Baltimore City resident Jeanne Hyatt was surprised to see a sudden 30% surge in her condominium fees after three decades of only gradual increases.

“Who can afford this?” asked Hyatt, a retired school teacher, speaking this week at a Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing in Annapolis about a bill proposed to address the fees.

In Baltimore County, people have been paying “double or triple” what they were expecting, amounting to hundreds of dollars in extra monthly fees, Republican Baltimore County Councilman David Marks told The Baltimore Sun. “Those are big expenses,” he said.

The skyrocketing fees stem from a Maryland law passed in 2022 in the wake of a devastating condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, that killed 98 people. The legislation was intended to prevent a similar tragedy in Maryland by requiring reserve studies — inspections that involve an analysis of future repair costs — every five years.

But the legislation came with unnecessarily large expenses, and condo owners are advocating for a new bill to fix the negative impacts.

“It’s a little frustrating to have these large financial burdens suddenly in the past two years … and you hear experts, who do not live in the condos and don’t live this law, saying how we should have these burdens put on us for our protection,” Hyatt said.

The earlier bill was “well-intended,” but involved “overly aggressive timelines and unrealistic reserve funding requirements,” said Republican Sen. J. B. Jennings, who represents Harford and Baltimore counties and is sponsoring the new bill.

Among the proposed changes, Jennings’ bill would increase the timeline for reserve studies to five to 10 years. In addition, the proposed amendments would allow money to be deducted from reserve funds to cover a completed repair noted in a reserve study. They would also allow licensed electricians, plumbers and contractors to provide estimates if the condo association disputes an initial assessment.

Jennings said one of his constituents was told by reserve fund specialists they would need $65,000 for a new roof, while a licensed roofer gave a quote for only $35,000.

“By allowing a more qualified professional to assess repair, we can prevent inflated, unrealistic costs for these reserve funds,” he said.

Baltimore County is “particularly susceptible” to the bill’s negative outcomes because of its large senior demographic, which makes up about 25% of the county, Marks said.

“Seniors are on a fixed income, so they’re getting walloped with these huge expenses,” he said.

The bill would preserve “the core safety measures” of the 2022 legislation while also “introducing much-needed flexibility in financial planning,” Jennings said.

The legislation “relaxes the one-size-fits-all approach,” since smaller buildings don’t have the same level of risk as larger ones, Marks said.

“What Senator Jennings is trying to do is just make the bill more affordable for residents while still requiring repairs that will improve the structure of the buildings,” Marks said.

The bill follows a unanimous resolution the Baltimore County Council passed in January, requesting legislation to alleviate “unaffordable condominium unit assessments or fees” and provide “greater flexibility for HOAs.”

Bill advocates noted during the hearing that spacing out reserve studies can save money. Jeannie Pohlhaus, who serves on the board of her condo association in Baltimore City, said reserve studies cost between $5,000 and $7,000, and revising a reserve study costs between $1,500 and $2,500. She added that changing or extending the timeline “does not change the validity of the reserve study.”

“I’m so grateful to Senator Jennings for his willingness to listen to us and act on our concerns, as we are living this bill,” Pohlhaus said.

Opponents of the bill say they don’t see the benefit of stretching out the timeline.

“The problem with that is there’s no checks and balances,” said Robin Manougian, of the Community Associations Institute. “There’s no way of assuring that associations are actually putting away the money. And the problem is, today’s boards are under the gun with reserving money to begin with. They get a lot of pressure from their owners to not put away money to raise fees.”

Scott Silverman, an attorney representing the Community Associations Institute, said a separate piece of legislation, sponsored by Prince George’s County Democrat Del. Marvin Holmes, would more adequately address the issue. Holmes’ bill is “a much more comprehensive approach,” Silverman said.

Marks favors Jennings’ bill, saying it’s “a little more lenient.” Jennings said he doesn’t care which bill passes.

“We just need to fix it, to take some of the burden off of our constituents,” he said.

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