Charles County, MD HOA Rules: HOA Fines & Enforcement (2026)

Charles County doesn't cap the dollar amount an HOA may charge in fines or assessments, but it does give homeowners a venue to contest whether the association had the authority to impose one at all. Charles County Code § 247-2 defines the county's jurisdiction: a dispute properly before the Homeowners' Association Dispute Review Board includes any disagreement over a governing body's authority, under law or its own association documents, to require any person to pay a fee, fine, or assessment. That jurisdiction has a hard limit, however: § 247-2(B)(4) excludes the collection of an assessment validly levied against a party, so a member cannot use the Board to relitigate a charge the association was already authorized to impose; only the underlying authority to fine is reviewable.

To bring such a challenge, a homeowner must first make a good-faith attempt to exhaust the association's own internal remedies, or wait 60 days after invoking them, under § 247-4(B)-(C). The County Commissioners may set a filing fee to offset the Board's administrative costs (§ 247-4(A)). Once filed, the association may not enforce the disputed fine until the Board's process concludes, apart from filing a civil action (§ 247-4(E)). Either party may request mediation, and the County must supply a mediator within 30 days of that request (§ 247-6(D)-(E)); if mediation fails or is refused, the Board schedules a hearing and must issue a written decision within 14 days of closing the evidence (§ 247-7(F)).