The Maryland legislature has passed legislation which affects the management and operation of condominiums and homeowner associations.  New laws which take effect October 1, 2016 include:

Resale Disclosures.   Homeowner associations will be required for the first time to provide resale disclosure information to an owner selling a home in an HOA.  For condos which have long been required to provide resale disclosures, the disclosure requirements have been clarified or changed on matters such as assessments, replacement reserves, pending litigation, unit alterations, and violations of health or building codes.  And, the amount which condos, HOAs and management companies may charge for providing resale disclosure information is capped by the new law.

Tax Sale Procedure.  The purchaser of property at a tax sale will be required to notify condos and HOAs when a court suit is filed to prevent owners of property in those communities from keeping ownership of property.  The new law also provides that when a tax sale is approved by the court,  the tax sale purchaser is responsible for payment of condominium and homeowner association assessments from the date of the court judgment, whether or not a tax sale deed to the property is recorded in the land records.

Assessment Collection.  A court suit will not be permitted for any unpaid assessments where the time for filing suit has expired. Any subsequent payment on the debt, or written or oral affirmation of the debt will not revive or extend the statute of limitations. This applies to all suits involving consumer debt, not just association assessments.

Home Gambling.  Card games and mah jong games hosted in a residence not more than once a week will now be allowed where the total gambling bets for all players is no more than $1,000 in a 24-hour period.  In senior communities with age 55 restrictions, these games will also be allowed in the common areas.

Legislation considered but not enacted would have required state registration of all condos, co-ops and HOAs, and would have made it easier to amend association governing documents by allowing an owner’s failure to vote on a proposed amendment to be counted as that owner’s approval of the proposed amendment.

Also rejected was a bill to prohibit provisions in condominium sales contracts and bylaws which limit the ability of condo associations to file suit to enforce construction warranties on the common elements.

Posted by: Thomas Schild Law Group, LLC, attorneys for condominiums, homeowner associations, and housing cooperatives in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

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