The Montgomery County Council passed new tenant safety regulations on Tuesday, prompted by a deadly February 2023 fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex in downtown Silver Spring.
The fire claimed the life of 25-year-old Melanie Diaz and her two dogs.
Council Vice President Kate Stewart authored and introduced Bill 7-24, Landlord-Tenant Relations – Tenant Protection and Notification (PDF), which aims to protect tenants better and inform them about building matters, including fire safety, insurance, and building maintenance issues. It also mandates that residential leases contain information regarding renter’s insurance, automatic sprinkler systems, and emergency evacuation and safety plans.
Stewart sponsored the legislation after speaking with residents who survived the Arrive Silver Spring complex fire and a power outage at The Grand apartment complex in North Bethesda.
“I started writing this bill more than a year ago, after a fire took the life of Melanie Diaz at the Arrive apartment building, followed not long after by a power outage that put many elderly people at risk at The Grand in North Bethesda,” Stewart said in a press release issued Tuesday. “These kinds of dangerous incidents, and others my office looked into at the prompting of residents around the County, can be avoided by improving communication and emergency planning in multifamily rental properties. I listened carefully to the concerns of residents, and I wrote this bill in close collaboration with our County permitting and housing agencies. We can and need to make real strides to protect people where it matters most – in their homes.”
Diaz and her two dogs died in the three-alarm fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex on February 18, 2023. Seventeen other residents and three firefighters were hospitalized, and several hundred residents were displaced after their units were condemned.
Public officials later examined the complex’s lack of working sprinklers, which are not required to be installed in apartment units constructed before 1974. Over 70 apartment complexes throughout Montgomery County do not have sprinklers in every unit.
According to MoCo360, Diaz’s family members, who traveled from Florida to testify, and other fire survivors urged the council to pass the bill at a public hearing in April.
“My daughter lost her life because people cut corners,” Diaz’s father, Cesar Diaz, said through tears, testifying in support of the legislation at the public hearing. “This building did not provide for my daughter’s safety … nobody cared.”
Bill 7-24 requires the following:
- Residential leases must clearly state whether the building has automatic sprinkler systems, inform tenants of emergency plans, and whether the lease ensures tenant possessions in the event of loss or damage due to instances such as fire, smoke, or water;
- 24-hour availability of a building representative and notification to tenants of any disruption of essential services; and
- The Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services will approve emergency safety plans for each building proposed by landlords of multifamily dwellings.
Councilmembers Marilyn Balcombe, Laurie-Anne Sayles, Sidney Katz, Kristin Mink, Gabe Albornoz, Will Jawando, Evan Glass, and Council President Andrew Friedson co-sponsored the bill, which is now headed to County Executive Marc Elrich’s desk for signature.
Photo: Pete Piringer / X (formerly Twitter)