Section 11-110 - Common expenses and profits; assessments; liens.
§ 11-110. Common expenses and profits; assessments; liens.
(a) Disposition of common profits.- All common profits shall be disbursed to the unit owners, be credited to their assessments for common expenses in proportion to their percentage interests in common profits and common expenses, or be used for any other purpose as the council of unit owners decides.
(b) Funds for payment of common expenses obtained by assessments.-
(1) Funds for the payment of current common expenses and for the creation of reserves for the payment of future common expenses shall be obtained by assessments against the unit owners in proportion to their percentage interests in common expenses and common profits.
(2) (i) Where provided in the declaration or the bylaws, charges for utility services may be assessed and collected on the basis of usage rather than on the basis of percentage interests.
(ii) If provided by the declaration, assessments for expenses related to maintenance of the limited common elements may be charged to the unit owner or owners who are given the exclusive right to use the limited common elements.
(iii) Assessments for charges under this paragraph may be enforced in the same manner as assessments for common expenses.
(c) Liability for assessments.- A unit owner shall be liable for all assessments, or installments thereof, coming due while he is the owner of a unit. In a voluntary grant the grantee shall be jointly and severally liable with the grantor for all unpaid assessments against the grantor for his share of the common expenses up to the time of the voluntary grant for which a statement of lien is recorded, without prejudice to the rights of the grantee to recover from the grantor the amounts paid by the grantee for such assessments. Liability for assessments may not be avoided by waiver of the use or enjoyment of any common element or by abandonment of the unit for which the assessments are made.
(d) Imposition of lien.- Payment of assessments, together with interest, late charges, if any, costs of collection and reasonable attorney's fees may be enforced by the imposition of a lien on a unit in accordance with the provisions of the Maryland Contract Lien Act. Suit for any deficiency following foreclosure may be maintained in the same proceeding, and suit to recover any money judgment for unpaid assessments may also be maintained in the same proceeding, without waiving the right to seek to impose a lien under the Maryland Contract Lien Act.
(e) Interest on unpaid assessment; late charges; demand for payment of remaining annual assessment.-
(1) Any assessment, or installment thereof, not paid when due shall bear interest, at the option of the council of unit owners, from the date when due until paid at the rate provided in the bylaws, not exceeding 18 percent per annum, and if no rate is provided, then at 18 percent per annum.
(2) The bylaws also may provide for a late charge of $15 or one tenth of the total amount of any delinquent assessment or installment, whichever is greater, provided the charge may not be imposed more than once for the same delinquent payment and may only be imposed if the delinquency has continued for at least 15 calendar days.
(3) If the declaration or bylaws provide for an annual assessment payable in regular installments, the declaration or bylaws may further provide that if a unit owner fails to pay an installment when due, the council of unit owners may demand payment of the remaining annual assessment coming due within that fiscal year. A demand by the council is not enforceable unless the council, within 15 days of a unit owner's failure to pay an installment, notifies the unit owner that if the unit owner fails to pay the monthly installment within 15 days of the notice, full payment of the remaining annual assessment will then be due and shall constitute a lien on the unit as provided in this section.
[An. Code, 1957, art. 21, §§ 11-116, 11-118; 1974, ch. 12, § 2; ch. 641; 1975, ch. 786, § 1; 1976, ch. 348, § 1; 1981, ch. 246; 1982, ch. 836, § 3; 1983, ch. 563; 1984, chs. 255, 525, 581; 1985, chs. 552, 736; 1986, ch. 359.]