Maggie June’s Legacy: Bill Would Require Smoke Alarms In Vacation Rentals

CHATHAM – It was a tragedy that never should’ve happened. And if the Maggie Hubbard Rental Safety Act is signed into law, it might never happen again.

 Infant Maggie June Hubbard and her mother, Shannon, died in a fire in a vacation rental in Clinton, N.Y., late on the night of Oct. 13. Husband John and 3-year-old Jack Hubbard were able to escape the house, which fire officials determined had no working smoke alarms.

 “This tragedy was so preventable. It truly, truly was,” said Tim Waldron, Maggie June’s grandfather. “If smoke detectors had been in that house, my daughter and my granddaughter would still be here.”

 In a bid to keep such a tragedy from happening again – and as a way to make some sense out of the senseless loss his family has endured – Waldron has lobbied for legislation that would require owners to prove the presence of working smoke alarms before listing their properties as short-term rentals. State Sen. Julian Cyr, D–Cape and Islands, has filed a bill in the Senate, with Rep. Hadley Luddy, D–Orleans, filing a companion bill in the House.

 A number of local towns have developed regulations for short-term rental properties, which have grown in demand thanks to online listing sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. “But the problem that I found was that compliance was very, very low,” Waldron said. In some communities, only a small fraction of short-term rental owners register their properties with the town. Those who list their properties with rental agents often simply check a box to certify that smoke detectors are in place, but there is no mechanism for verification, he said. 

 Last month, a New York grand jury indicted the owners of the house rented by the Hubbards, charging them with second degree manslaughter. They are accused of renting the property on Airbnb in a listing that indicated that the house was equipped with smoke detectors, when it actually had none.

 Installing smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms are “by far the most efficient and least expensive measure you can take in any home, whether you’re renting it or living in it, that can save lives,” Waldron said. The legislation would require property owners to have their rentals inspected by the fire department, which would issue a certificate of compliance that would then have to be provided to rental agents or rental listing sites, before those sites could list the property.

 “Then the homeowner would be motivated to get it done,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of conversations with fire chiefs, and haven’t met one yet who hasn’t said this is a good idea.”

 Waldron quipped he has no expertise with the lawmaking process other than watching The West Wing on TV, and is glad to have support from Luddy and Cyr.

 Luddy said Waldron’s work on the issue is “really extraordinary,” particularly given the “unimaginable loss and tragedy” experienced by his family only a few months ago.

 “We are hopeful that we can move this through during the session. I know this is a long process,” she said. “But I am really eager to do everything we can to prevent another tragedy like this one.”

 Cyr underscored that the tragedy that befell the Hubbard family was entirely preventable.

 “Short-term rentals, like all rentals and residences, must remain compliant with fire and safety codes,” he said. “Representative Luddy and I are committed to doing everything we can to move this bill forward.”

 “This is not just a local issue. This is a national issue,” Luddy said. She said she hopes the Maggie Hubbard Rental Safety Act will be a model for other communities. The Lower Cape is a prime proving ground for the legislation, she said.

 “We have such a large number of short-term rentals in the Fourth Barnstable District,” she said.

 Is there likely to be opposition to the bill? Waldron said it’s too soon to know for sure, but he said the major rental listing sites have been “consistently trying to avoid any responsibility” when it comes to the safety of the properties they list. “I take strong issue with that, given that they’re really promoting these properties,” he said.

 With property owners already required to submit photos and other types of documentation to list their rentals, adding a fire safety certificate isn’t an onerous requirement, Waldron said.

 “This is not a big ask for anybody,” he said. 

 Cyr and Luddy say there’s no clear time frame for the bills to reach the floor for a vote. Hearings are underway, but the process remains at its early stages.

 Tragedies like the one that claimed his daughter and granddaughter don’t only affect victims’ families, Waldron noted. 

 “You know who else’s lives are shattered? The homeowners,” he said. Fatal fires also have a profound impact on first responders, like the men and women who responded to the fire in Clinton, with whom Waldron recently met. 

 “They think about it when they go to bed at night. One of the people who worked on Maggie, she was a young mom herself,” Waldron said. “Those kinds of things linger.”