April 25, 2011
The Maryland General Assembly passed House Bill 679, which permits condominiums to adopt a requirement that unit owners maintain insurance on their units. The bill was signed into law by the Governor on April 12, 2011, and takes effect October 1, 2011. The law adds new Section 11-114.2 to the Maryland Condominium Act to provide that condominium bylaws may include (...) [Read More]
April 13, 2011
Pursuant to legislation passed in the closing hours of this year’s session of the Maryland General Assembly, four (4) months of unpaid assessments due to condominiums and homeowner associations, up to a maximum of $1,200, will now receive priority over mortgages, but only those recorded after October 1, 2011. As reported in my post of March 18, legislation (...) [Read More]
March 18, 2011
Associations continue to suffer from an epidemic of unpaid assessments. Such delinquent owners are often also behind in their mortgage payments, which can lead to the lender foreclosing. Once the lender forecloses and takes title, it becomes responsible for assessments going forward, but not for past due assessments. As in last year’s session, the legislature (...) [Read More]
December 23, 2010
I recently tried a construction defect case in which I was able to secure a significant jury award on behalf of the owners of a townhome in Montgomery County in a claim involving faulty construction and unfair and deceptive trade practices under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act. I represented Subhash and Rita Dhawan in a suit against (...) [Read More]
April 30, 2010
The Maryland General Assembly passed House Bill 620, which, if signed into law by the Governor, will take effect on October 1, 2010. The newly enacted law will expand common element and common area warranty protections in condominiums and homeowners associations beyond the period of a developer’s control. It extends the implied condominium (...) [Read More]
March 4, 2010
The current session of the Maryland General Assembly is considering new legislation that would expand common element and common area warranty protections in future condominiums and homeowners associations. House Bill 620 proposes to expand the application of both the three-year condominium common element warranty, and the one-year homeowners association common area warranty, for projects created (...) [Read More]
March 4, 2010
Legislation has been proposed in the current session of the Maryland General Assembly that would provide some relief to condominiums and homeowners associations in the event of a foreclosure. House Bill 842, known as the Residential Association Sustainability Act of 2010, provides that a specified portion of a lien on a condominium unit or lot (...) [Read More]
October 30, 2009
A would be condominium buyer has inquired about having heard that it is possible to buy a condominium unit without having the benefit of the three-year common element warranty, because it has already expired at the time of purchase. What that purchaser heard is absolutely correct. Maryland’s three-year statutory warranty on certain components of (...) [Read More]
August 19, 2009
If you have bought a new home in Maryland during the last several years, including a new condominium, your purchase likely included what are commonly referred to as “ten-year warranty” policies.” But a careful reading of the typical provisions of many of these policies reveals that the suggested coverage benefits are nearly non-existent. In (...) [Read More]
Marylandcondolaw.com is written by Raymond D. Burke, a principal in Ober|Kaler’s Construction Group. One of the region's top construction and real estate development lawyers, Ray has more than 25 years of experience in matters relating to condominium and other multi-use development matters.