The 423rd session of the General Assembly of Maryland came to a close at midnight on April 9, 2007. During the 90 day session, a total of 798 bills gained final approval, along with two joint resolutions. The Senate of Maryland passed 346 bills and one joint resolution. The House of Delegates passed 452 bills and one joint resolution. Total bill introductions reached 2,480 and there were 15 joint resolutions introduced.

Maybe not surprisingly in a year dominated by a smoking ban in bars and restaurants and a living wage for state government contractors, only a modest number of those bills impact upon real estate, including notably several bills impacting upon residential ground rents.

The traditional sine die bill signing was held on April 10, with additional bill signings on April 24 and May 8. A final bill signing is scheduled after this article is published, on May 17 in the State House.

This is a review of select legislation enacted by the General Assembly that impacts upon real estate, including significant environmental legislation. While there is no doubt value in considering what bills did not pass, limitations of space do not permit that assessment here. Limits of space also do not permit consideration of local bills.

Legislation has been organized below within the following headings: Landlord Tenant, Disclosures in Real Property Sales Contracts, Professionals Providing Real Estate Services, Civil Actions and Proceeding, Ground Rents, Eminent Domain, HOAs Condos and .., Recordation Matters, Environment, Energy Efficiency, Estates and Trusts, and more.

Landlord Tenant

HB 377 responds to a recent decision of the Court of Special Appeals holding that attorneys’ fees authorized as damages under a non-residential written lease agreement were not “rent” and not recoverable in a summary ejectment proceeding. Agbaje, P.C. v. JLH Properties, II, LLC, 169 Md. App. 355 (2006). The new law, effective October 1, 2007 authorizes a court, in a summary ejectment proceeding regarding a non-residential tenancy in which process is properly served, to award reasonable attorneys’ fees, in addition to costs of the suit, the amount of rent, and late fees, when the judgment is in favor of the landlord. Attorneys’ fees may be awarded only if the rental contract authorizes the landlord to recover attorneys’ fees.

HB 922 provides that a judgment for a landlord’s possession of residential leased premises is stricken, but continues to apply toward the number of judgments that disqualify a tenant from the statutory right to redeem the leased premises, when the landlord does not order a warrant of restitution or the landlord orders a warrant of restitution but does not take action on it within 60 days from the date of the order, unless the court in its discretion determines that the judgment may not apply toward the right to redeem.

HB 762/ SB 278 provide if a tenant of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City dies, the surviving spouse or a member of the tenant’s immediate family residing with the tenant at the time of death does not have the right to be substituted as tenant; however, the surviving spouse or a member of the deceased’s immediate family who is an ‘occupant’ of the unit may be considered eligible for a lease in accordance with federal regulation. The individual must be listed as a household ocupant on the deceased tenant’s lease, recertification and related documents, and qualify for continued occupancy under federal regulation and the admissions policy of HABC. HABC must wait 10 days following the tenant’s death before starting eviction proceedings against a noneligible surviving spouse or a family member.

Disclosures in Real Property Sales Contracts

SB 511/ HB 465 specify that a purchaser has a right to rescind a contract for the sale of property encumbered by a “conservation easement” if: (1) the seller fails to give, on or before entering into the contract of sale, or within 20 days afterward, a copy of all conservation easements encumbering the property; and (2) the contract of sale fails to contain a statement with specified information about the conservation easement and the purchaser’s rights and responsibilities, in conspicuous type in substantially the form provided in the bill .. “This property is encumbered by one or more conservation easements or other restrictions limiting or affecting uses of the property and owned by the Maryland Environmental Trust, the Maryland Historical Trust, the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, the Maryland Department of Natural resources, or a land trust (the “Conservation Easements”). Maryland law requires that the seller deliver to the buyer copies of all Conservation Easements ..” Within 30 calendar days after the property is sold, the purchaser must give notice of the sale, including specified information, to the owner of the conservation easement. In satisfying these requirements, the seller and purchaser are entitled to rely on the conservation easement recorded in the land records. The bill’s requirements do not apply to a property sale in an action to foreclose a mortgage or deed of trust.

HB 401 requires the seller of single family residential real property include in the statutory Residential Property Condition Disclosure Form information on whether a carbon monoxide alarm is installed on the property. Specifically, the seller must disclose “if the property relies on the combustion of a fossil fuel for heat, ventilation, hot water, or clothes dryer operation, whether a carbon monoxide alarm is installed on the property.” This measure also requires a carbon monoxide alarm to be installed in newly constructed dwellings for which a building permit is issued on or after January 1, 2008.

Also see SB 398/ HB 505, below in Ground Rents, that describes a new disclosure required in a contract for the sale of real property used for residential purposes with four or fewer residential units and subject to a ground lease.

Professionals Providing Real Estate Services

HB 1288 expands the definition of “real estate brokerage services” to include selling real estate as a sales agent for a home builder. Individuals who provide real estate brokerage services are required to be licensed by the Maryland Real Estate Commission. To qualify for licensure by the Real Estate Commission, sales agents have to complete a commission approved course in real estate, including ethics, and pass an examination. Applicants are also required to pay a fee determined by the commission and contribute $20 to the Real Estate Guaranty Fund – which compensates consumers for theft, embezzlement, false pretenses, or forgery by a licensee or an employee. Applicants for certain classes of licensure must also submit a credit report and meet certain experience requirements. Licensure of these sales agents is in addition to existing registration requirements through the Home Builder Registration Unit in the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General. Note, a home builder who rents or sells a home that he or she has constructed remains exempt from licensing requirements.

HB 1326 alters the regulatory scheme for real estate appraiser trainees. Real estate appraiser trainees are licensed by the Maryland Real Estate Appraisers and Home Inspectors Commission to provide appraisal services under the direction of a supervising appraiser. This bill requires supervising appraisers to be ‘certified’ including as either a residential or general real estate appraiser. Certified real estate appraisers must meet federal and State requirements that are more comprehensive than those for licensed real estate appraisers. The bill conforms the trainee supervision criteria to those established by the Appraiser Qualifications Board, which is developing uniform national standards for regulation of real estate appraisers. The revised criteria for qualification as a supervising appraiser take effect January 1, 2008, at which time licensed real estate appraisers will no longer be able to supervise trainees.

HB 413 repeals the authority to issue a limited license for practice of engineering. An individual has to be licensed by the Maryland Board for Professional Engineers before practicing engineering in the State. A limited license, issued to a non-resident applicant licensed to practice engineering in another state, authorizes the licensee to practice engineering only for the specific job for which the license is issued. Demand for limited licensure has decreased as licensing requirements have been standardized among states, making it easier for professional engineers to qualify for reciprocal licensing. A professional engineer licensed in another state or foreign country with requirements equivalent to those of the State board remains eligible for reciprocal licensure. This bill repeals the authority of the board to issue a limited license.

HB 494 authorizes third-party qualified elevator inspectors to perform periodic annual no-load test inspections if the inspector meets qualifications, insurance requirements, and procedures established by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. This bill fills a gap created last year when State inspectors began only inspecting elevator installations, modifications, and alterations. A building owner may now contract with a qualified third-party elevator inspector for a no-load test inspection at his or her discretion. If an inspection by a qualified third-party elevator inspector discloses that an elevator is unsafe, the inspector is required to immediately notify the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. Upon notification, the commissioner is required to conduct an inspection of the unsafe condition to determine whether to issue a citation and assess penalties.

Civil Actions and Proceedings

HB 1109 expands the jurisdiction of the District Court. The District Court has exclusive jurisdiction over civil cases involving claims up to $5,000, and concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts over claims for amounts above $5,000 but not exceeding $25,000, exclusive of interest, costs, and attorney’s fees. This monetary limit was last increased in 1998. HB 1109 expands the concurrent civil jurisdiction of the District Court by raising the maximum amount in controversy from $25,000 to $30,000.

HB 740 increases various fees County sheriffs are entitled to collect by $10 and establishes a $60 fee for service of a paper originating from a foreign court. The bill also reduces by 50 percent the amount of the fee refunded to a party if the sheriff is unable to serve a paper other than summary ejectment papers, and includes Cecil County, which currently has a different fee structure, under the statewide fee schedule. The bill prohibits a sheriff from collecting a fee to serve a paper from a housing authority or a summons for a law enforcement officer to appear as a witness in a criminal case.

SB 368/ HB 387 increase from 5 to 30 days the time period during which the signing by an injured individual of a release of a claim for damages resulting from a tort (including a settlement of a slip and fall), or an employment contract with an attorney, makes the release or contract voidable. As provided in these bills, such a release or contract is voidable at the option of the injured individual within 60 days after the document is signed if it was signed by that individual within 30 days of the infliction of the injuries, without the assistance of an attorney. Notice that a release is voided must be in writing and accompanied by the return of any money paid to the injured individual.

SB 678/ HB 314 create a private cause of action in Maryland circuit courts for workplace discrimination that impacts all employers (regardless of size), including the real estate industry. A civil action may be filed by a claimant after filing an administrative charge or complaint; or by Maryland Human Relations Commission on behalf of a claimant. Remedies available in a civil action under the bills include: compensatory damages based on the size of the employer; punitive damages if the respondent is not a government entity and engaged in an unlawful practice with actual malice; and reasonable attorney’s fees, expert witness fees, and costs. The bills also expand the remedies available through MHRC proceedings by authorizing compensatory damages based on the size of the employer.

SB 194 imposes duties on a “business” to protect an individual’s “personal information” and to provide notice of a security breach relating to an individual’s personal information. Business does not include an entity that has an annual gross income of less than $1 Million. The personal information may include records of tenants, including applications of prospective residential tenants for apartment complexes. Violation of this law that takes effect January 1, 2008, is an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act.

Ground Rents

SB 106 was the first of several measures introduced and passed in the 2007 session to address the perceived ills of the ground rents system. This bill, an emergency measure, purports to prohibit the creation of new residential ground rents when it provides, on or after January 22, 2007, “the owner of a fee simple or leasehold estate in residential property that is used, intended to be used, or authorized to be used for four or fewer dwelling units may not create a reversionary interest in the property under a ground lease or a ground sublease for a term of years renewable forever subject to the payment of a periodic ground rent.” But by its terms it only bans the creation of new residential ground rents that are “renewable forever” and not the creation of any new ground rent not renewable forever (e.g., a 100 year ground is permissible as is a 60 year ground rent renewable for 4 successive 60 year terms).

SB 622/ HB 580 require Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation to maintain an online registry of landlords and properties subject to ground leases. A ground lease holder must register a ground lease by submitting a registration form containing specified information. The fee for registration per ground lease holder is $10 for the first ground lease and for each additional ground lease, $3 if registered before October 1, 2008, $4 if registered between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009, and $5 on or after October 1, 2009. After registration, the ground lease holder must promptly notify SDAT of specified name and address changes; a redemption of the ground lease; and any other information required by SDAT. A landlord must pay a $5 fee for each notification. A ground lease holder must register a ground lease by September 30, 2010. If the ground lease holder is under a legal disability at the expiration of this period, the ground lease holder has two years after its removal to apply to register. If the ground lease holder fails to register within the time requirements, the ground lease holder’s reversionary interest is extinguished and ground rent is no longer payable. SDAT is then required to issue a ground lease extinguishment certificate to the tenant. The extinguishment conclusively vests a fee simple title in the leasehold tenant, free and clear of any and all right, title, or interest of the ground rent holder, the ground rent holder’s lienholders, and any person claiming by, through, or under the ground rent holder when the certificate is accepted for recording in the land records.

SB 398/ HB 502 require, effective July 1, 2007, a ground lease holder to mail a bill for the payment due to the tenant’s last known address no later than 60 days before a yearly or half-yearly installment payment of a ground rent is due. The bill must include a notice containing specified information about the property subject to the ground rent, contact information for the ground lease holder, consequences for failing to pay the ground rent, and the right to redeem the ground lease. The bill also requires a contract for the sale of real property used for residential purposes with four or fewer residential units and subject to a ground lease to include a notice in boldface at least 14 point type in substantially the form prescribed by the law. The bill also requires a leasehold tenant to notify a ground lease holder of a change of address, including specified information, within 30 days after the change.

SB 397/ HB 452 cause an irredeemable ground rent to convert to a redeemable ground rent unless a notice of intention to preserve the irredeemability is recorded in the land records within the time period allotted under the bill. The conversion occurs on the day following the end of the period in which the notice may be recorded. A disability or lack of knowledge does not prevent the conversion if the notice is not filed within the allotted time period. To be effective and entitled to be recorded, the notice of intention to preserve irredeemability must be notarized and must include specified information about the ground rent. A notice that substantially meets the bill’s requirements must be accepted for recording on payment of the same fees that are charged for recording a deed. The bill specifies that the filing is exempt from a State or local excise tax and how the notice must be indexed. To preserve a ground rent’s irredeemability, a notice of the intention to preserve it must be recorded by December 31, 2010. If the notice is not recorded before that time, the ground rent becomes redeemable. If a notice is recorded before December 31, 2010, the ground rent remains irredeemable for 10 years, through December 31, 2020. The notice lapses on January 1, 2021, unless a renewal notice is recorded within six months before the notice expires. Subsequent renewal notices lapse after 10 years, unless another renewal notice is recorded within 6 months before their expiration. A ground rent made redeemable under the bill is redeemable at any time following its conversion to redeemable status. The redemption amount is the annual rent reserved multiplied by 16.66, which is capitalization at 6%.

SB 623/ HB 489 eliminate the statutory waiting period before a leasehold tenant may redeem a ground rent in a property used for four or fewer dwelling units. The bill also establishes before settlement, on a loan secured by a mortgage or deed of trust that property, the settlement agent must notify the borrower that the borrower has a right to redeem the ground rent using express language provided in the new statute. The bill further requires notice within 30 days after the transfer of any ground lease, including express information in that specified notice about redeeming the ground lease. The bill takes effect July 1, 2007.

SB 883/ HB 1284 alter the purpose of the Maryland Home Financing Program in the Department of Housing and Community Development to include making preferred interest rate loans for the redemption of ground leases; the amount of the loan may also include transactional costs associated with the redemption.

SB 396/ HB 463 seek to eliminate the possibility that a leasehold tenant could lose the tenant’s home and all of the equity in it for failure to pay a ground rent, by repealing, effective July 1, 2007, the ability of a ground lease holder to bring an action of ejectment for failure to pay ground rent on residential property and instead provide for the creation of a lien. The bills do not affect a ground lease holder’s right to bring a civil action against a leasehold tenant seeking a money judgment for the amount of the past due ground rent. Under the bills, if ground rent is unpaid at least six months after its due date, the ground lease holder must give notice in a specified manner to the leasehold tenant and each mortgagee or trustee of the property. A party receiving notice may file a complaint in circuit court to determine whether the lien should be established. If a complaint is filed, the court determines whether the lien should be established and in what amount, including court costs and reasonable expenses and attorney’s fees up to $500 in the discretion of the court. The ground lease holder may file a lien statement in the land records within a specified time period if the court orders a lien or if no complaint is filed and the ground rent continues to be unpaid. A lien filed under the bills has priority from the date the ground lease was created. A filed lien may be enforced and foreclosed in the same manner and subject to the same requirements as the foreclosure of a mortgage or deed of trust containing neither a power of sale nor an assent to decree. If the property is sold at a foreclosure sale, the ground lease holder must be paid out of the proceeds the amount of the lien and the statutory redemption amount if the ground rent is redeemable. The buyer takes the property free and clear of the ground lease. If the ground rent is irredeemable, the ground lease holder must be paid the amount of the lien, and the buyer takes title subject to the ground lease.

SB 755/ HB 458 apply only in Baltimore City when the bills place a lower absolute limit of no more than three years’ past due ground rent on the amount that a ground lease holder may recover in a suit, action, or proceeding to recover back rent for abandoned or distressed property owned or acquired by Baltimore City. The bills prohibit the ground lease holder from getting reimbursed for expenses associated with filing the action for past due ground rent and specify a single place to send documents regarding ground rents owned or acquired by the city.

Eminent Domain

SB 3 was the only of the thirteen bills related to eminent domain introduced in the 2007 session that passed. The primary purpose of this bill is to increase compensation for homeowners, tenants, and business or farm owners who are displaced as a result of a condemnation action. Specifically, the bill doubles the cap on the amount that may be paid to a displaced homeowner or tenant ($45,000 and $10,500, respectively) for a comparable replacement dwelling; increases from $10,000 to $60,000 the cap on the amount that may be paid to reestablish a displaced farm, nonprofit organization, or small business at its new site; and increases from $20,000 to $60,000 the alternative fixed payment that may be elected by a displaced business or farm operation in lieu of being relocated. The bill also requires a representative of the displacing agency to contact the owner of any business or farm operation on the private property to be acquired in a
condemnation action no less than 30 days before the filing of a condemnation action to negotiate in good faith a relocation plan for the business or farm. Lastly, the bill requires the State, its instrumentalities, or its political subdivisions to file a condemnation action within four years after the date of the specific administrative or legislative authorization to acquire the property. With regard to a condemnation authorization granted before the effective date of the bill, the bill requires the State, its instrumentalities, or its political subdivisions to file an action for condemnation within four years from the effective date of the bill.

HOAs, Condos and ..

HB 183 provides that a violation of the Maryland Homeowners Association Act, to the extent that it affects a “consumer,” is within the enforcement authority of the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General. The bill also authorizes a county or municipal corporation to adopt a law, ordinance, or regulation not inconsistent with the Maryland Consumer Protection Act. This measure adds provisions that are nearly identical to those already in law for condominiums and cooperative housing corporations.

SB 287 authorizes three or more unit owners in a condominium or lot owners in a homeowners association to petition a circuit court to appoint a receiver if there are not enough members of the board of directors or governing body sufficient to constitute a quorum. At least 30 days before filing, the petitioners must mail a notice describing the petition and the proposed action to a condominium’s council of unit owners or the governing body of a homeowners association. A receiver appointed by the court may not reside in or own a unit in the condominium or a lot in the development for which the receiver is appointed. A receiver has all powers and duties of a duly constituted board of directors or governing body and serves until sufficient vacancies on the board or governing body are filled to constitute a quorum. It is not clear if these provisions are in addition to or in lieu of existing general corporate law governing nonstock and stock corporations, which include, among other topics, the appointment of a receiver.

SB 635/ HB 95 clarify the notice provisions that are required to be given by the owner or landlord of a rental facility to the tenants of property that is being converted to a condominium by providing that if an offer to purchase the rental property is not given to the tenant concurrently with the notice of the conversion, the 180-day period during which the tenant is entitled to remain in the tenant’s residence that is triggered by receiving the notice of the conversion does not begin until the tenant also receives the purchase offer. The purchase offer is considered to have been given to a tenant if delivered by hand or mailed by certified mail, in the same manner as is required for the conversion notice.

Recordation Matters

SB 220/ HB 1027 authorize a settlement agent, title insurer, or Maryland lawyer to prepare and record a “statutory release affidavit” in the land records when the debt secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, or lien instrument has been paid off and the recipient of the payment fails to provide a release. Before the settlement agent, title insurer, or lawyer may record the statutory release affidavit, the person must allow at least a 60-day waiting period from the date the debt is paid or satisfied to allow the party satisfied to provide a release suitable for recording, send to the party satisfied a copy of the proposed statutory release affidavit and notice of intent to record it, and allow an additional 30-day waiting period after sending the notice for the satisfied party to provide a release suitable for recording. While it is perceived as often difficult to get the release itself from the bank or mortgage lender, this may only create additional issues.

SB 143/ HB 331 authorize the Administrative Office of the Courts to establish a pilot program for electronic recording of instruments in the land records, to be governed by Maryland Rule 16-307. The program may waive or modify any method, procedure, or clerical or technical requirement for recording or indexing. The program will be paid for out of the Circuit Court Real Property Records Improvement Fund. An instrument filed in accordance with the pilot program shall be valid and effective, and remain validly and effectively recorded and indexed, to the same extent as a substantively identical paper instrument filed at the same time. The bill takes effect June 1, 2007, and remains effective for the period that the plan for the pilot program is authorized by the Court of Appeals.

HB 188 adds several statutory exceptions to the common law “rule against perpetuities.” Under the common law rule, applicable in Maryland, a future property interest must vest within a life or lives in being (the lifetime of a living person) at the time of the interest’s creation, plus 21 years. The term of gestation is added in the case of a posthumous birth. An interest that will not or may not vest within the vesting period violates the rule and is void. Maryland courts have placed limitations on nonvested future interests, chiefly through the rule against perpetuities, because the law does not favor nonvested future interests that cannot vest, or will not vest, within a recognizable period of time. The common law rule depends on possible, not actual, events, and any hypothetical violation of the rule extinguishes a future interest. HB 188 adds statutory exceptions to the common law rule against perpetuities. The bill makes the rule against perpetuities inapplicable to: a tenant’s option to renew a lease; a tenant’s option to purchase all or part of leased premises; a usufructuary’s option to extend the scope of an easement or profit; the right of a county, a municipality, a person from whom land is acquired, or the successor-in-interest of a person from whom land is acquired, to acquire land from the State under provisions governing the disposal of unneeded land by the State Highway Administration; a right or privilege, including an option, warrant, pre-emptive right, right of first refusal, right of first option, right of first negotiation, call right, exchange right, or conversion right, to acquire an interest in a domestic or foreign joint venture, partnership, limited liability partnership, limited partnership, limited liability limited partnership, corporation, cooperative, limited liability company, business trust, or similar enterprise, whether the interest is characterized as a joint venture interest, partnership interest, limited partnership interest, membership interest, security, stock, or otherwise; or a nondonative (given for consideration other than nominal consideration) property interest, as defined under the bill, that becomes effective on or after October 1, 2007.

Environment

SB 1030 clarifies that the standards set out in State Critical Area law apply to, and must be applied by, local jurisdictions in the consideration, processing, and decision on an application for a variance. The bill takes effect June 1, 2007 but applies retroactively to any applications for variances, with the exception of property in the North Shore Community of Anne Arundel County for which a variance was applied for in 2003.

SB 573/ HB 588 alter the definition of “net tract area” in the State Forest Conservation Act to include the forested areas within a floodplain or wetland if a perpetual conservation easement is placed on the forested areas at the time the plat of the tract is recorded. The bills apply to a tract of land of at least 350 acres, where at least 15 percent is within the boundaries of a 100-year floodplain or wetland. The bills terminate on February 29, 2008.

SB 784/ HB 786 require MDE to establish regulatory requirements regarding the use of “environmental site design” in stormwater management practices. The bills also modify existing regulatory requirements of MDE with respect to stormwater management. Finally, the bills require MDE, by December 1, 2007, to evaluate options for a stormwater management fee system and an appropriate fee schedule necessary to improve enforcement of stormwater management laws and report its findings to the House Environmental Matters Committee and the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee.

SB 552 requires the Board of Public Works, in consultation with the Department of General Services and the Department of Housing and Community Development, to adopt regulations establishing criteria designed to enhance indoor air quality in relocatable classrooms that may be purchased or leased with State or local funds. The bill is significant because according to EPA, the effects of poor indoor air quality in portable classrooms are no different than those in permanent classrooms. All school buildings use similar construction and furnishing materials, so the types of chemicals present in indoor air are not likely to be different for portable versus permanent classrooms. This bill may have broader impacts than stated.

Energy Efficiency

SB 674 amends the Maryland Energy Efficiency Standards Act of 2004 adding several new products to the list for which the Maryland Energy Administration must set minimum efficiency standards by regulation by January 1, 2008. The new products include: bottle-type water dispensers; commercial hot food holding cabinets; metal halide lamp fixtures; residential furnaces (except natural gas or propane furnaces installed as a replacement of a previous furnace); single-voltage external AC to DC power supplies; State-regulated incandescent reflector lamps; and walk-in refrigerators and freezers. After specified dates, the new products may not be sold or offered for sale in the State unless they meet or exceed the efficiency standards. Also, the Public Service Commission (PSC) must adopt regulations by July 1, 2008, governing the purchase of liquid-immersed distribution transformers by electric companies.

SB 332/ HB 942 codify the existing Maryland Green Building Council. The council must evaluate high performance building technologies, make recommendations on the most cost-effective green building technologies the State should consider using, and develop a list of building types for which green building technologies should not be applied.

SB 566 allows a wind powered energy generating facility, an alternative energy source, to be built without requiring a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) as long as certain conditions are met, including an opportunity for public comment at hearings held by PSC within a county or municipality where the generating station is proposed to be located. The bill also establishes an annual reporting requirement for PSC relating to wind powered generating stations, through June 2010. Allowing wind generation facilities to bypass the process of obtaining a CPCN will reduce the requirements of multiple State agencies and local governments. This abbreviated process reduces costs for applicants, and may encourage the development of electricity generating stations powered by wind for local governments to power public buildings, for businesses for on-site use, or for sale to the wholesale power market.

SB 595/ HB 1016 both add a small but increasing solar component to the Renewable Portfolio Standard that was enacted in 2004. The bills also alter provisions on net energy metering to accommodate increased use of solar generation in the State.

Taxation

SB 613/ HB 598 extend the Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program through 2010 for commercial and owner occupied residential property rehabilitations and make several significant changes to the tax credit program. Among the changes, the bill alters the existing geographic restrictions increasing from 50% to 75%, the maximum amount of total initial credit certificates issued in a fiscal year that can be allocated for projects located in one county or Baltimore City. And if the total amount of initial credit certificates issued is less than the amount appropriated to the fund for that fiscal year due to the 75% restriction, the excess amount may be distributed within the same fiscal year to any one county or Baltimore City without regard to the 75% restriction.

SB 962 expands the homestead property tax credit that is provided to homeowners and specified agricultural limited liability entities to include “agricultural ownership entities.” SDAT is authorized to accept applications for the homestead property tax credit from a shareholder in a family corporation or a partner in a general partnership who is eligible for the credit on or before September 30, 2007 for the taxable year beginning July 1, 2007.

Estates and Trusts

SB 434 specifies that creditors of a disclaimant of an interest in or power over property have no interest in the property disclaimed. The bill also broadens the application of a provision establishing that a failure to file, record, or register a disclaimer has no effect on its validity. Note, a person may disclaim (i.e., refuse to accept) in whole or in part any interest in or power over property, including a power of appointment, regardless of whether the creator of the interest or power imposed a restriction upon the transfer of, or a restriction or limitation on the right to disclaim, the interest or power.

SB 219 provides that a personal representative, trustee, or fiduciary may donate, or in the case of a trustee or fiduciary consent to the donation of, a conservation easement on any real property to obtain the benefit of a federal estate tax exclusion if the will or governing instrument authorizes the donation of a conservation easement. The bill applies retroactively to the donation of a conservation easement from an estate of a decedent who died on or after January 1, 1998.
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Each of the bills described above can be read in its entirety at the Maryland General Assembly website.

Thank you to the Library and Information Services group at the Maryland Department of Legislative Services for the information provided that became the basis of this article.