Legislative Update: Maryland Condominum Act Revised

In its 1997 session, the Maryland General Assembly amended the Maryland Condominium Act by providing that a council of unit owners, through its board of directors, may specifically designate parking for the handicapped "notwithstanding any provisions in the declaration, bylaws or rules and regulations."

While the previously enacted Federal Housing Amendments Act of 1988 presumably compels the same ability of a board of directors to designate handicapped parking without regard to the language of a condominium's governing documents, this amendment of the Condominium Act eliminates any controversy in Maryland with respect to a board's authority to specifically designate handicapped spaces.

Interestingly, in light of the decision of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in the Sea Watch case, discussed on the preceding page, the legislation may have particular utility in Maryland since in Sea Watch the Court of Special Appeals specifically overruled an association's temporary assignment of the use of general common element parking places to individual unit owners.

The new law takes effect October 1, 1997.