Pitchers and catchers report to Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida today as the Baltimore Orioles begin spring training for the 2017 season; so it is time for me to step back from condo law for a moment and provide my annual commentary on the state of the team. This year, I would like to focus on completing the position-player roster. Here are the current options as I see them: (more…)
House Bill 41 now pending in the Maryland General Assembly would require condominiums, homeowner associations and cooperative housing corporations to register annually with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. Similar to a bill that was filed during the 2016 session but did not pass, the proposed law would require registration information that includes the name and contact information for each officer, board member, and property manager. along with such other information as the Department might require. The bill proposes a $3 registration fee, and a $50 fine for failing to register.
In Daniels v. NVR, Inc., t/a Ryan Homes, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland upheld the validity of a contractual provision in a residential home purchase agreement that reduced the normal period of limitations for filing suit to one-year, despite the fact that the parties had entered into a tolling agreement. In Maryland, the general period of limitations applicable to most civil claims is the three-year period established in Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. Code Ann. Sec. 5-101. This case involved construction defect claims concerning a newly constructed home. The NVR purchase agreement contained a provision that made claims and disputes subject to a one-year period of limitations. The Court, which had jurisdiction on diversity found that this was not inherently unreasonable, and, therefore, was fully enforceable.
Interestingly, the parties had entered into a tolling agreement, which suspended the running of limitations during attempts to come to a resolution of the issues. However, NVR successfully argued that the tolling agreement only suspended “statutes of limitations,” and did not toll a “contractual limitations period.”
Effective January 1, Ober|Kaler joined the national firm, Baker Donelson. The combined firm maintains the name Baker Donelson and has more than 800 attorneys across 25 offices in ten states and Washington, D.C. I am excited and privileged to begin 2017 as a Baker Donelson shareholder in their Baltimore office, and look forward to continuing communications and sharing of information with the many readers and followers of this blog.
Here is a link to my latest opinion/commentary in The Baltimore Sun: Re-uniting our divided states.
The Maryland Condo Law Blog is written by Raymond Daniel Burke. One of the region's top construction and real estate development lawyers, Ray has more than 35 years of experience in matters relating to condominium and other multi-use development matters.