Baltimore County associations have failed three times to win the power to sue over a nuisance property
Baltimore County associations have failed three times to win the power to sue over a nuisance property
2026-09-12 · Maryland · Legislation · Did not pass
What happened. A bill letting Baltimore County community associations go to court to abate a nuisance property passed the House of Delegates and died in Senate Judicial Proceedings after a 31 March 2026 hearing, with no committee report. It is the third consecutive session the proposal has failed, and the Senate has never voted on it.1
House Bill 305 came from the Baltimore County Delegation and, unusually for a community-association bill, originated in House Government, Labor, and Elections rather than Economic Matters.
What it would have done
Three changes:1
- Standing. It altered the definitions of “community association” and “local code violation” to authorise community associations to seek judicial relief for nuisance abatement in Baltimore County.
- Notice. Notices relating to a nuisance action would have had to go to the county code enforcement agency and to specified tenants and property owners.
- The bond. It repealed the existing requirement that a court determine the amount and conditions of a bond filed by a community association bringing such an action.
That third element is the operative one. A bond requirement set case by case is a financial barrier of unknown size, which for a volunteer board funded by assessments is indistinguishable from a bar. Removing it is what would have made the standing meaningful.
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Related Maryland HOA Topics
- House Bill 305 (2026), Baltimore County – Nuisance Actions – Community Association — reported favourably with amendments by House Government, Labor, and Elections, passed the House; Senate Judicial Proceedings hearing 31 March 2026, no committee report, died at sine die ↩
- House Bill 1529 (2026), Baltimore County – Local Commission on Common Ownership Communities — new Real Property §§ 11C-101 to 11C-107; passed House 108-24 on 11 March 2026, Senate Judicial Proceedings hearing 31 March, no committee report ↩
- CAI Advocacy, 2026 Maryland End of Legislative Session Report — opposition to HB 1529 and the session's call-to-action figures: 638 messages to House Economic Matters and 1,133 to Senate Judicial Proceedings ↩
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