant.
Can I exceed the VRGA if my costs went up?
Yes, via a fair-return or capital-improvement petition filed with DHCA. Fair-return petitions argue that the VRGA would leave a confiscatory return on investment; capital-improvement petitions seek to amortize a specific documented improvement over the useful-life table. Both require documentation of operating costs or improvement scope, and a DHCA administrative hearing. Self-help surcharges — adding a line item to the rent above the VRGA without an approved petition — are overcharges and get remedied with rent rollback and refund.
What happens if I overshoot the cap?
Tenants may file a complaint with the Office of Landlord-Tenant Affairs. DHCA can order rent rollback, refund of overcharges, and civil penalties. Repeat overcharges may trigger broader DHCA audits of the landlord's entire Montgomery County portfolio. Tenants may also raise the overcharge as a defense in rent-court proceedings, which typically blocks eviction for non-payment of the unlawful portion. Rent collected above the VRGA without an approved petition is the classic overcharge pattern DHCA prosecutes first.