July 2025 Newsletter
- Admin
- Jul 15
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 24
Informal CHARM Survey Hints at Top Problems in Common Ownership Communities
What are the most common problems suffered by homeowners in Common Ownership Communities (COCs) in Montgomery County?
An informal survey among the 35 homeowner attendees at a community meeting suggested some answers. At its April 26th public meeting and open forum, CHARM Maryland asked attendees to raise their hands if they experienced various problems.
The problems are ranked below in order of how frequently homeowners experienced them with the most frequently experienced at the top.
Under each problem, in italic type, is a suggestion of how that problem might be solved. Often, a bill (a new state law) would have to be created requiring the reform. Sometimes, more action by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General (OAG) or Montgomery County’s Commission on Common Ownership Communities (CCOC) could curb a problem.
SURVEY OF TOP 20 PROBLEMS IN COCs
1. Meetings are online only (which current law permits)
Possible solution: Require community meetings be in-person at least six times a year.
2. Election issues
Possible solution: A new 2025 law may improve the transparency of vote counting. Other bills may be needed.
3. Bullying: Tag team (board + manager + attorney) bullies the homeowner
Possible solution: Require all members (not just the board) to vote on hiring a manager and an attorney.
Retaliation against homeowner for making a complaint
Possible solution: More aggressive investigations by the OAG and CCOC. Retaliation can be hard to prove.
Big special assessments
Possible solution: Require an increase of 10% or more to be approved by a county commission.
Inventive interpretation of rules
Possible solution: Require the council of members (consider a majority or 60% of all the homeowners) to propose, amend, approve, or rescind any rule.
Reserve funds improperly spent
Possible solution: Fine board members individually for such malfeasance.
Filibuster abuse and unfair muting
Possible solution: Allow homeowners to video record board members at community meetings.
Pipe Leaks (unclear origin, payer)
Possible solution: Require the preservation of, and a public depository for, blueprints. Public libraries have a pipe-finder tool available for loan.
Not clear where association funds are held
Possible solution: Require boards and banks to facilitate additional mailings of bank statements directly from banks.
Frivolous lawsuits against homeowners
Possible solution: Strengthen state laws discouraging Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
Not disclosing books and records
Possible solution: Strengthen MD law 11-116 so that homeowners must opt-out of email address distribution to unit owners, but require disclosure of opt-out units.
No local bank
Possible solution: Require at least one local bank where assessments can be collected.
Notice not sent by certified mail.
Possible solution: Require certification.
Banning election flyers
Possible solution: OAG enforcement of free and fair elections and campaigning.
Excluding candidates
Possible solution: Ban candidate disqualification except for unpaid assessments not including fines, interest, attorney fees, etc.
Incomplete insurance
Possible solution: OAG enforcement of prudent insurance.
Oppressing a minority
Possible solution: Maryland Civil Rights Commission enforcement.
Rules not cited in violation notice
Possible solution: Require citing of the rule and number violated.
Homeowner locked out of payment system
Possible solution: Require at least one local bank where payments can be received.
During the two-hour meeting held at the Quince Orchard Public Library, residents shared details about how they experience these abuses. They also learned how to search online for Maryland state laws that might buttress their calls for remedy. (See “Resources and Suggestions” and read a highlighted Maryland law guide [abridged]: https://tinyurl.com/Index-MD-RealPrTiAbr)
Even if you missed the community meeting, you can still “Tell Us Your Story” at this webpage, and plan to attend our August Community Meeting announced below.
ELECTED OFFICIALS TAKE NOTE
The upper-county community meeting, sponsored by CHARM Maryland, opened with a recognition of elected officials in attendance: Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman and Councilmembers Lisa Henderson and Yamil Hernandez.
At an earlier community meeting held at the Wheaton Community Recreation Center on April 13th, Montgomery County Councilmember Natali Fani-González attended and heard the experiences of constituents living in the environs of Silver Spring.
At both public meetings, residents expressed dismay over the lack of help from Montgomery County’s Commission on Common Ownership Communities (CCOC), which is supposed to resolve COC-homeowner disputes and reduce reliance on lawsuits.
The CCOC’s “Commonly Interested Newsletter” reveals that when individual homeowners filed a complaint, the commission claimed it had “no jurisdiction” in 11 out of 20 cases during the period from January to May 2025. The CCOC’s unhelpfulness in these matters has led the City of Gaithersburg to opt-out of the county’s commission and is working on setting up its own dispute mediation services.
As we reported in the May issue of the CHARM Maryland Newsletter, a new state law, “Elections, Financial Statements, and Enforcement,” SB758, suggests that Maryland’s Office of the Attorney General, as well as the county’s CCOC, will step up assistance to individual homeowners when disputes arise.
MEASURING AND REPORTING RISING ASSESSMENTS
Listening to community members helps CHARM Maryland understand some of the fine details – as well as the wide scope of these problems. For example, what metrics should the county and state be using to detect harm to individual homeowners in any COC?
We learned it is probably not useful to try to compare monthly assessments across communities because the services offered by COCs can vary so widely. For example, some communities include individual unit utilities or pools among their expenses, while others hold no “common property” other than some grassy areas and street lights.
In contrast, we believe it is vital that Montgomery County begin tracking and reporting year-to-year increases in (1) monthly assessments charged to homeowners and (2) fees for reserve studies. A large jump in either of these metrics in any COC could signal trouble, such as poor planning, poor management, or even malfeasance. The more than 1,000 COCs in Montgomery County alone should be reporting these statistics annually.
Other metrics that CHARM Maryland is asking our county and state to gather and report are summarized in “What We Don’t Know, but Need to Find Out (Research),” from our March 2025 newsletter. As stated in that article, “Anecdotal evidence is powerful, but we also need quantitative data. Right now, no one in Maryland appears to be gathering data on these important questions. This data is crucial for the estimated 395,000 homeowners in Maryland living in common ownership communities.”
Save the Date: Community Meeting and Listening Session
CHARM Maryland will hold its third Community Meeting and Listening Session on Sunday August 10, 2025, from 2:00pm to 4:00pm at the Gaithersburg Library, 18330 Montgomery Village Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20879.