Kevin, thanks for the thoughtful response. I note you are a member of the ARC/ECC Committee.

The October 2022 law did not grant OPA the rights in question. OPA already had those rights via the DRs. If anything, the change to the HOA act possibly made it more difficult to enforce the DRs.

Unfortunately, I strongly disagree with your comment that the loss of amenities and voting rights will cause violators to correct violations sooner.

As former director Marty Clarke pointed out in the past, many of those with outstanding violations are also among those who are behind in paying their assessments. They are not particularly worried about losing the right to vote (overall some 52% of those even eligible do not vote), nor are they likely among those paying to use amenities like golf, swimming, tennis, boat slips, etc.

As for fines, in instances where they exist in newer sections, the board should use that tool when and if necessary. However, your comment that, "In theory, it should assist with enforcement and bring closure to many of these open matters quickly....." makes little sense when viewed in light of the real world.

Members of the ARC/ECC Committee, above all other association members, should realize the number of violations in the newer sections where fines are allowed are virtually non-existent compared to the older sections.

With regard to where perhaps 98% of violations are a problem, in the older sections, there is no fine capability. Trying to have the DRs changed on a section-by-section basis for 14 or so sections is a fool's errand.

The Board of Directors has all the authority it needs. The board simply refuses to properly use its authority, with the resultant harm to association members.

Consider these items in the DRs for more than 50 years:

G. The Board of Directors of the Association shall have the right to suspend the voting rights (if any) and the right to use of the recreational facilities of the Association of any member (or associate member).

(a) For any period during which any Association charge (including the charges and the fines, if any, assessed under paragraphs 12-D, 13 and 14 of these Restrictions) owed by the member or associate member remains unpaid;

(b) During the period of any continuing violation of the restrictive covenants for the Section and Subdivision, after the existence of the violation shall have been declared by the Board of Directors of the Association;

A. In the event an owner of any lot in the Subdivision shall fail to maintain the premises and the improvements situated thereon in a manner satisfactory to the Board of Directors of the Association, the Association shall have the right, through its agents and employees, to enter upon said lot and repair, maintain, and restore the lot and the exterior of the buildings and any other improvements erected thereon. Such right shall not be exercised unless two-thirds of such Board of Directors shall have voted in favor of its being exercised. The cost of such exterior maintenance shall be added to and become part of the annual charge to which such lot in subject.

These are SUPER powers. They are not used. How often has ARC/ECC Committee recommended the Board of Directors use their DR-granted two-thirds-votes power to take action? How often do boards do so? The anger we saw expressed at the Annual Meeting over junk cars and other property-devaluing violations is real, and it is too long coming. Association members have a right to be mad. Boards over the past 20 years or more have failed association members in that regard.

This notion that the DRs cannot be enforced without fines is without foundation. It is based on the position that violators keep making the same violations and there is nothing OPA can do but initiate another violation for the same offense, even after a court orders correction of the violation. Instead, OPA should go back to the court and inform the Judge that the lot owner has ignored the court order and the violator may well face a contempt of court problem.

The Board of Directors needs to step up and do its job as allowed and empowered by the Declarations of Restrictions. If history is any indicator, it will not. The outgoing board even refused to include street addresses in the list of violations.  

I certainly do not have all the answers but something needs to be done. That "something" needs to be under the control of OPA legal counsel, not volunteer committee members. This stuff is all about the LAW and non-lawyers sitting around debating issues of law is an oxymoron.

Finally, thank you for your service on what may well be the most important Committee in Ocean Pines.