Maryland HOA Compliance
3. Compliance topics grid
1. Introduction
Maryland regulates common ownership communities through parallel statutes: the Maryland Homeowners Association Act, Md. Code Real Property § 11B-101 et seq., and the Maryland Condominium Act, Md. Code Real Property § 11-101 et seq.1,2 Under the HOA Act, a recorded declaration creates association authority to impose mandatory fees, and a homeowners association may operate as either incorporated or unincorporated. The Condominium Act defines a condominium as property subject to the Maryland condominium regime and recognizes councils of unit owners and boards of directors.
Maryland also runs a homeowners association depository system: associations must deposit certain disclosures and amendments, and nondeposited disclosures stay unenforceable until deposit.3 Appeals from circuit courts generally move to the Appellate Court of Maryland, with further review by the Supreme Court of Maryland through certiorari. Both appellate courts were renamed effective December 14, 2022.4
The statewide structure is statutory and informational rather than a single statewide HOA adjudicatory agency; DHCD must maintain a common ownership community website and link to local programs.5
Recent Maryland activity weighs heavier on enacted legislation than appellate opinions, with 2025 and 2026 bills changing reserves, elections, and signs.6,7,8 Within the U.S. HOA regulatory map, Maryland sits in the higher-structure group because statewide HOA and condominium statutes operate alongside depository rules and county programs.9
2. Primary statute and key resources
- Maryland Homeowners Association Act, Md. Code Real Property § 11B-101 et seq. The official statute for HOA declarations, mandatory fees, common areas, and incorporated or unincorporated associations.10
- Maryland Condominium Act, Md. Code Real Property § 11-101 et seq. Governs condominium regimes, common elements, councils of unit owners, and boards.11
- Maryland Judiciary appellate courts. Circuit-court matters generally appeal to the Appellate Court; the Supreme Court reviews by certiorari. Court names changed in 2022.12
- State and county manager oversight. Md. Code Housing & Community Development § 2-303 requires DHCD to maintain statewide common-ownership information; Md. Code Real Property § 14-131 creates a Prince George's County manager and community registry.13,14
- Maryland Attorney General Consumer Protection Division. Accepts business complaints and mediates consumer disputes involving goods, services, or credit.15
4. Maryland's recent regulatory landscape
Recent Legislation
Maryland's 2025 and 2026 sessions reshaped reserves, elections, and political-sign rules. Three signed bills now apply to condominium and HOA boards statewide.
SB 63 · Chapter 518 · 2025 Regular Session
The Governor approved SB 63 as Chapter 518. The law requires specified reserve-account deposits by the last day of each fiscal year, updated reserve studies by a specified person, and governing-body funding plans. It also permits reasonable deviations after a financial-hardship determination.[16]
| Property managers | Add fiscal-year reserve deposits and funding-plan tracking to budget calendars. |
| HOA board members | Reserve decisions need documented funding plans and hardship findings when deviations occur. |
| Community association attorneys | Review governing documents, board resolutions, and reserve notices against the new statute. |
| Homeowners | Assessments may reflect reserve funding plans more directly. |
SB 758 · Chapter 512 · 2025 Regular Session
The Governor approved SB 758 as Chapter 512. The law sets election requirements for condominium and HOA governing bodies, requires condominium boards to accommodate unit-owner organizing activity, and bars certain charges for examining financial records.[17]
| Property managers | Revise election calendars, ballot procedures, and records-inspection workflows. |
| HOA board members | Check board election practices before the next annual meeting cycle. |
| Community association attorneys | Review bylaws, rules, and enforcement templates for statutory consistency. |
| Homeowners | Election and financial-record access rights become more specific. |
SB 758 · Chapter 288 · 2026 Regular Session
The Governor approved SB 758 as Chapter 288, and the law took effect upon enactment. It changes the period during which a common ownership community may restrict candidate or proposition signs to 45 days before voting and early voting for a primary election, general election, or proposition vote.[18]
| Property managers | Update political-sign enforcement windows immediately. |
| HOA board members | Sign rules should match the 45-day statutory period before enforcement. |
| Community association attorneys | Revise rule amendments and violation letters to reflect the emergency effective date. |
| Homeowners | Candidate and proposition sign display rights now cover a longer pre-voting period. |
Recent Court Rulings
Two recent Appellate Court rulings address private-road prescription and the reach of HOA declaration amendments on short-term rentals.
Bay City Property Owners Association, Inc. v. County Commissioners of Queen Anne's County, et al.
The Appellate Court held that a public easement by prescription had been established over an intersection involving a private HOA road after long public use and county maintenance.[19] The Supreme Court of Maryland denied certiorari on December 20, 2024.[20]
| Property managers | Private-road communities need records of permissions, objections, signage, and public maintenance. |
| HOA board members | Delay in objecting to public use can weaken private-road positions. |
| Community association attorneys | Road-access disputes need early title, easement, maintenance, and laches analysis. |
| Homeowners | Private-road status may shift under long public use and government maintenance. |
Kevin Tracy, et al. v. 107 Terrapin Lane, LLC, et al. & The Cove Creek Club, Inc. v. 107 Terrapin Lane, LLC
The Appellate Court issued an unreported opinion holding that an HOA declaration amendment banning short-term rentals could apply uniformly to all lot owners and that Md. Code Real Property § 11B-106 did not bar enforcement against an earlier purchaser.[21] The Supreme Court later dismissed a certiorari petition.[22]
| Property managers | Recorded amendments and owner notices need consistent implementation. |
| HOA board members | Adopt short-term rental restrictions through the amendment process in the declaration. |
| Community association attorneys | The opinion is persuasive only under Maryland Rule 1-104; counsel should cite it with care. |
| Homeowners | Prior purchase alone may not exempt a lot from later recorded covenant amendments. |
Regulatory Developments
Maryland keeps its statewide structure light, but Montgomery County runs a Commission on Common Ownership Communities that hears local disputes.
Montgomery County Commission on Common Ownership Communities
Montgomery County law creates a 15-member Commission on Common Ownership Communities and assigns duties including rules, public records, public hearings, legislation recommendations, board-member training, and hearing panels.[23][24] The law permits dispute filings after association remedies are exhausted or after 60 days.[25]
| Property managers | Managers in covered Montgomery County communities need local training and complaint-response procedures. |
| HOA board members | Board decisions may enter a county dispute process before or alongside court litigation. |
| Community association attorneys | Evaluate local exhaustion, stays, and hearing-panel authority early. |
| Homeowners | Montgomery County provides a local complaint path for some association disputes. |
Active Policy Debates
The 2026 session kept common ownership oversight on the agenda. HB 402 proposed a DHCD oversight division, governing-document database, and local commission standards, while HB 853 proposed a State Board of Common Ownership Community Managers in the Maryland Department of Labor.26,27 As of verification, both proposals remained short of enactment, which leaves county oversight, statewide complaint intake, document access, and manager licensing as live policy issues.
5. Closing note
HOA Weekly will expand its Maryland coverage as new bills, appellate decisions, county actions, and enforcement materials emerge. Federal frameworks — the Fair Housing Act, ADA, FDCPA, SCRA, and OTARD — also apply to Maryland associations, and federal coverage will live at /federal/ once that section opens.28,29,30,31,32
Footnotes
- Maryland General Assembly, Md. Code Real Property § 11B-101 ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, Md. Code Real Property § 11-101 ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, Md. Code Real Property § 11B-112 ↩
- Maryland Judiciary, Appeals to the Supreme Court of Maryland ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, Md. Code Housing & Community Development § 2-303 ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, SB 63, 2025 Regular Session ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, SB 758, 2025 Regular Session ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, SB 758, 2026 Regular Session ↩
- Montgomery County Code, Chapter 10B, Common Ownership Communities ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, Md. Code Real Property § 11B-101 ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, Md. Code Real Property § 11-101 ↩
- Maryland Judiciary, Appeals to the Supreme Court of Maryland ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, Md. Code Housing & Community Development § 2-303 ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, Md. Code Real Property § 14-131 ↩
- Maryland Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division, Business Complaints ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, SB 63, 2025 Regular Session ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, SB 758, 2025 Regular Session ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, SB 758, 2026 Regular Session ↩
- Maryland Judiciary, Bay City Property Owners Association, Inc. v. County Commissioners of Queen Anne's County, et al., No. 0034, Sept. Term 2023 ↩
- Supreme Court of Maryland, December 20, 2024 Certiorari Denial Order ↩
- Maryland Judiciary, Kevin Tracy, et al. v. 107 Terrapin Lane, LLC, et al. and The Cove Creek Club, Inc. v. 107 Terrapin Lane, LLC, Nos. 1107 and 1675, Sept. Term 2023 ↩
- Supreme Court of Maryland, November 26, 2025 Certiorari Order ↩
- Montgomery County Code § 10B-3, Commission on Common Ownership Communities ↩
- Montgomery County Code § 10B-6, Duties of the Commission on Common Ownership Communities ↩
- Montgomery County Code § 10B-9, Filing disputes and exhaustion of association remedies ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, HB 402, 2026 Regular Session ↩
- Maryland General Assembly, HB 853, 2026 Regular Session ↩
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Housing Act Overview ↩
- ADA.gov, Americans with Disabilities Act Title III Regulations ↩
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation F, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ↩
- U.S. Department of Justice, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Summary ↩
- Federal Communications Commission, Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule ↩