In 2008, the General Assembly created the Office of the Common Interest Community Ombudsman (“Office"), and the Common Interest Community Board (“CICB"), at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (“DPOR"). In accordance with statutory requirements, this document reports on the activities of the Office for the period from November 27, 2021, through November 15, 2022.

With a return to the office and a lessening of Covid cases, things slowed down for the Office a bit this year. While the number of common interest community complaints decreased from last year, it was still significantly higher than prior years even if time-share complaints are not included in the calculations. The Office has always strived to be as responsive as possible to both phone calls and emails, and we successfully continued this over the past year.

As was the case last year and ever since the complaint process became a requirement under the Common Interest Community Ombudsman Regulations (“Regulations"), associations are still struggling to adopt complaint procedures and to carry out their responsibilities under those procedures. The Office continues to advise associations on their obligations under the Regulations. We provide resources for associations to better understand the complaint process requirements, and the Office reviews draft complaint procedures for adherence to the Regulations.

The complaint process is not a difficult one, yet associations, whether professionally managed or not, continue to have a challenging time carrying out the required steps of the process. Ultimately, if distilled to its simplest components, the complaint process requires three actions from an association: (1) acknowledge receipt of a properly submitted association complaint; (2) provide notice and consideration of the complaint; and (3) provide a final decision on the complaint. The Office acts as a one-stop complaint procedure resource for associations and will gladly explain the process and the expectations placed on an association by the Regulations. Despite our best efforts, the complaint process continues to require constant assistance and guidance from the Office. While the complaint procedure is driven by the Regulations, it is also imperative that associations carry it out correctly in order to ensure that a complainant can ultimately “appeal" a decision on a complaint to this Office by filing a Notice of Final Adverse Decision.

The Office continues to be extremely effective in obtaining compliance when a Determination stemming from a Notice of Final Adverse Decision finds that an association is in violation of common interest community law. There was only one instance this year where compliance could not be obtained, and that matter ultimately resulted in a Consent Order and monetary penalty approved by the Common Interest Community Board.

The Common Interest Community Board was tasked with creating a work group and a report as required by Senate Bill 693. This bill required the Common Interest Community Board to review and report on the feasibility of allowing recordings to be submitted with Notices of Final Adverse Decision. The work group’s findings are provided later in this report. Senate Bill 740 required the Agency, rather than the CICB, to create a work group to study the adequacy of current laws addressing standards for structural integrity and for maintaining reserves to repair, replace, or restore capital components in common interest communities. Once its work is completed, the work group will provide a report on its findings and make recommendations as appropriate.