Tag Archives: Maryland Condominium Act

2023 Maryland Legislature Considers Condominium and Homeowner Association Legislation

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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.

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2021 Maryland Condo and HOA Legislation Introduced

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The 2021 Maryland legislative session is now underway and runs until mid-April. Although the top priority for the Maryland General Assembly is Covid-19 relief funding, several bills affecting governance of condominiums, homeowner associations and housing cooperatives have been introduced and are under consideration by Maryland House and Senate legislative committees.

Replacement Reserve Funding. Legislation proposes to require all Maryland condos, HOAs and co-ops to conduct a study of the reserves necessary for major repair and replacement of common property components. The developer would be required to have the initial reserve study prepared and contribute to the reserve fund. The board would then be required to have a reserve study done every 5 years and would be required to fund the recommended amount of reserves. (House Bill 313).

A separate bill to require a reserve study and funding the recommended reserve amount only in Montgomery County was also introduced (House Bill 567). A similar reserve study and funding requirement applicable only in Prince George’s County was enacted in 2020.

Board Member Training. Legislation would require all board members to complete a training course on the responsibilities of being a board member or officer of a Maryland condominium, HOA or housing cooperative within 90 days of first being elected or appointed. A similar training requirement currently applies in Montgomery County. (House Bill 361)

Regulation of Community Association Managers. A proposal requiring community association mangers to be licensed by a Maryland State Board of Common Ownership Community Managers is again under consideration. Requirements for obtaining a community association manager license are based on training, community association management work experience, and knowledge of state laws and regulations concerning common ownership communities. Similar legislation has been introduced for the past several years.

The manager licensing legislation also requires each community association to register annually with the State of Maryland. (House Bill 367)

Electric Vehicle Re-charging Equipment. Covenants and other restrictions of a condominium or homeowners association which prohibit, or unreasonably restrict, the installation or use of electric vehicle recharging equipment in a parking space owned by, or designated for exclusive use by, a homeowner would be void and enforceable under proposed legislation. Additionally, an association board would have to approve a homeowner’s request to install electric vehicle re-charging equipment in the parking space if the owner agreed to comply with specified safety and use conditions. Similar legislation has been considered for the past several years. (House Bill 116/Senate Bill 144)

These bills and other related information can be found on the website of the Maryland General Assembly. To be enacted, proposed legislation must be passed by the Maryland House of Delegates and Maryland Senate, and be approved by the Governor.

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.

2020 Vision: Maryland Condominium Legislative Update

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Condominium insurance, replacement reserves and dispute resolution procedures were among the condominium and homeowners association topics which were considered during the 2019 Maryland legislative session.  However, virtually no new laws affecting community governance were enacted this year.

Looking ahead to 2020, legislation concerning insurance, reserves and dispute resolution is likely to introduced again.

Condominium Insurance Deductibles

Where damage to condominium units and common elements is caused by fire, water or other perils covered by the master property damage insurance, the Maryland Condominium Act requires a unit owner to pay up to the first $5,000 of repair expenses when the cause of the damage originates in that owner’s condominium unit.  While some condos choose a higher deductible, others can only obtain insurance with a deductible of $10,000 or more.  This leaves the condominium association responsible for repair expenses between $5,000 and the amount covered by insurance. Continue reading →

Condominium Owner Negligence Bars Claim Against Contractor

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Where a condominium unit in Baltimore County, Maryland was damaged by steam escaping from the heating system when a unit owner hired a plumber to remove heat radiators in the unit  and was negligent by not requesting the contractor to re-install  the radiators after the unit was painted, the condo insurance carrier may not recover the cost to repair the unit from the plumbing contractor, a federal trial court in Maryland recently ruled.

The radiators were removed in July when the central heating system was not operating, and the unit owner did not request the contractor to re-install the radiators until November after the heating system had been tuned on. The cost of more than $120,000 to repair the damage to the unit was covered by the condominium’s property damage insurance.  The insurance company paid the condominium association which then paid the unit owner who hired a contractor to make the repairs to the unit.

The insurance carrier filed suit against the plumbing contractor to recover the amount it paid to the condominium.  The contractor contended that the claim should not be allowed because the unit owner was an insured under the condo master insurance policy and was negligent in not contacting the contractor to re-install the radiators. Continue reading →

Maryland General Assembly OKs Bill to Help Condos Collect Delinquent Assessments

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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 →

2017 Maryland Condo and HOA Legislation–The Final Score

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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 →