Maryland HOA laws and regulations - 2026 guide

Maryland HOA laws changed more in 2025 than in any recent session: nine enacted bills across six major policy areas took effect on October 1, 2025, changing how associations run elections and fund reserves while adding rules for owner data. More changes will arrive through 2026. All of it sits on top of Title 11B of the Real Property Article, the Maryland Homeowners Association Act. These rules matter if you own or are buying a rental inside an HOA community. They also matter if you hold lots across several counties. They control your assessments and disclosure rights at sale. They also limit what the board can restrict on your property.

What is the Maryland Homeowners Association Act?

The Maryland Homeowners Association Act is Title 11B of the Real Property Article, and it applies to every homeowners association existing in Maryland after July 1, 1987. Under § 11B-101, a homeowners association is any incorporated or unincorporated person with authority to enforce a declaration, and a declaration is the recorded instrument that creates authority to impose mandatory fees on lots or lot owners. If your community charges a mandatory fee under a recorded declaration, Title 11B almost certainly governs it.

§ 11B-102 excludes the following:

• Property that is part of a condominium regime governed by Title 11
• Cooperative housing corporations
• Nonresidential property
• Certain disclosure provisions in older communities, where developers sold more than 50% of the lots before July 1, 1987 and fewer than 100 lots remain unsold, or in developments with 12 or fewer lots as of that date

Section 11B-103 prevents owners and HOAs from waiving Title 11B protections. Under § 11B-103, "the provisions of this title may not be varied by agreement, and rights conferred by this title may not be waived" except where the statute expressly allows it. A declaration or bylaw that tries to contract around a Title 11B protection is unenforceable on that point.

HOA governing documents: declaration, bylaws, and covenants

When documents conflict, state law beats the declaration. The declaration then controls the bylaws, and the bylaws control board-adopted rules. Title 11B has no single hierarchy clause the way the Condominium Act does at § 11-124(e), but the ordering follows from the statute's mandatory language and from Maryland appellate decisions. In Steele v. Diamond Farm Homes Corp. (2019), the Court of Appeals treated the declaration and articles of incorporation as the documents that "dictate the parameters of the Association's authority and power."

The practical test when a board action seems out of bounds: ask which document authorizes it, then check whether a higher document or the statute forbids it. Maryland's high court has applied that logic repeatedly:

• Conflict | Result | Authority
• HOA document vs. a mandatory Title 11B provision | Statute controls; the document provision is unenforceable | Md. Real Prop. § 11B-103
• Board rule vs. declaration | Rule restricting a property right is invalid, even if reasonable, unless the declaration authorizes it | Elvaton Towne Condo. Regime II v. Rose, 453 Md. 1 (2017)
• Bylaw vs. declaration | A bylaw amendment cannot strip owners of rights the declaration preserves | Ridgely Condo. Ass'n v. Smyrnioudis, 343 Md. 357 (1996)
• HOA document vs. discriminatory recorded covenant | The governing body may delete the covenant without owner approval | Md. Real Prop. § 11B-113.3

Ridgely and Elvaton are condominium cases, but they supply the strongest named Maryland authority for the declaration-supremacy principle and are applied analogically to HOAs. HOAs must also follow the statutory amendment and depository rules. Under § 11B-116(c), a qualifying HOA may amend a governing document with the affirmative vote of lot owners in good standing holding at least 60% of the votes, even where the documents demand a higher threshold. Each county's circuit court clerk maintains an HOA Depository, and the HOA must deposit its rules there. The HOA must deposit each rule before enforcing it.

How Maryland HOAs are governed

Title 11B leaves most day-to-day mechanics to your community's bylaws, but it sets hard statutory rules on elections and meeting conduct. It also regulates records access.

Board of directors elections and conflict-of-interest rules

Since October 1, 2025, independent parties must run Maryland HOA elections. Under § 11B-118, enacted as SB 758 (Chapter 512), independent parties who are not candidates and have no conflict of interest regarding any candidate must conduct elections for the governing body, "including the collection and counting of ballots and the certifying of results." The statute voids any governing-document provision inconsistent with the section. Before this law, the MHAA did not expressly regulate board elections at all.

Who counts as independent has sharp edges. The statute disqualifies property management representatives unless the HOA or its parent association owns the management company. A lot owner may serve if they comply with the statute, do not electioneer for any candidate, and no more than 25% of eligible voting members object. The statute expressly permits retaining a third-party vendor or a commercial technology platform to run the election. Your bylaws continue to control board terms and election quorum because Title 11B does not fix them. Under Md. Code, Corps. & Ass'ns § 5-202, a nonstock corporation's bylaws prescribe the quorum.

Meeting rules: notice, quorum, and executive sessions

Title 11B prescribes no fixed day count for ordinary meeting notice. § 11B-111 requires only "reasonable notice" of regularly scheduled open meetings, so your bylaws set the actual minimum. Members or their agents may attend all HOA meetings, including board and committee meetings, and the governing body must hold at least one open-agenda meeting per year. The governing documents also set quorum for ordinary meetings.

Section 11B-111's only fixed numerical notice periods apply after a quorum failure. If a properly called meeting fails to reach quorum and the original notice flagged the procedure, a majority of owners present may call an additional meeting held not less than 15 days later, with not less than 10 days' notice. At that second meeting, the owners present in person or by proxy constitute the quorum, and a majority of them may act unless the bylaws say otherwise.

Section 11B-111(4) permits the board to close a session only on eight enumerated grounds:

• Employee and personnel matters
• Protecting individual privacy or reputation in matters unrelated to HOA business
• Consultation with legal counsel
• Consultation regarding pending or potential litigation
• Investigative proceedings on possible criminal misconduct
• Business transactions in negotiation where disclosure could hurt the HOA's economic interests
• Compliance with a legal requirement protecting matters from public disclosure
• Individual owner assessment accounts

The board must move into executive session by a vote in open session. The minutes of the next meeting must record the purpose of the closed meeting and when and where it occurred. They must also include each member's vote and the statutory authority for closing it. The board may take no action or discuss any matter in closed session unless one of the eight grounds permits it.

Virtual and electronic meetings

Maryland lets HOAs hold fully virtual and hybrid meetings despite contrary language in their governing documents. Under § 11B-113.6, the governing body may authorize meetings of the association, board, or any committee by telephone conference, video conference, or similar electronic means, "notwithstanding language contained in the governing documents," and no specific authorization from lot owners is required.

Two conditions apply. The equipment must let every participant hear and be heard by all others, and the meeting notice must include a link or instructions for electronic access. Electronic attendees count toward quorum and may vote; absent owners may vote by proxy and count toward quorum through their proxy. The governing body may set a ballot-return deadline of up to 24 hours after the meeting ends. Separately, § 11B-113.2 lets the board accept votes and proxies by electronic transmission if the transmission verifies the owner authorized it, with an anonymous printed-ballot option preserved whenever a secret ballot is required.

Access to books, records, and financial statements

A lot owner, a lot owner's mortgagee, or their authorized agents or attorneys may inspect and copy all books and records kept by or on behalf of the HOA during normal business hours after reasonable notice, under § 11B-112. The right is broad and non-enumerated. The HOA may withhold only six categories, and even then the subject of the record retains inspection rights:

• Personnel records, excluding individual salary, wage, bonus, and other compensation information paid to employees
• Medical records
• Personal financial records
• Business transactions currently in negotiation
• Written advice of legal counsel
• Closed-meeting minutes, unless a majority of a quorum votes to unseal them

Written requests run on statutory clocks:

• Request | Deadline
• Financial statements or minutes the HOA prepared within the preceding 3 years | 21 days after receipt of the written request
• Financial statements or minutes the HOA prepared more than 3 years ago | 45 days after receipt of the written request
• First availability after the declarant conveys a lot | 15 business days after conveyance and request

The HOA may impose a reasonable charge for reviewing, copying, or delivering records, but the Courts Article limits cap copying fees; the Maryland Judiciary circuit court fee schedule sets 50 cents per page. As of October 1, 2025, Chapter 512 added two no-charge categories: examining financial statements in person and receiving financial statements by electronic transmission.

Assessments, budgets, and reserve studies

Maryland now regulates HOA reserves in detail. Under § 11B-112.3, the reserve-study mandate applies to any HOA responsible for maintaining common areas whose total component repair or replacement costs reach at least $10,000. The mandate excludes HOAs that issue bonds for capital expenditures. Outside Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, it also exempts HOAs with six or fewer lots under HB 1262 (2024). HOAs must update studies within 5 years of the initial study and at least every 5 years after that. The preparer must satisfy at least one of these standards: completing at least 30 reserve studies in the prior 3 years, holding a Maryland architecture or engineering license, or carrying a reserve-specialist designation from the Community Association Institute or the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts.

In 2025, the Maryland General Assembly tightened reserve-funding obligations. Chapters 518 and 519 require the governing body to adopt a written funding plan, developed with a qualified reserve professional, choosing among the component, cash flow, baseline, threshold cash flow, or another GAAP-consistent method. The board must budget reserves in the annual budget at the amount recommended in the most recent study and deposit them by the last day of each fiscal year. After an initial study, the board has 5 fiscal years to reach the recommended funding level. The HOA must repay reserve funds it borrows for other purposes within 5 years, and the board must review progress at each annual meeting.

There is a pressure valve for struggling communities. A two-thirds majority vote of the governing body may declare financial hardship and deviate from reserve funding for one fiscal year, renewable once by another two-thirds vote. The hardship deviation affects only the funding level; the study itself is still required.

Special assessments have their own gate. Under § 11B-112.2(f), lot owners must approve through a budget amendment any expenditure that would raise current-year assessments by more than 15% of the previously adopted annual budget. The HOA must hold a special meeting on not less than 10 days' written or electronic notice to lot owners. The HOA need not hold the special meeting for expenditures addressing a condition that could threaten health or safety or pose a significant risk of damage to the development. Delinquent assessments are a personal obligation of the lot owner, so a tenant's missed rent doesn't excuse a missed HOA payment.

Dues collection, liens, and foreclosure

An unpaid assessment does not automatically become a lien. An HOA establishes the lien by following the Maryland Contract Lien Act; the declaration only grants that authority. The HOA must follow the Act's sequence at Real Property §§ 14-201 through 14-206:

1. Serve a notice of intent to create a lien within 2 years of the breach, by certified or registered mail (return receipt requested) or personal delivery. The notice must state the claimant's identity, the contract, the nature of the breach, the damages, the property, and the owner's right to contest within 30 days.
2. The owner has 30 days from service to file a complaint in circuit court. The party seeking the lien bears the burden of proof; if the court finds probable cause, it orders the lien to attach and sets a bond amount to remove it. The HOA then records a statement of lien in the county land records, 30 days after service if the owner does not contest, or 30 days after the court's order if the owner does. If the HOA does not file the statement within 90 days of eligibility, it must restart the notice process.

Recording fixes the lien at its stated amount. The Court of Appeals held in 2021 that the Act "does not secure unpaid damages, costs of collection, late charges, and attorney's fees that accrue subsequent to the recordation of the lien," so the HOA must record new liens for later amounts.

Foreclosure runs like a mortgage foreclosure under Real Property Title 7 and Maryland Rule Chapter 14, but § 14-204(d) limits what an HOA may foreclose on. The HOA may include only delinquent periodic or special assessments plus interest, along with reasonable costs and attorney's fees directly related to filing the lien that do not exceed the delinquent assessments themselves. The statute expressly excludes fines and the fees spent chasing fines from foreclosable damages, and the HOA must bring any foreclosure action within 12 years of recordation.

Maryland law generally ranks liens by recording date, subject to two exceptions. Real property tax liens come first from the date the tax is due. Under § 11B-117(c), an HOA lien also carries a limited super-priority over first mortgages and deeds of trust recorded on or after October 1, 2011; the statute caps it at 4 months of regular assessments or $1,200, whichever is less. The cap may not include interest, costs, late charges, fines, attorney's fees, or special assessments.

Violation notices, fines, and homeowner hearing rights

Title 11B sets no dollar cap on HOA fines; the amount comes from your governing documents. The statute controls the procedure. Under § 11B-111.10, which applies to complaints arising on or after October 1, 2022, the board "may not impose a fine, suspend voting, or infringe on any other right of a lot owner" until it completes these steps:

1. A written cease-and-desist demand specifying the alleged violation, the action required to abate it, and, for a continuing violation, a period of not less than 15 days to abate without further sanction.
2. If the violation continues or recurs within 12 months, the board must deliver a written notice of violation to the owner's address of record. The notice must state the hearing-request procedures, provide a request window of not less than 10 days, and identify the proposed sanction. If the owner requests a hearing, the board must schedule it not less than 10 days after the request and hold it in executive session, where "the alleged violator has the right to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses."

Before any sanction takes effect, the board must enter proof of notice and the hearing results in the meeting minutes. It must also record any sanction it imposes. If no hearing is requested, the board must still deliberate at its next meeting and decide whether the violation occurred and whether a sanction is appropriate.

Owners have several routes after an adverse decision. The statute lets owners appeal board decisions to "the courts of Maryland," and either the HOA or any lot owner may sue for damages or injunctive relief, with the court awarding counsel fees to the prevailing party. The Maryland Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division accepts HOA complaints and mediates them, and Montgomery County's CCOC can enforce its own decisions and may impose a $500 civil fine for each day of noncompliance. One caveat cuts the other way: an HOA may seek injunctive relief in circuit court without completing the hearing process first.

Lot sale and resale disclosure requirements

Maryland runs two resale disclosure regimes depending on who is selling: developer disclosures for communities of more than 12 lots under § 11B-105, and owner resale disclosure for resales and initial sales in developments of 12 or fewer lots under § 11B-106:

• Feature | Developer sale (§ 11B-105) | Resale (§ 11B-106)
• Delivery deadline | At or before contract, or within 7 calendar days | On or before contract, or within 20 calendar days
• Disclosure categories | 13, including current and projected budget details and fee mechanics, plus declarant special rights | 5, including current fees and delinquency status, known judgments and lawsuits, management contact, and governing documents
• Initial cancellation window | 5 calendar days | 5 calendar days
• Amendment cancellation window | 3 calendar days after notice of a fee change over 10% or a material adverse amendment | Same

The cancellation rights work the same way in both regimes. If you did not receive the disclosures at least 5 days before signing, you may cancel in writing within 5 calendar days of receiving all the information, without giving a reason, and recover your full deposit; the vendor may keep only the lesser of the reproduction cost or $100 if you fail to return the MHAA materials.

Sellers request the resale packet from the HOA, which must deliver it within 20 days of the written request and fee. The statute caps the fees:

• Fee | Cap
• Base disclosure packet | $250, not to exceed the HOA's cost, CPI-U adjusted by DHCD every 2 years
• Lot inspection, if governing documents require one | $50
• Expedited delivery within 14 days | Additional $50
• Expedited delivery within 7 days | Additional $100

Homeowner property rights Maryland HOAs cannot override

Maryland statute carves out a growing list of activities that governing documents cannot prohibit, no matter what the covenants say:

• Activity | Statute | Core protection
• Solar panels | Real Prop. § 2-119 | A restriction is unreasonable if it raises installation cost by at least 5% or cuts energy generation by at least 10%
• EV charging | § 11B-111.8 | No prohibition or unreasonable restriction on charging equipment in deeded or owner-designated spaces; common-use spaces added October 1, 2026
• Political signs | § 11B-111.2 | Candidate and ballot-question signs protected from 45 days before early voting through 7 days after the election
• ADUs | § 2-126 | No unreasonable limits on developing or renting an accessory dwelling unit
• Composting | § 11B-111.9 | Personal composting and private collection contracts protected
• No-impact home businesses | § 11B-111.1 | Treated as a permitted residential activity
• Family child care homes | §§ 11B-111.1, 2-121 | Cannot prohibit them or cap children below the state-authorized number
• Clotheslines | § 14-130 | Protected by statute
• U.S. flag display | § 14-128 | Protected by statute
• Low-impact landscaping | § 2-125 | Protected by statute

Solar, EV-charging, ADU, and home-business protections remain subject to specific conditions. The solar thresholds, added by HB 4 (Chapter 517, effective October 1, 2025), require the owner to provide documentation from an independent solar specialist, and the law exempts historic properties. HOAs must treat EV charging applications like architectural modification requests. An application gains automatic approval if the HOA does not deny it in writing within 60 days. The owner bears installation and maintenance costs. The owner also pays for separately metered electricity and must name the HOA as an additional insured before installing.

The ADU protection matters most to investors. Under § 2-126, effective October 1, 2025, a land-use restriction may not unreasonably limit an owner's ability to develop or rent an ADU. The statute caps an ADU at 75% of the primary dwelling's size and defines it as a secondary unit on the same lot. A restriction that prohibits ADU development, explicitly or by effect, is unreasonable by definition. Two limits apply: architectural review still stands, and the statute does not protect short-term rentals of ADUs, so STR operators cannot rely on it. The HOA may also treat an ADU as a separate lot for voting and assessment purposes.

Home-based operators keep some obligations too. An HOA may require prior notice before a no-impact home business or family child care home opens and charge a common-area use fee of up to $50 per year. It may also require child care providers to cover a pro rata share of any insurance cost increase attributable to the operation. HOAs may still expressly prohibit no-impact home businesses by a simple majority vote of all eligible voters, but the 2025 session removed that prohibition power for family child care homes entirely.

Maryland HOA Act vs Maryland Condominium Act

Title 11 governs condominiums; Title 11B governs HOAs, and each expressly excludes the other. A community is a condominium when the developer records a declaration, bylaws, and condominium plat stating intent to subject the property to a condominium regime. It is an HOA community when a recorded instrument creates authority to impose mandatory fees on lots. A master-planned development can involve both, with Title 11 governing condominium buildings and Title 11B governing the broader development, and a community can fall under neither if its maintenance contribution is not a mandatory fee, as the Appellate Court held in Logan v. Dietz (2023).

The structural difference is who owns the shared property. In a condominium, each unit owner holds an undivided percentage interest in the common elements. In an HOA, the association itself owns or leases the common areas. That distinction ripples through the two statutes:

• Issue | Title 11 (condominium) | Title 11B (HOA)
• Resale disclosure deadline | Not later than 15 days before closing | On or before contract, or within 20 calendar days
• Resale rescission | 7 days after receiving all required information | 5 days for late disclosure; 3 days after a material change
• Initial-sale registration | Secretary of State; $5 per unit, $100 minimum | No Secretary of State registration
• Common-element warranty | 3 years from commencement, or 2 years after homeowner control, whichever is later | 2 years, same alternative trigger
• Declaration amendment | 80% written consent; unanimous consent for unit-specific changes | 60% of votes of owners in good standing under the statutory route
• Assessment lien super-priority | 4 months of assessments, capped at $1,200 | Same
• Assessment interest cap | 18% per annum | Not set by statute; governed by the declaration

Check your deed and the county land records if you're unsure. A recorded condominium plat means Title 11; a recorded declaration imposing mandatory lot fees without a condominium regime means Title 11B.

Dispute resolution and oversight

Maryland imposes no statewide requirement to mediate or arbitrate before suing your HOA. Neither § 11B-111.10 nor the parallel condominium provision requires pre-litigation ADR. The statutory hearing process is an internal board procedure. Arbitration is a separate process. Your governing documents may impose their own ADR requirements, though, so check them before filing.

The Maryland Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division accepts HOA complaints online. You can also email mediator@oag.maryland.gov. Phone filings are available at 410-528-8662 (toll-free 1-888-743-0023). A mediator works with both parties through calls and correspondence, and the Division offers free, binding arbitration if both sides agree. It cannot force an HOA to cooperate, give legal advice, or award damages to individual complainants.

Montgomery County runs the state's most developed oversight body, the Commission on Common Ownership Communities (CCOC). Every HOA, condominium, and cooperative in the county (with five small-municipality exceptions) must register annually with DHCA at $6.50 per unit for the July 1 through June 30 fiscal year; non-registration is a Class A violation carrying a $500 civil fine per day and bars the community from filing disputes. First-time board members must complete the Commission's training curriculum within 90 days of election, and each certificate remains valid for 3 years. Owners filing a CCOC complaint must first exhaust the association's written procedures or show the HOA failed to resolve the matter within 60 days of written notice; the $50 filing leads to mediation, then a quasi-judicial hearing panel that issues a binding Decision and Order within 45 days. A party may appeal to the Circuit Court within 30 days.

Prince George's County added its own registration mandate. Effective July 1, 2025 under HB 360 (Chapter 597), every common ownership community must register annually with the Office of Community Relations by January 31. An unregistered HOA may not file a dispute under the administrative hearings process, and a willful violation is a misdemeanor with a fine up to $1,000. The county's CCOC meets the fourth Wednesday of each month and offers ADR through the Office at (301) 952-4729. Investor-owners in the county face one more layer at lease-up: a rental license application requires a letter from the HOA confirming no liens for non-payment and no bylaw violations, dated within 3 months.

Recent legislative updates for 2026

Treat October 1, 2025 as the compliance reset date for Maryland HOAs. The independent-party election rule, the reserve funding plan and year-end deposit requirements, the solar unreasonableness thresholds, the ADU protections, and the family child care changes all took effect that day, as covered above. The same session also restricted what data associations can demand: under HB 755 and SB 540 (Chapters 523 and 522), an HOA "may not require a lot owner or occupant, or the guest or child of a lot owner or occupant, to provide sensitive information as a condition for accessing or using a recreational common area, such as a reading lounge, game room, playground, or swimming pool." Sensitive information includes Social Security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, birth certificates, racial or ethnic origin, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, religious or philosophical beliefs, and medical records; a government-issued photo ID such as a driver's license is expressly excluded, so a pool pass can still require one.

The 2026 session added three changes. Effective April 28, 2026, Chapters 288 and 289 extended the minimum candidate and proposition sign display period from 30 to 45 days before early voting. Effective October 1, 2026, HB 405 (Chapter 753) bars governing documents from prohibiting or unreasonably restricting installation of electric vehicle recharging equipment in common-use and limited-common-use parking spaces. The law reaches covenants that associations adopted before the effective date, and the governing body must consider parking availability first. SB 573 (Chapter 804) imposes mandatory board training in Charles County only, with removal or vote invalidation for noncompliance. One thing that did not change: HB 955/SB 955, which would have narrowed the independent-party election requirement to contested races, failed, so the full October 2025 framework remains current law.

Rental owners face rising compliance costs inside HOA communities. Reserve-driven assessment increases and registration fees add expense, while new documentation affects every resale and lease. Insurance is one operating cost you can compare directly. Steadily writes landlord insurance in Maryland for single-family rentals and condos, as well as ADUs and short-term rentals. Get a quote in minutes at quote.steadily.com. No phone call is required.

FAQ

These answers summarize the deadlines, owner rights, and enforcement rules Maryland HOA members ask about most often.

What law governs HOAs in Maryland?

Title 11B of the Real Property Article, the Maryland Homeowners Association Act, covers every HOA existing in the state after July 1, 1987. Its provisions cannot be varied by agreement, and the rights it confers cannot be waived except where the statute expressly allows.

What disclosures do I get when buying into a Maryland HOA?

On a resale, the seller must deliver a disclosure packet on or before contract or within 20 calendar days, covering fees, known lawsuits, management contacts, and governing documents. You then have 5 calendar days to cancel if disclosures arrived late, and 3 days after notice of a fee increase over 10% or a material adverse amendment. Section 11B-106 caps the packet fee at $250 plus limited inspection and expedited-delivery charges.

Can a Maryland HOA fine me without a hearing?

No sanction is valid until the board follows § 11B-111.10: a written cease-and-desist demand with at least 15 days to fix a continuing violation, followed by a notice of violation. The board must deliver that written notice to your address of record and explain your right to request a hearing within at least 10 days. If you request one, the board must hold a hearing where you may present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. There is no statutory cap on the fine amount itself; that comes from your governing documents. You may appeal board decisions to Maryland courts.

Do HOA meetings have to be open to homeowners?

Yes. Members or their agents may attend all meetings of the association, its board, and its committees after receiving reasonable notice. The board may close a session only on eight statutory grounds such as legal consultation, personnel matters, and individual assessment accounts. Maryland permits virtual and hybrid meetings regardless of what the governing documents say.

How often must a Maryland HOA update its reserve study?

Every 5 years, if the association maintains common areas with component repair or replacement costs of at least $10,000. Since October 1, 2025, boards must also adopt a written funding plan, deposit reserves by fiscal year end, and reach the recommended funding level within 5 fiscal years of an initial study, subject to a hardship deviation approved by two-thirds vote.

Can an HOA foreclose on my home in Maryland?

Only for delinquent assessments plus interest, and collection costs that do not exceed the delinquent amount. Fines can never support a foreclosure. The HOA must first perfect a lien under the Maryland Contract Lien Act, which gives you 30 days to contest in circuit court, and the HOA must file any foreclosure within 12 years of the lien's recording.

What can't a Maryland HOA prohibit on my lot?

State statutes protect solar panels, EV charging in your parking space, political signs during election windows, long-term ADU development and rental, composting, no-impact home businesses, family child care homes, clotheslines, low-impact landscaping, and U.S. flag display. Most protections allow reasonable conditions, and the ADU statute does not extend to short-term rentals.

How do I know whether the HOA Act or the Condominium Act applies to my community?

Check the land records. A recorded condominium declaration and plat mean Title 11 governs and unit owners hold undivided interests in the common elements. A recorded declaration imposing mandatory lot fees, without a condominium regime, means Title 11B governs and the association owns the common areas.