Maryland HOA compliance, enforced as code

Decision body — the board

The board may not impose a fine, suspend voting, or infringe any other right until the section's procedures are followed; the board hears (executive session) and decides; on the no-request path the board must still deliberate at the next meeting. Md. Real Prop. § 11B-111.10(b)

In CommonGround: CommonGround routes the fine decision to the board and requires the recorded decision before any fine is assessed.

Notice, opportunity to be heard, and a recorded decision

No sanction without the statutory procedure and a recorded board decision — even when the owner requests no hearing, the board shall deliberate and decide whether the violation occurred and a sanction is appropriate. Md. Real Prop. § 11B-111.10(b)(1), (b)(5)

In CommonGround: The workflow has no path around it: the notice must be sent, the opportunity to be heard must be offered, and the decision must be recorded — in that order — before a fine can exist.

Required violation-notice contents

The written notice of the right to request a hearing must contain: (i) the nature of the alleged violation; (ii) the procedures for requesting a hearing (statements, evidence, witnesses); (iii) the period of time for requesting a hearing (>= 10 days); and (iv) the proposed sanction. A notice missing any element cannot issue. Md. Real Prop. § 11B-111.10(b)(3)

• Violation nature
• Hearing request procedure
• Request period
• Proposed sanction

In CommonGround: CommonGround drafts the notice with all 4 statutory elements in place; a notice missing any of them cannot be sent.

Owner's hearing-request window — 10 days

The hearing-request period may not be less than 10 days from the giving of the notice. Md. Real Prop. § 11B-111.10(b)(3)(iii)

In CommonGround: The 10-day request clock starts when the notice goes out. The fine is blocked until the window closes with no request — and an owner request routes the case to a hearing automatically.

Hearing no sooner than 10 days after the request

If a hearing is requested in time, its date may not be less than 10 days after the date the request for a hearing was provided. Md. Real Prop. § 11B-111.10(b)(4)

In CommonGround: A hearing set sooner than 10 days after the owner's request is rejected with the citation.

Prior-warning gate — 365-day window

A sanction is lawful only if, within 12 months of the written cease-and-desist demand, the violation continued past the demand's abatement window (which must be at least 15 days for a continuing violation) or the same rule was violated again. A first offense cannot be fined. Md. Real Prop. § 11B-111.10(b)(2)–(3)

In CommonGround: The fine is blocked unless the history checks out: a prior written warning within 365 days, with a cure window of at least 15 days, verified against recorded notices before the fine can be assessed.