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In this Article and Article 3, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) Association document means:
(A) the master deeds, declaration, incorporation documents, bylaws, and rules of any common ownership community;
(B) any written private agreement between any parties concerning the operation of the community or maintenance or control of common or limited common property; and
(C) any similar document concerning the operation or governance of a common ownership community. Association document does not include a lease covered by Chapter 29 unless the lease provides that it may be enforced under this Chapter.
(2) Common element includes:
(A) in a condominium or cooperative, all portions of the common ownership community other than the units; or
(B) in a homeowners’ association, any real estate in a homeowners’ association community that is owned or leased by the association, other than a unit; and
(C) in all common ownership communities, any other interest in real estate for the benefit of owners which is subject to the declaration.
(3) Community association means the legal entity, incorporated or unincorporated, that is responsible for the governance or common property of a common ownership community.
(4) Dispute means any disagreement between 2 or more parties that involves:
(A) the authority of a governing body, under any law or association document, to:
(i) require any person to take any action, or not to take any action, involving a unit or common element;
(ii) require any person to pay a fee, fine, or assessment;
(iii) spend association funds; or
(iv) alter or add to a common element; or
(B) the failure of a governing body, when required by law or an association document, to:
(i) properly conduct an election;
(ii) give adequate notice of a meeting or other action;
(iii) properly conduct a meeting;
(iv) properly adopt a budget or rules;
(v) maintain or audit books and records;
(vi) allow inspection of books and records;
(vii) properly maintain or repair a common element if the failure results in significant personal injury or property damage; or
(viii) exercise its judgment in good faith concerning the enforcement of the association documents against any person that is subject to those documents.
(5) Dispute does not include any disagreement that only involves:
(A) title to any unit or any common element;
(B) the percentage interest or vote allocable to a unit;
(C) the interpretation or enforcement of any warranty;
(D) the collection of an assessment validly levied against a party; or
(E) the exercise of a governing body’s judgment or discretion in taking or deciding not to take any legally authorized action.
(6) Governing body of a community association means the council of unit owners, board of directors, or any other body authorized by an association document to adopt binding rules or regulations.
(7) Owner includes:
(A) a unit owner in a condominium;
(B) a lot owner in a homeowners' association, and
(C) a member of a cooperative housing corporation.
(8) Party includes:
(A) an owner;
(B) a governing body; and
(C) an occupant of a dwelling unit in a common ownership community.
(9) Unit or lot includes:
(A) any physical portion of a common ownership community with distinct property boundaries that:
(i) provides complete, independent living facilities for one or more individuals,
(ii) contains permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation, and
(iii) is designated for exclusive ownership, control, or occupancy by those individuals; and
(B) all legally enforceable rights and interests incidental to individual ownership of real property in a common ownership community. (1990 L.M.C., ch. 33, § 1; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 10, § 1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 7, §1.)
(a) The Commission may hear any dispute between or among parties.
(b) A party must not file a dispute with the Commission until the party makes a good faith attempt to exhaust all procedures or remedies provided in the association documents.
(c) However, a party may file a dispute with the Commission 60 days after any procedure or remedy provided in the association documents has been initiated before the association.
(d) After a community association finds that a dispute exists, the association must notify the other parties of their rights to file the dispute with the Commission. The association must not take any action to enforce or implement its decision for 14 days after it notifies the other parties of their rights.
(e) Except as provided in Section 10B-9A, when a dispute is filed with the Commission, a community association must not take any action to enforce or implement the association's decision, other than filing a civil action under subsection (f), until the process under this Article is completed.
(f) Any party may file a civil action arising out of an association document or a law regulating the association's powers and procedures at any time. The court may stay all proceedings for at least 90 days after the court is notified that a dispute has been properly filed under this Article so that a hearing under Section 10B-13 may be completed. Whether or not a stay is issued, the court may hear the action de novo only if a hearing panel assigned to the dispute has not issued a decision under Section 10B-13(e). (1990 L.M.C., ch. 33, § 1; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 10, § 1.)
Editor's note—Section 10B-9 is quoted in Campbell v. Lake Hallowell Homeowners Association, 831 A.2d 465 (2003).
(a) At any time after a dispute is filed under Section 10B-9, a party to the dispute may submit a request to lift the automatic stay required under Section 10B-9(e) to a hearing panel appointed under Section 10B-12, or if no hearing panel has been appointed, a special standing panel authorized to consider requests for relief from stays.
(b) The special panel must consist of three voting members of the Commission designated by the chair, and must include at least one representative of each membership category.
(c) A party that requests relief from a stay must serve a copy of its request on any other party named in the dispute by certified mail or personal service. A certificate of service must accompany any request submitted under this Section. A party served with a copy of the request must file its opposition, if any, within 10 days after receiving service.
(d) If a request for relief from a stay which states facts sufficient to show a need for immediate action is not granted or denied within 20 days after the request was filed, the request must be treated as granted.
(e) Except as provided in subsection (d), a request for relief from stay may only be granted if the assigned panel finds that:
(1) enforcing the stay would result in undue harm to a party; and
(2) lifting the stay would not result in undue harm to the rights or interests of any opposing party. (2010 L.M.C., ch. 10, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 10, § 1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 7, §1.)
(a) If the Commission does not accept jurisdiction of a complaint, the Director must notify the parties in writing of the decision and the reason for the Commission’s denial of jurisdiction within 10 business days after the decision.
(b) The Commission’s decision not to accept jurisdiction of a complaint is not subject to judicial review. (2023 L.M.C., ch. 7, § 1.)
(a) The Commission may:
(1) compel the attendance at a hearing of witnesses and parties, administer oaths, take the testimony of any person under oath and, in connection with any dispute, require the production of any relevant evidence; and
(2) issue summonses to compel the attendance of witnesses and parties and the production of documents, records and other evidence in any matter to which this Article applies.
(b) If any person does not comply with any summons issued under this Article to compel the attendance of persons or the production of documents, records or other evidence in any matter to which this Article applies, the County Attorney, on behalf of the Commission, may enforce the summons in a court with jurisdiction. Failure to comply with a Commission summons is also a class A violation.
(c) Any court with jurisdiction may, on request of the Commission, in accordance with state law and the Maryland Rules of Procedure:
(1) require compliance with a summons;
(2) require the attendance of a named person before the Commission at a specified time and place;
(3) require the production of records, documents, or other evidence;
(4) require the transfer of custody of records, documents, or other evidence to the court; or
(5) prohibit the destruction of any records, documents, or other evidence until a lawful investigation by the Commission is ended.
(d) A court may punish any disobedience of any order entered under this Section as a contempt of court. (1990 L.M.C., ch. 33, § 1; 1994 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1.)
(a) The Director may investigate facts and assemble documents relevant to a dispute filed with the Commission, and may summarize the issues in the dispute. The Director may notify a party if, in the Director’s opinion, a dispute was not properly filed with the Commission, and may inform each party of the possible sanctions under Section 10B-13(d).
(b) If the Director, after reviewing a dispute, finds that, assuming all facts alleged by the party that filed the dispute are true, there are no reasonable grounds to conclude that a violation of applicable law or any association document has occurred, the Director must so inform the Commission. The Commission must dismiss a dispute if it finds that there are no reasonable grounds to conclude that a violation of applicable law or any association document has occurred, or it may order the Director to investigate further. The Commission may reconsider the dismissal of a dispute under this subsection if any party, in a motion to reconsider filed within 30 days after the dispute is dismissed, shows that:
(1) the Commission erroneously interpreted or applied applicable law or an association document; or
(2) material issues of fact that are necessary to a fair resolution of the dispute remain unresolved.
(c) If the Director, after reviewing a dispute and any investigation, finds reasonable grounds to conclude that a violation of applicable law or an association document has occurred, the Director must attempt to resolve the matter through informal negotiation including, in the Director's discretion, mediation. Each party named in the dispute or its representative must attend any mediation conference scheduled by the Director under this Section unless excused by the Director. If the party that files the dispute refuses or fails to participate in the mediation, the Director must dismiss the dispute. If the party that is the subject of the dispute refuses or fails to participate in the mediation, the Director must refer the dispute to the Commission for resolution. The party that is the subject of the dispute may not appear at the hearing, and the hearing panel may award relief to any party that the facts on the record warrant.
(d) Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties in writing, a mediation conference is informal and nothing said or done during a mediation conference is admissible in any subsequent hearing under this article.
(e) The Commission must promptly schedule a hearing under Section 10B-13 if either: (1) mediation has not occurred within 90 days after the Director found reasonable grounds to believe a violation occurred; or (2) the Director decides at any time that mediation would be fruitless. The Director may extend the mediation deadline by mutual consent of the parties.
(f) If a dispute is resolved by mediation, the terms of mediation agreed to by the parties must be reduced to writing and incorporated into a consent agreement to be signed by the parties. The agreement must be for mediation purposes only and is not an admission by any party that a violation of applicable law or an association document has occurred.
(g) In addition to any other penalty allowed by law, failure to adhere to any provision of a consent agreement is a class A violation. Any failure by the Director to enforce any provision of a consent agreement does not waive any private right of action against the violating party. (1990 L.M.C., ch. 33, § 1; 1994 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1; 2005 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 10, § 1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 7, §1.)
Editor’s note—2016 L.M.C., ch. 10, § 2, states: Sections 10B-11(c), (d), and (e), as amended by this Act, which require attempted informal resolution of disputes, including mediation, apply to all disputes filed with the Commission after this Act takes effect as provided in Charter Section 112.
2005 L.M.C., ch. 26, §§ 2 and 3, state:
Sec. 2. Regulations. A regulation which implements a function transferred to the Office of Consumer Protection by this Act continues in effect until otherwise amended or repealed, but any reference to any predecessor department or office must be treated as referring to the Office of Consumer Protection.
Sec. 3. Transition. This act does not invalidate or affect any action taken by the Department of Housing and Community Affairs before this Act took effect. Any responsibility or right granted by law, regulation, contract, or other document, and which is associated with a function transferred by this Act from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs, is transferred to the Office of Consumer Protection.
(a) If a hearing is scheduled, the Chair of the Commission must convene a 3-member panel to hear the dispute.
(b) The Chair must choose two members of the panel from the voting members of the Commission. The persons selected must represent the two different membership groups of the Commission. The Chair of the Commission must designate the third member from a list of volunteer arbitrators trained or experienced in common ownership community issues maintained by the Commission. The third member must Chair the panel. If a suitable arbitrator is not available, the Chair of the Commission must designate the third panelist from among the voting members of the Commission, and must designate the Chair of the panel.
(c) Each panelist must not have any interest in the dispute to be heard.
(d) Each volunteer arbitrator must not represent any parties in disputes before other hearing panels convened under this Chapter.
(e) If the Commission Chair decides that a hearing should be held by a hearing examiner instead of a hearing panel, the Chair, with the approval of the Commission, may designate the Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings to conduct the hearing. (1990 L.M.C., ch. 33, § 1; 1994 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 10, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 10, § 1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 7, §1.)
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