Tag Archives: condominium common elements

2023 Maryland Legislature Considers Condominium and Homeowner Association Legislation

Posted on by
Reply

The 2023 legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly is underway and several changes to the Maryland Condominium Act and Maryland Homeowners Association Act are under consideration.

Among the bills introduced are:

Community Association Manager Licensing. A Maryland Board of Common Ownership Managers would be created to license and regulate managers of condos, HOAs, and housing cooperatives. (House Bill 80)

Homeowner Bill of Rights. Homeowners would be granted certain statutory rights regarding the management and operation of common ownership communities. (House Bill 29)

Smoking Policies. The board of directors of a common ownership community would be required to develop a smoking policy if the property is a multifamily building. (House Bill 315)

Clean Energy Equipment. The condominium vote to approve the installation of certain clean energy equipment in the common elements would be reduced to make it easier to install vehicle recharging equipment and solar, geothermal or other energy-efficient equipment. (House Bill 101)

Homeowner Association Fines. A homeowners association would be provided statutory authority to levy reasonable fines for violations of the HOA declaration, bylaws or rules. (House Bill 532)

Task Force on Common Ownership Communities. A Maryland state task force would be created to study 21 issues related to the management and operation of common ownership communities. Topics include the education needs of boards and homeowners; establishing statewide dispute resolution services; association assessments; developer transition of new communities and much more. (House Bill 423)

The 2023 legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly runs until mid-April.

Posted by Thomas Schild Law Group, LLC which represents condominiums, homeowner associations, and housing cooperatives throughout Maryland (including Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Howard County, Frederick County, and Baltimore) and Washington, D.C.

.

2022 Maryland Condominium and HOA Laws Enacted

Posted on by
Reply

The Maryland Legislature considered various bills regarding the management and operation of condominiums, homeowners associations and housing cooperatives in 2022.  Although most were not approved, several significant new laws took effect October 1, 2022.

            Reserve Studies Statewide (HB 107).  Most Maryland condos, HOAs and coops will now be required to obtain a reserve study of the association common property at least every 5 years to determine the remaining useful life of each major component of the common property and the estimated cost for long-term repair and replacement. The reserve study must also state the estimated annual reserve amount necessary to accomplish any identified future repair or replacement. This extends statewide the reserve study requirements previously enacted for communities in Prince George’s and Montgomery County.

            Where a reserve study is required, the recommended annual reserve amount must be included in the annual budget.  However, if the most recent reserve study is an initial reserve study, up to 3 years is allowed to attain the annual reserve funding recommendation level.

             No reserve study is required for homeowner associations where the initial purchase and installation costs of components which require periodic repair and replacement is less than $10,000. The reserve study law amends the Maryland Condominium Act, Maryland Homeowners Association Act, and Maryland Cooperative Housing Corporation Act.

Continue reading →

Maryland Condominium Is Responsible for Maintaining Common Property in Safe Condition

Posted on by
Reply

Condominiums in Maryland have a duty to exercise reasonable and ordinary care to keep the common area safe for residents and their guests. Where there is a dangerous condition on the property which the condominium board or manager knew or should have known about, the condominium may be liable for the injuries caused by the dangerous condition.

Duty Owed Depends on Status of Injured Person. As explained in a decision of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the potential “premises liability” depends on the relationship between the injured person and the condominium. For an “invitee” on the property at the invitation of the property owner, there is duty of reasonable and ordinary care which includes a duty to inspect the property to discover and correct dangerous conditions. Invitees must also be warned of known dangers. For a “social guest” or “licensee” who is permitted on the property for the benefit of the person entering the property, there is only a duty to warn of known dangers. For a “trespasser” or “bare licensee” who does not have permission to be on the portion of the property where an injury occurs, there is merely a duty to refrain from willful injury or entrapment but no duty to warn of dangerous conditions.

Continue reading →

Maryland General Assembly OKs Bill to Help Condos Collect Delinquent Assessments

Posted on by
Reply

The Maryland General Assembly has approved legislation to make it easier for condominium associations to suspend use of the common area parking lot, pool and other recreational amenities when an owner is delinquent in paying the condo assessments for more than 60 days.

The new law allows approval by owners with 60 percent of the total eligible votes to amend a condominium declaration to provide for the suspension of use of these portions of the condominium common property.  This is far less than the 80 percent minimum required by the Maryland Condominium Act for other declaration amendments, and some older condo documents require as much as 100 percent unanimous approval.  Continue reading →

Maryland Appeals Court Voids Condominium Parking Rule

Posted on by
Reply

A Maryland condominium Rule which barred delinquent condo owners from using the common property parking lot and swimming pool has been struck down by the Maryland Court of Appeals–the highest state appellate court.

In Elvaton Towne Condominium Regime II v. Rose, the appeals court decided that a condominium board of directors can not rely on general rulemaking authority to adopt a Rule which interfered with the owner’s statutory property right to use the common elements. However, the court ruled that the Maryland Condominium Act permits a condominium Declaration to provide that an owner’s  parking and pool privileges may be suspended where the owner is in arrears in payment of condo assessments.

Although recognizing a condo board may adopt reasonable Rules regarding the use of the common elements, the court noted that such Rules must be consistent with the condominium Declaration and Bylaws and with the Maryland Condominium Act. Continue reading →

2017 Maryland Condo and HOA Legislation–The Final Score

Posted on by
Reply

During the 2017 Maryland legislative session, the General Assembly considered many bills regarding condominium and homeowner association governance, foreclosure procedures, state registration of community associations, and regulation of community association managers.

Legislation passed includes bills to make it easier to amend condo bylaws and an HOA declaration; require lender notice of foreclosure sale postponement and cancellation; and require community associations to provide owner notice of common property sales, including government tax sales. Continue reading →