Maryland HOA fine rules
Maryland Homeowners Association Act (Maryland Code, Real Property Article, Title 11B)Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. § 11B-111.10
Notice before a fine
"The board of directors or other governing body of the homeowners association may not impose a fine, suspend voting, or infringe on any other right of a lot owner or any other occupant for violations of rules until the procedures in this subsection are followed" (Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. § 11B-111.10(b)(1)). The first required step is a cease and desist demand: "A written demand to cease and desist from an alleged violation shall be provided to the alleged violator specifying: (i) The nature of the alleged violation; (ii) The action required to abate the violation; and (iii) A period of time, not less than 15 days, during which the violation may be abated without further sanction, if the violation is a continuing violation, or a statement that any further violation of the same rule may result in the imposition of sanction after notice and opportunity for hearing if the violation is not continuing" (§ 11B-111.10(b)(2)). The second required step is a written notice of hearing rights: "Within 12 months of the demand, if the violation continues past the period of time allowed in the demand for abatement without penalty or if the same rule is violated subsequently, the board shall provide the alleged violator, at the alleged violator’s address of record, with a written notice of the alleged violator’s right to request a hearing to be held by the board in executive session containing: (i) The nature of the alleged violation; (ii) The procedures for requesting a hearing at which the alleged violator may produce any statement, evidence, or witnesses on behalf of the alleged violator; (iii) The period of time for requesting a hearing, which may not be less than 10 days from the giving of the notice; and (iv) The proposed sanction to be imposed" (§ 11B-111.10(b)(3)). Section 11B-111.10 does not name a delivery method such as certified mail; it requires the demand and the notice to be "provided," and requires the notice under (b)(3) to go to "the alleged violator’s address of record."
Time to fix it
The cease and desist demand must specify "A period of time, not less than 15 days, during which the violation may be abated without further sanction, if the violation is a continuing violation, or a statement that any further violation of the same rule may result in the imposition of sanction after notice and opportunity for hearing if the violation is not continuing" (Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. § 11B-111.10(b)(2)(iii)). Fifteen days is a statutory floor rather than a fixed period — the demand may allow more time, and for a violation that is not continuing the demand carries a warning about further violations instead of an abatement period. The next step is triggered "Within 12 months of the demand, if the violation continues past the period of time allowed in the demand for abatement without penalty or if the same rule is violated subsequently" (§ 11B-111.10(b)(3)).
Your right to a hearing
Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. § 11B-111.10(b)(3)-(6). The board must give written notice of "the alleged violator’s right to request a hearing to be held by the board in executive session" stating "The period of time for requesting a hearing, which may not be less than 10 days from the giving of the notice" (§ 11B-111.10(b)(3)(iii)) — a 10-day floor rather than a fixed request window, so the operative deadline is the period the notice states. "If the alleged violator requests a hearing within the period of time specified in the notice provided under paragraph (3) of this subsection, the board shall provide the alleged violator with a written notice of the time and place of the hearing, which time may not be less than 10 days after the date the request for a hearing was provided" (§ 11B-111.10(b)(4)(i)). "At the hearing, the alleged violator has the right to present evidence and cross–examine witnesses" and "The hearing shall be held in executive session in accordance with this notice and shall afford the alleged violator a reasonable opportunity to be heard" (§ 11B-111.10(b)(4)(ii)1-2). "If the alleged violator does not request a hearing within the period of time specified in the notice provided under paragraph (3) of this subsection, the board, at the next meeting, shall deliberate as to whether the violation occurred and decide whether a sanction is appropriate for the violation" (§ 11B-111.10(b)(5)). "A decision made in accordance with these procedures shall be appealable to the courts of Maryland" (§ 11B-111.10(b)(6)).
Your right to records
"Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection, all books and records kept by or on behalf of the homeowners association shall be made available for examination or copying, or both, by a lot owner, a lot owner’s mortgagee, or their respective duly authorized agents or attorneys, during normal business hours, and after reasonable notice" (Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. § 11B-112(a)(1)(i)). "If a lot owner requests in writing a copy of financial statements of the homeowners association or the minutes of a meeting of the governing body of the homeowners association to be delivered, the governing body of the homeowners association shall compile and send the requested information by mail, electronic transmission, or personal delivery: 1. Within 21 days after receipt of the written request, if the financial statements or minutes were prepared within the 3 years immediately preceding receipt of the request; or 2. Within 45 days after receipt of the written request, if the financial statements or minutes were prepared more than 3 years before receipt of the request" (§ 11B-112(a)(1)(iii)). Paragraph (a)(2) permits certain categories to be withheld from public inspection, including personnel records (not including information on individual salaries, wages, bonuses, and other compensation paid to employees), an individual’s medical records, an individual’s personal financial records, records relating to business transactions that are currently in negotiation, the written advice of legal counsel, and minutes of a closed meeting of the governing body.
What this means for homeowners
- Maryland requires two written steps before a homeowners association board may impose a fine, suspend voting, or infringe on any other right of a lot owner for violations of rules: first a written demand to cease and desist stating the nature of the violation, the action required to abate it, and (for a continuing violation) a period of not less than 15 days to abate it without further sanction; then, within 12 months of that demand and only if the violation continues past the allowed period or the same rule is violated again, a written notice of the right to request a hearing that also states the proposed sanction.
- The notice of hearing rights must give a period to request a hearing that "may not be less than 10 days from the giving of the notice," and if a hearing is requested the board must set it for a time "not less than 10 days after the date the request for a hearing was provided." Both figures are statutory minimums, so the operative deadlines are the ones stated in the association’s notice. At the hearing the alleged violator has the right to present evidence and cross–examine witnesses; the hearing is held in executive session, the minutes must contain a written statement of the results and the sanction (if any) imposed, and the decision is appealable to the courts of Maryland.
- Section 11B-111.10 sets no dollar limit on the fine and names no delivery method such as certified mail; the hearing-rights notice goes to the lot owner’s address of record. If no hearing is requested within the period stated in the notice, the board deliberates at its next meeting on whether the violation occurred and whether a sanction is appropriate.
- Two applicability limits appear in the section itself. Subsection (a) provides: "Unless the declaration or bylaws state otherwise, the dispute settlement mechanism provided by this section is applicable to complaints or demands formally arising on or after October 1, 2022" — so a community’s recorded documents can displace this mechanism. Subsection (e) provides: "This section does not apply to the Columbia Association or the village community associations for the villages of Columbia in Howard County."
- Scope: Title 11B is the Maryland Homeowners Association Act and governs homeowners associations and lot owners in a development — single-family HOAs — not condominiums; Maryland condominiums are governed separately by the Maryland Condominium Act in Title 11 of the Real Property Article.
- A citation warning about one section number, which does not affect the fine rules but can send a reader to the wrong text. The 2025 Regular Session enacted two different new sections of the Real Property Article numbered § 11B-111.11: Chapters 196 and 197 (Senate Bill 891 and House Bill 1466, "Land Use and Real Property – Accessory Dwelling Units – Requirements and Prohibitions"), and Chapters 522 and 523 (Senate Bill 540 and House Bill 755, "Common Ownership Communities – Recreational Common Areas – Sensitive Information as Condition for Access"). In the compiled Code the accessory dwelling unit provision holds § 11B-111.11 — it lets a homeowners association's governing body "treat an accessory dwelling unit as a separate lot for purposes of voting on a homeowners association matter" — and the sensitive information provision is printed at § 11B-111.12, which bars a homeowners association from requiring a lot owner or occupant, or the guest or child of one, "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." So a 2025 session law citing "§ 11B-111.11" may be referring to either one, and the section number printed in the Code is the reliable one. Neither section concerns fines, and neither changes the procedure in § 11B-111.10.
- Within the rest of Title 11B, § 11B-111.10 is the only provision that sets a procedure an association must follow before penalising a lot owner. The section numbered § 11B-113 is "Homeowners Association Depository" and has nothing to do with fines. Four other provisions are fine-adjacent but do not create fine procedure, and each was read: § 11B-112.1 caps late charges, providing that the declaration or bylaws "may provide for a late charge of $15 or one-tenth of the total amount of any delinquent assessment or installment, whichever is greater, provided the charge may not be imposed more than once for the same delinquent payment and may be imposed only if the delinquency has continued for at least 15 calendar days"; § 11B-117(c)(3)(ii) excludes fines from the portion of an association’s lien that takes priority; § 11B-104(c)(2) permits certain code home rule counties in Southern Maryland to establish a homeowners association commission to "hear and resolve disputes between a homeowners association and a homeowner regarding the enforcement of the governing documents"; and § 11B-115.1 gives the Division of Consumer Protection of the Office of the Attorney General enforcement authority over election-procedure complaints only, not over fines. Note also, within the fine section itself, subsection (c): if a lot owner fails to comply with the title, the declaration, the bylaws or a decision rendered under the section, the association or any other lot owner may sue for damages or injunctive relief, and the prevailing party is entitled to an award of counsel fees as determined by the court — so a Maryland homeowner who loses such a suit can be liable for the association’s legal fees.
Verified 2026-08-05
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