Condo conversion bill signed into law

Developmentally disabled residents receive rental protections

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. signed a condominium conversion bill into law last week, extending protections to developmentally disabled renters facing displacement when a rental facility becomes an owner-occupied building.

The legislation is the result of the conversion to condominiums of the Pavilion Apartments in Rockville, where a community of developmentally disabled adults faced displacement because they were not covered under state law.

‘‘Developmentally disabled renters statewide will get a three-year rental extension after a building converts to condominiums,” said Del. Brian J. Feldman (D-Dist. 15) of Potomac, who sponsored the legislation in the House. ‘‘In Montgomery County, they qualify for the same lifetime rental extensions that the physically disabled and elderly renters receive.”

In cases of condo conversions, county law provides lifetime rental extensions to a percentage of senior or physically handicapped individuals who meet income requirements and have lived in their apartment at least 12 months before a conversion notification.

But developmentally disabled renters were limited to three-year extensions because state law did not account for them in the handicapped category.

The state law signed last week broadens the definition of disabled, allowing Montgomery County to provide lifetime rental protections to developmentally disabled tenants.

Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda, who sponsored the legislation in the upper chamber, called the new law ‘‘a much needed fix to Maryland’s condo act.”

Disabled and senior renters began voicing concerns about finding new housing comparable to the Pavilion, renamed the Monterey, when Triton Pavilion LLC announced its intention to purchase and convert the 432-unit building from apartments to condos.

Eighty-six Pavilion renters — the maximum number protected by law — have received lease extension offers, insulating them against dislocation from the Montrose Road building.