Both Maryland acts give you more than a vague promise of transparency. Under § 11-116 (condo) and § 11B-112 (HOA), the association's books and records must be available for examination or copying by any owner, or their mortgagee or authorized agent, during normal business hours and after reasonable notice. If you request a copy of the financial statements or board minutes in writing, the association has to compile and send them within 21 days if what you're asking for is three years old or newer, or within 45 days if it's older. For a new owner, records must first be made available within 15 business days of taking title from the developer or declarant.
A handful of categories can be withheld: personnel records (other than aggregate compensation data), an individual's medical or personal financial records, records tied to business negotiations still in progress, written legal advice, and the minutes of a properly closed meeting unless the board itself votes to unseal them. Outside those categories, the association can charge a reasonable fee for copying, capped by a separate section of the Courts Article, but it cannot charge you anything for examining records in person or for receiving them by electronic transmission.
The depository: an HOA's own paperwork can lock it out of enforcing something
Section 11B-112(c) adds a mechanism most owners never learn about. Every Maryland HOA has to deposit certain disclosures, and any later amendments to them, in a public depository kept by the clerk of court in its county. If the HOA fails to make that deposit, the statute is blunt: the disclosures that weren't filed "shall be unenforceable" until the association actually files them. That means a trip (or a call) to the clerk's office can tell you whether the standard your HOA is trying to enforce against you was ever properly filed at all.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. § 11-116
Condo records: inspection during business hours after reasonable notice, a 21-day or 45-day clock on written requests, protected categories, and capped copy fees.
Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. § 11B-112
The HOA parallel for records access and response deadlines, plus the county depository requirement and its "unenforceable until deposited" consequence for undeposited disclosures.
Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. § 11B-111
Requires HOA meetings to be open with reasonable notice, and requires the purpose and vote behind any properly closed meeting to be recorded in the next set of minutes.
Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. § 11-109
Requires a condo's council of unit owners to maintain a current roster of owners and to notice meetings on a fixed schedule, tying records access to real meeting rights.
Step by step
How to request HOA or condo records in Maryland
A dated, statute-anchored records request that invokes § 11-116 (condo) or § 11B-112 (HOA) and preserves the response clock.
- 01
Put it in writing and date it
Email or mail a dated, written request. The 21-day and 45-day clocks in § 11-116 and § 11B-112 only start running once the association actually receives a written request.
- 02
Name the specific records
Ask for the declaration, bylaws and amendments, board and member meeting minutes, financial statements, and the budget. Vague requests are easier for a board to slow-walk than a specific list.
- 03
Cite the statute and the deadline
Reference § 11-116 or § 11B-112 by name, and note whether you're asking for something within the last three years (21-day clock) or older (45-day clock).
- 04
Watch what they try to charge you
You can't be charged for examining records in person or for electronic delivery, and copying charges are capped under the Courts Article. A flat refusal or inflated invoice is worth challenging directly.
- 05
Check the county depository for HOA disclosures
If you're in an HOA, ask the clerk of court whether the disclosures your board is relying on were actually deposited under § 11B-112(c). An undeposited disclosure is unenforceable against you until it's filed.
Straight answers
Common questions
What HOA or condo records am I entitled to see in Maryland?
Under § 11-116 (condo) and § 11B-112 (HOA), you can examine or copy the association's books and records, declaration, bylaws, minutes, and financial statements, during business hours after reasonable notice, subject to a short list of protected categories like personnel and medical records.
How fast does the association have to respond to a written request?
Within 21 days if the financial statements or minutes you're asking for were prepared within the last three years, or within 45 days if they're older, under both § 11-116 and § 11B-112.
Can the association charge me for records?
It can charge a reasonable, capped fee for copying, but not for examining records in person and not for sending them electronically. Both § 11-116 and § 11B-112 spell this out identically.
What's this depository the HOA statute keeps mentioning?
Section 11B-112(c) requires an HOA to deposit certain disclosures and amendments with the county clerk of court's office. If it doesn't, those specific disclosures are unenforceable against owners until the HOA actually files them, which is a real, checkable fact you can verify at the courthouse.