Currently, the House is about to vote on legislation to register property managers who do NOT have a real estate license. Maryland REALTORS® supports HB 239 which requires certain property managers to be either registered with the Maryland Real Estate Commission OR licensed by the Maryland Real Estate Commission. This bill passed the House unanimously last year, 134-0 (HB 929/’20).
Please urge your legislator to SUPPORT HB 239 as amended below.
Support HB 239 as amended – Property Managers Registration of Non-Licensees
BACKGROUND
HB 239 seeks to close an enforcement hole within the Real Estate Commission’s powers. Many real estate licensees currently conduct property management activities but are NOT required to have a license under Maryland law or even be registered with the Commission to conduct such activities. As a result, if a real estate practitioner’s license is terminated/suspended by the MDREC because of a property management law violation, that licensee could simply re-open for property management business activities the very next day and only be prohibited from conducting sales/licensing activities.
HB 239 levels the playing field to provide consumers better protections and financial recourse with registration. Currently, harmed consumers who use a licensee for property management activities have access to the real estate Guaranty Fund whereas consumers who use a property manager without a real estate license do not. HB 239 gives the Real Estate Commission the authority to register certain property managers — if those individuals are NOT already licensed — requiring new registrants to hold a surety bond for better consumer protections.
The amendments below were added to improve the bill to address any opponents concerns for HB 239 or last year’s bill, which, again, was passed by the House unanimously.
Specifically, the amendments clarify:
- That an entity may register rather than an individual property manager for larger property manager companies;
- That subsidiary businesses also do NOT need to register for larger companies;
- That quasi-governmental business improvement districts are exempt; and
- Any owner who personally manages their own property is exempt.
Maryland REALTORS® strongly urges a favorable report of HB 239 as amended, which ensures better consumer protections to the public. As always, many thanks for your consideration.