CCOC CASE SUMMARY

#21-08, Salzman v. The Whitehall (January 16, 2009) (Panel: Shontz, Dubin, Vergagni)

The new owner of a townhome condominium refused to pay a $300 "move-in fee" on the grounds that such a fee only applied to people moving into one of the units of the high-rise building that was part of the same association.He presented his complaint to the president of the condominium, and was informed two weeks thereafter that the board had considered and rejected his complaint and that therefore the board was revoking his privileges (permanent parking sticker, automated key fob, access to storage bin) until he paid.

The disputed move-in rule said that "a one-time move-in fee will be charged for any move-in whether by an owner or renter....All moving must be through the freight elevators and freight entrances.Movers must take care to avoid damage to elevators, walls, floors, etc....Moving vans are only permitted at the loading platform in the rear of the West Building, at the freight entrance at the rear of the North Building and at the parking lot behind the townhouses."The condominium applied this rule to all new residents since it was originally adopted.The rule was modified in 2004 to increase the fee.

The Hearing Panel held that the rule applied to residents moving into townhouses and that the owner must pay the $300 fee.However, they also found that the condominium violated Section 11-113 of the Maryland Condominium Act.That law states that a condominium association "may not impose a fine, suspend voting, or infringe upon any other rights of a unit owner or other occupant for violations of rules" until the association has followed specific procedures.In this case, the condominium immediately denied certain privileges to the new owner without following any of the mandatory procedures.Therefore, the Panel denied the condominium's request for attorney's fees.

The Panel ordered the owner to pay the $300 move-in fee within 30 days.The Panel ordered the condominium to restore all the owner's privileges immediately, to review its rule violation procedures and to ensure that they comply with the Condominium Act, and to provide a copy of its decision to all its members.