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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=142442603-18062006>As the development
proposal at Dumm's corner moves forward, I would like to share some of my
experiences with condos. For several years, I worked in rapidly growing Stafford
County, VA. While I was there, we saw a lot of goofy stuff related to condos and
homeowners' associations. A caveat: land use regulation and development
standards are quite different in Maryland and Virginia, so I will leave it to
others to judge how much of the following is relevant or
helpful.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=142442603-18062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=142442603-18062006>Condominium
ownership means that one entity owns the dwelling unit and another entity owns
the land, probably in its entirety. The landowner is usually responsible for
maintenance and upkeep. The developer may retain ownership of the land or sell
it to somebody else, or it may turn it over to the owners' association. I saw
several instances where a developer would make a commitment (during the approval
process) to maintain the property to some standard, subject to the agreement or
subject to overrule by the owners' assocation. Where it gets tricky is that the
developer might not establish or give authority to an owners' association until
some percentage of units have been sold. And if the developer decided to hold on
to some number of units rather than sell them, then an owners' association might
never get formed and the developer de facto would keep control over whatever
provisions were established. This can be problematic for the owners and for the
community.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=142442603-18062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=142442603-18062006>The other
implication of the developer hanging on to some number of units is that as the
owner, they could rent the property. (I think somebody on this thread said that
the developer would not rule that out.) </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=142442603-18062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=142442603-18062006>And, of course,
there would be nothing to stop any individual or other entity from buying one or
more units as rental property. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=142442603-18062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=142442603-18062006>Nancy</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=142442603-18062006>Riverdale
Road</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>