SUN: Foreclosures, higher HOA fees leave Maryland homeowners frustrated

Aaron Davis fought his Baltimore condominium association over unresolved repairs and debt for more than two years. It took just minutes, though, for his garden apartment to sell at foreclosure on the courthouse steps.

Besides the auctioneer and a deputy sheriff, only a few observers and an attorney for The Regency Condominium stood in the drizzle May 6 on North Calvert Street. Davis was at work, believing he’d legally stopped the sheriff’s sale. Instead, the attorney bought back the three-bedroom condo on his client’s behalf for $10,000. It was the only bid.

A dispute between Davis and The Regency that ended in foreclosure had started months earlier when he disagreed with management about repairs to a leak in Davis’ master bath ceiling. He’d bought his condo in the city’s Fallstaff neighborhood for $130,000 in 2021 as an affordable first home, which the state valued at $161,300 last year. The dispute grew into a costly court fight that pitted him against the board and its attorneys.

“This is probably the worst financial decision I’ve made yet,” said Davis, who in late July remained in his home waiting for Circuit Court to approve the sale.

Homeowner and condo associations foreclose on properties as a last resort to recover unpaid monthly fees and special assessments, in a legal process similar to mortgage repossessions. That played out after Davis failed to make payments and ignored court judgments, said Thomas J. Newton, The Regency’s attorney with Oliveri & Larsen.

“Under the law every condominium has a right to place liens, and The Regency did,” he said. The condo “placed two liens, and he continued to not pay.”

For Maryland homeowners, buying into a community governed by an association came with promises of shared amenities, maintenance and a voice in community life. But a few dozen homeowners interviewed by The Baltimore Sun said they instead found boards and management companies that lack transparency, limit communication, ignore bylaws and make financial decisions that have led to skyrocketing unexpected bills.

Read the full story on The Baltimore Sun’s website.