New emergency legislation in Montgomery County, Maryland, is dramatically increasing fines for people who host massive for-profit parties at private homes — events that some neighbors have called a nuisance.
County leaders hope the steep fines will discourage large-scale parties like one held last summer, advertised as the Wet Dreams Mansion Pool Party. It was held at a rented mansion in Potomac, drawing crowds that spilled into the neighborhood.
Parties like this can be advertised on social media, bringing in large numbers of people who pay for tickets and drinks.
Residents have been complaining about these events since the pandemic.
Nearby residents John Camp and Mindy Farber said the community was overrun during the Wet Dreams mansion party, with multiple buses dropping people off, cars parking on the grass and partygoers disrupting their quiet community.
“The walls were pounding, and the music was pretty awful,” Farber said.
That was a little more than a year ago. But neighbors’ complaints caught the attention of elected leaders, and now things are about to change.
The Montgomery County Council now has passed a new law strengthening the rules on for-profit house parties and upped the fines. Officials say the previous fines weren’t high enough to prevent people from having the parties, which can earn them thousands of dollars.
“The fines were miniscule, right? Tiny. So it wasn’t worth it to forgo doing the party when you could make a lot of money off of it,” said Councilmember Dawn Leudtke.
Previously, fines were as low as $25. Now, they’re $5,000, and additional code violations such as excessive noise could add another $15,000.
These fines does not apply to events people may have at their homes that are not organized to make money.
“I tell them, I got married in my backyard, number one,” Leudtke said. “And we just actually had my next door neighbor hosted a wedding in their backyard a couple weeks ago. So these are still allowed.”
Camp and Farber said they’re glad this summer will be more peaceful.
“It took a year, but it’s here, and I think will be a great thing for the entire county,” Farber said.
“We’re so excited now, that now the county has the teeth, the enforcement power to be able to stop these parties in the future,” Camp said.
The council passed the bill unanimously as emergency legislation, which means it went into effect right away.
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