Maryland Right to Dry: Clothesline Bans Void on Single-Family Property

Maryland's right to dry is a Title 14 miscellaneous rule rather than an HOA-only provision, which is why it reaches renters as well as owners. Subsection (c) voids the documents themselves, saying that a contract, deed, covenant, restriction, instrument, declaration, rule, bylaw, lease agreement, rental agreement, or any other document concerning clotheslines "may not prohibit" a homeowner or tenant from installing or using them. Subsection (d) then repeats the protection from the resident's side, saying that notwithstanding any other provision of law or the terms of those documents, a homeowner or tenant "may not be prohibited" from installing or using clotheslines. A pre-existing covenant is no defense, and neither is a lease clause.

The scope test is the one Maryland residents get wrong. Section 14-130(a)(2) defines single-family property to include a single-family detached home, a townhouse, and property that is subject to Title 11 of the Real Property Article, Title 11B of that article, or Title 5, Subtitle 6B of the Corporations and Associations Article. A townhouse is defined as a single-family dwelling unit constructed in a horizontal series of attached units with property lines separating the units. Then comes the exclusion: single-family property "does not include property that contains more than four dwelling units." A townhouse in a Maryland HOA is squarely protected. A stacked condominium building with five or more units is not, and its residents fall back on whatever the condominium documents say.

Maryland also carved out historic property. Under § 14-130(b), the section does not apply to a restriction on clotheslines on historic property that is listed in, or determined by the Director of the Maryland Historical Trust to be eligible for inclusion in, the Maryland Register of Historic Properties. That is the same carve-out the legislature attached to the low-impact landscaping right in § 2-125(d) and to the solar collector right in § 2-119(d), and it is the reason a homeowner in a listed Annapolis or Frederick property cannot rely on this section.

What survives the statute is regulation of appearance, not of the activity. Subsection (e) preserves reasonable restrictions on the dimensions, placement, or appearance of clotheslines for the purpose of protecting aesthetic values, and on placement for the purpose of protecting persons or property in the event of fire or other emergencies. So a Maryland association may require a retractable or umbrella-style line rather than a permanent run of posts, may keep the line out of a front yard, and may keep it clear of a fire lane or an egress path. What it may not do is convert an aesthetic rule into a prohibition, because subsections (c) and (d) still control.

Any such restriction has to be adopted in the open. Subsection (f) requires a landlord, or the governing body of a condominium, homeowners association, or housing cooperative, to hold an open meeting on the proposed clothesline restriction so affected homeowners and tenants can be heard, and to publish advance notice of the time and place in a community newsletter, on a community bulletin board, by the means provided in the lease or governing documents, or by other means reasonably calculated to inform affected residents. A clothesline rule passed in executive session does not satisfy § 14-130(f).

Maryland scatters its other household energy and sustainability rights across separate sections rather than bundling them, and each has its own test. Solar collector systems on a roof or exterior wall are protected by Real Property § 2-119, which treats a restriction as unreasonable if it raises installation cost by at least 5 percent or cuts generation by at least 10 percent. Electric vehicle charging equipment in a deeded or assigned parking space is protected by § 11B-111.8. Home composting and private organics collection are protected by § 11B-111.9. Rain gardens, pollinator gardens, and xeriscaping are protected by § 2-125. There is no separate Maryland statute covering rain barrels, heat pumps, or attic fans, so those remain subject to ordinary architectural review.

Because § 14-130 voids the restriction rather than penalizing anyone, a resident who hangs a line on protected single-family property is not violating an enforceable rule at all, and the association's citation fails on its face. 10 governs the process: no fine, voting suspension, or other infringement of an owner's rights may issue until the board serves a written demand to cease and desist that identifies the alleged violation, states what abates it, and allows at least 15 days to cure, followed by written notice of the right to a hearing with at least 10 days to request one and at least 10 days between the request and the hearing.

10(b)(6) makes the decision appealable to the courts of Maryland. 10(c) an owner may also sue for damages or injunctive relief, and the prevailing party is entitled to counsel fees set by the court. Real Property § 11B-115(c) puts a Title 11B violation within the enforcement duties and powers of the Division of Consumer Protection of the Office of the Attorney General under Title 13 of the Commercial Law Article. 10 does not apply to the Columbia Association or the village community associations for the villages of Columbia in Howard County.