October 9, 2026 ***Re MEDIATION CASE # MU-535887
Dear Quail Valley HOA Board members and other QV Neighbors,
As you may recall, I have complained about our board recessing to a "closed session" – showing us out of the room simply to discuss an alleged property violation against a homeowner (e.g., your fence is painted the wrong color). I think that holding a secret meeting for that reason contradicts our Articles of Incorporation: the purpose of the HOA is to "promote the health, safety and welfare of the residents (Article IV), and contradicts Maryland and federal law (as I describe below), so I filed a complaint with the Consumer Protection Division (CPD) of the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Maryland, which has initiated a "mediation" between me and our board of directors.
On October 6, I received a letter written by a lawyer who represents Quail Valley Homeowners Association. A cover letter by the CPD asks whether the attorney's remarks "satisfactorily address" my complaint? I would reply, "Not at all." Here are a few reasons why I say that.
Point #1: Justice begins when we name the thing that is harming us. When the HOA board holds a closed meeting by whatever name – a "closed hearing," or an "executive session" – about an alleged property violation, then it is holding a secret trial (a secret tribunal), because the board can punish the accused homeowner. It is not just a "deposition," where people merely present evidence and talk about stuff. So protections in the law safeguarding our "welfare," especially our financial security, are paramount.
Point #2. A longstanding civic precedent is being threatened. Our community just celebrated its 50th Anniversary. It is strange that after 50 years of open discussions of property violations, the QV HOA board now decides to figuratively "shut the door and turn off the lights" before speaking face-to-face with a member of their own community, their own neighbor. Accountable government requires sunlight. All homeowners need to see and hear whether our association might be targeting homeowners with fraudulent or erroneous property violations. Are ethnic minority, elderly, and English-Second-Language homeowners especially vulnerable in Maryland?
(Note 1) We will no longer allow that abuse to happen in the dark. See Point #4 for examples.
Point #3: Minute of the meeting are impoverished. It is not adequate for the HOA to make a general statement, "Recess to executive session," in the Minutes. (Note 2) The law requires more. The HOA also refuses to provide those records to me now during this mediation. Here is the law: "proof of notice shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting." Proof demands some details. Members of this community need to know: Who in our community, what member, has the HOA cited with a property violation? What was the violation? Why has it not been quickly resolved? Was it a valid concern, or was it an error, or might it be a fantastic invention by the HOA? There is no easily available record. In 2022, I paid to obtain a printout of inspection results, just to discover what was happening, and noticed a serious deficiency: the inspector made no note of obvious hazards on a broken deck, risking the safety of the resident's children, but that is a story for another day. (Note 3)
Point #4. Municipal agencies have ruled that homeowners must be allowed to see and hear whether rules and laws have been obeyed when the HOA issues a property violation. Rules and laws include the association's declaration, bylaws, architectural guidelines, notice requirements, hearing procedures, Maryland's open-meeting requirements and HOA Act, and civil rights laws.
For example, the Montgomery County Commission on Common Ownership Communities (CCOC) has found an HOA's handling of an architectural dispute problematic where the association failed to provide proper notice of the architectural committee and special board meetings. The panel emphasized that open meetings can provide affected owners and other members an opportunity to provide relevant information before a decision is made. In a CCOC case involving an HOA's architectural / maintenance-rule disputes, the Hearing Panel concluded that the HOA could not close its meetings simply to discuss allegations of architectural and maintenance violations. (Note 4)
Point #5. There is nothing "private" about a property violation, which everyone can see – if it really exists. The HOA's attorney raises the issue of a right to privacy: "The general membership has no right, despite the Complainant's personal beliefs, to be privy to every violation enforcement proceeding." That's ridiculous. If there is a property violation (e.g., a loose gutter), then everybody can see it with their eyes. There is nothing private about it. The association's members do indeed have the right to know, as guaranteed in law, hearing every alleged violation with our own ears – and also hearing the homeowner's response. We have a vested interest in hearing both parties discuss matters in an open public forum. A "vested interest" is a strong personal, financial, or legal stake in a situation, policy, or asset that guarantees a present or future advantage or ownership right. Sadly, our Quail Valley HOA has a history of citing erroneous and fanciful property violations, which we have a duty to expose and resist. A few examples:
* "Plastic shed does not match house color" – aimed at me during COVID, a "rule" absent from the HOA's architectural guidelines. This issue was part of my complaint to the CCOC in 2021.
* There is a "dip in the concrete" of your walkway, which I debunked in a PATCH.com blog of September 8, 2021. (Note 5) An African American long-time homeowner received this fake property violation. Other homeowners with similar sidewalks were not harassed.
* This fiasco – the HOA lost the architectural approval records, so your kids' treehouse is now unapproved – was exposed in a PATCH.com blog of April 27, 2023. (Note 6) An elderly African American immigrant and long-time homeowner received this fake property violation.
* "House number missing" – yet it was there, above the portico. An Asian American immigrant homeowner received this erroneous property violation among others, all of it dismissed by a judge. (Note 7) Thousands of dollars in fines and fees vanished.
* "Repair stoop / steps / walkway." The HOA aimed this fake violation (the neighbor's brick steps are exactly the same) at a Hispanic homeowner. Three years later, the QV HOA's attorney dropped this fake violation like a hot potato on August 7, 2024 when questioned by a district court judge (Note 8). In fact, the attorney dropped all the property violations in the case.
(Note 9).Thousands of dollars in fines and fees –those specifically related to property violations – vanished.
A key place where members can become aware of potential HOA malpractice is at an open board meeting. Other HOA horror stories can be read in the "Living on Cuckoo Court" blog series at tinyurl.com/CuckooCourt.
Point #5. Under the Maryland Open Meetings Act, public bodies (such as an HOA board) are required to meet in open session, with 15 specific exceptions that allow public bodies to meet in a close a session – and HOA property violations are not among the 15. (§ 3-305. Closed sessions) The HOA's attorney does not cite this passage in the law.
Point #6. Under Maryland Real Property Law boards are required to meet I open session, with 8 specific reasons (i through viii) that allow boards to meet in a closed session – and HOA property violations are not one of those eight. (§11B–111 (4)). The HOA's attorney does not cite this passage in the law.
Point #7. The HOA's actions are unconstitutional. The attorney's reply cites, three times, a derivative passage in state law, Sec. 11B-111.10, that contradicts the two foundational state laws cited above, and also violates Amendments VI and VII of the U.S. Constitution. This will not stand.
HOA closed hearings are functionally trials, as first noted in Point #1. Secret HOA trials – which can lead to homeowner debt (Note 10), a lien on the homeowner's property, and perhaps homelessness – violate the Sixth and Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Secret trials are un-American. (Note 11)
For example, the following passage in state law makes it clear that we are looking at a trial (with "evidence," "cross-examination," "witnesses," and possible "sanction," i.e., punishment) when we look at an HOA property violation "hearing."
1. "At the hearing, the alleged violator has the right to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. 2. The hearing shall be held in executive session in accordance with this notice and shall afford the alleged violator a reasonable opportunity to be heard. 3. Prior to the taking effect of any sanction under this section, proof of notice shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting."
The underlined, morally corrupt bit of text describes a secret trial, and it will not survive the test of time.
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution establishes "the right to a speedy and public trial." The Seventh Amendment states, "In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved …" The principle of open government is not negotiable in the United States of America.
In conclusion, I thank my neighbors for attending HOA meetings, over the years, to witness what occurs there, to participate in discussions, and occasionally to stand up and protest. The monthly board meetings are announced at quailvalleyhoa.org. I leave it to my fellow homeowners to ask our HOA board members how much this conversation is costing our community in legal fees charged to the QV HOA, as we strive to uphold traditional civic practices of 50 years and the basic civil rights of the 592 homeowners living in our common ownership community.Will our monthly assessments rise as a result?
Finally, I have to ask – What will we have lost if we fail in this effort? If we succeed, what have we preserved?
Sincerely,
Steven Sellers Lapham
18737 Purple Martin Lane, Gaithersburg, MD 20879
P.S. I thank readers who offered improvements to drafts of my response. I used AI for basic research, then always tracked to the original citations. I have lived in QV HOA for 25 years and am a homeowner and association member, an HOA committee member, and a former HOA elected board member. I am in good financial standing with my HOA.
NOTES:
1)https://patch.com/maryland/gaithersburg/hoa-trashed-our-basketball-hoop-nodx
2)I assert Point 2 with the caveat "To my knowledge." For example, I have read past Minutes posted at https://www.quailvalleyhoa.org/resourcecenter/41357/documents, which might mention "Recess to Executive Session," but I do not see notices of hearings, delivered to specific members of this association (homeowners), stating specific alleged violations, recorded in the Minutes, and/or announced to the community in any other way.
3)https://patch.com/maryland/gaithersburg/slumlord-behavior-hoa-awol-safety-again-nodx
4)https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/longmead-crossing-cmty-servs-888543719
5)https://patch.com/maryland/gaithersburg/cash-cow-made-concrete-stepping-hoa-extortion-nodx
7)https://patch.com/maryland/gaithersburg/lost-court-hoa-wastes-time-money-again-again-nodx
8)https://patch.com/maryland/gaithersburg/small-victory-hoa-drops-fine-spot-dirt-lawn-nodx
10)https://patch.com/maryland/gaithersburg/quail-valley-hoa-extortion-continues-unabated-nodx
11)Indeed, the legal ground upon which HOAs and condo associations today punish and fine their own members is increasingly shaky, and it is being challenged by homeowners and legislators in the 50 states across the nation, https://independentamericancommunities.com/2025/09/15/why-hoa-fines-should-be-illegal-in-all-states/
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