Maryland condo board meeting notice rules explained

Who this page applies to

This page explains board meeting notice and open meeting rules for Maryland condominiums governed by the Maryland Condominium Act (MCA), Maryland Code, Real Property Article § 11 et seq., specifically § 11-109 (meetings, notice, voting, and quorum) and § 11-109.1 (executive sessions).

It does not cover:

• Maryland HOAs, which follow the “reasonable notice” standard in § 11B-111 of the Maryland Homeowners Association Act.
• Unit-owner/council meetings for elections, budget ratification, or major amendments — these follow a different notice window (10–90 days) also found in § 11-109 but governed by separate subsections.
• Cooperative housing or other community types under separate Maryland statutes.

If your community is a Maryland condominium, § 11-109 and § 11-109.1 together govern both board meeting access and the procedures required to hold a closed session.

The rule in ordinary language

Maryland condominium meeting rules create a two-tier framework: a 10–90-day window governs unit-owner meetings; board-only meeting notice is delegated to bylaws.

Unit-owner meetings: 10 to 90 days. Under § 11-109(c), unit-owner or council of unit-owners meetings require advance notice of “not less than 10 nor more than 90 days.” Notice may be: written and mailed to the owner’s address on the current roster; by electronic transmission if § 11-139.1 consent requirements are met; or, for reconvened meetings after a failed quorum, by mail, email, newspaper, or website posting.

Board meetings: bylaws govern. § 11-109(c) provides that board (or “special”) meetings of the board of directors are noticed “as provided in the bylaws or by electronic transmission” per § 11-139.2. There is no statutory day count for board-only meetings — the entire timing question is delegated to the association’s governing documents.

Open meetings are required. Under § 11-109.1, board meetings must be open and held at the time and location provided in the notice or bylaws, except when the board holds an executive session under the enumerated categories.

Owner comment periods are mandatory. A designated period must be provided at every meeting for unit owners to comment on any condominium matter. At least one annual meeting must have a fully open agenda. At special or limited-agenda meetings, comment may be restricted to listed topics.

Executive sessions require documented entry and detailed minutes. Under § 11-109.1, boards may hold closed sessions for eight specific topics: (i) personnel matters; (ii) protection of individual privacy; (iii) legal consultation; (iv) litigation preparation; (v) criminal investigations; (vi) confidential business negotiations; (vii) legally required confidential proceedings; (viii) individual owner assessment accounts. Before entering executive session, each board member’s vote on closing the meeting must be recorded, and the statutory authority for the closure must be cited. That information — along with the session’s time, location, and purpose — must appear in the next meeting’s minutes, not the executive session’s own minutes. A critical limitation: nothing in § 11-109.1 permits withholding from unit owners the terms of any legal agreement to which the association is a party.

Quorum for unit-owner meetings. The default quorum for a council of unit-owners meeting is persons entitled to cast 25% of total votes in person or by proxy. At a reconvened meeting after a failed quorum, the owners present at that meeting constitute a quorum.

What is actually different about Maryland condos

Executive session entry is the most procedurally rigorous in the group. Maryland Condo law requires each board member’s vote on closing the meeting to be individually recorded, plus citation of the specific statutory authority, all appearing in the next meeting’s minutes. No other state in this group imposes that level of documentation on the decision to enter executive session. A board that enters executive session by informal consensus — without a recorded vote and statutory citation — is not compliant with § 11-109.1 regardless of whether the topic qualifies.

The legal-agreement transparency rule is a hidden protection. § 11-109.1 explicitly prohibits using executive session as cover to keep contract terms secret from unit owners. If the board negotiated a management contract in executive session, the terms of that contract are still disclosable. This is a materially stronger owner protection than most comparable statutes provide.

Board meeting notice is entirely bylaw-dependent. Unlike the HOA act (which at least says “reasonable notice”), the condo act’s board meeting notice provision reads “as provided in the bylaws.” If your association’s bylaws are silent on board meeting notice timing, there is effectively no statutory floor. Review your bylaws to find out what rule actually governs your association.

Operational questions to ask

If you are on a board:

• What do your bylaws say about board meeting notice? That is your governing standard — the statute defers to it entirely. If the bylaws are ambiguous or silent, adopt a clear policy and document it.
• When you enter executive session, are you recording each member’s vote individually and citing the specific subsection of § 11-109.1 that authorizes the closure? Both steps must appear in the following meeting’s open-session minutes.
• Have you been treating executive session as a place to finalize contract terms without disclosure? Under § 11-109.1, the terms of any agreement the association is party to are disclosable to unit owners regardless of where they were negotiated.

If you are an owner:

• Ask your association for its bylaws and find the board meeting notice provision. That document — not the Condominium Act — is what governs how much advance notice you should expect.
• Review the most recent open-session minutes for entries recording executive session votes. Each entry should show: the time and location of the session, the stated purpose, each board member’s vote, and the statutory authority. If those entries are absent, the board may not be following § 11-109.1.
• You are entitled to know the terms of any agreement the council of unit owners has entered into. If the board cites executive session confidentiality to withhold a management contract, that position is not supported by § 11-109.1.

What to do next

The statute at the source link above covers both § 11-109 and the link to § 11-109.1. The executive session requirements are in the separate § 11-109.1, accessible at the Maryland General Assembly statute viewer.

This page is the explainer layer, not a legal memo. Confirm current statute text at the source link before relying on specific procedural details.