2026-09-12 · Maryland · Regulation

What happened. Maryland has told its housing department to go and count. House Bill 956, approved by the Governor on 26 May 2026 as Chapter 779 of the Acts of 2026, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to study every building in the state more than 40 years old that contains a condominium, and to report to the General Assembly on or before 1 December 2026.¹

It took effect on 1 June 2026, so the work is already under way, and the report is eighty days out. It is the only study or task force the 2026 session created touching Maryland community associations.

The six things DHCD has to find out

Chapter 779 is short and specific. For each qualifying building the department must determine:²

1. the number of buildings in the State more than 40 years old containing a condominium;
2. the number of condominium units in each;
3. the average age of the unit owners in each;
4. the average annual income of the unit owners in each;
5. the date the most recent reserve study was completed for each; and
6. the difference between the current amount in each reserve fund and the amount required to be in it.

Item six is the one that matters. Maryland has required reserve studies since 2022 and reserve funding since October 2025, but nobody has ever published how far short the older stock actually falls. Chapter 779 turns that into a number the legislature will hold in its hand while it writes the 2027 session's bills.

What it is not

It creates no obligation for any association and no inspection requirement. Maryland still has no structural or milestone inspection statute of the kind Florida adopted after Surfside, and no bill proposing one was introduced in 2026. Chapter 779 is a data exercise, and it is honest about being one.

1. House Bill 956, Maryland General Assembly 2026 Regular Session — bill record and synopsis, Chapter 779, approved 26 May 2026, effective 1 June 2026; House 95-37, motion to defer rejected 15-28, Senate 33-10 ↩
2. Chapter 779 of the Acts of 2026 (HB 956), enrolled text — the six required findings, the 1 December 2026 report deadline, and the 30 June 2027 abrogation ↩
3. Lerch Early Brewer, 2026 Community Associations Maryland Legislative Updates ("It is unclear how the information to complete the survey will be obtained") ↩
4. Whiteford Taylor Preston, 2026 Maryland Legislative Update for Common Ownership Communities (advice to older-building boards to be ready for DHCD inquiries) ↩
5. Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Common Ownership Communities (no published reference to the Chapter 779 study as of 12 September 2026) ↩
6. Maryland REALTORS, Summary of 2026 Real Estate Legislation (position: Support with Amendments; privacy amendment aggregating owner age and income) ↩