Husband-Wife Team Bring Affordable Housing to D.C. Veterans

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (October 16, 2025) — The Office of the Comptroller of Maryland today released the latest installment in its State of the Economy series: Housing and the Economy. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Maryland’s housing market, including trends in housing costs, supply and demand dynamics, and patterns of domestic migration—highlighting where Maryland residents are moving to and from. It also examines the relationship between housing affordability and availability, as well as their connection to broader economic performance. Learn More>>

Whether they’re called granny flats, backyard bungalows, or guest cottages, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are a growing trend in the residential sector and aim to help ease the nation’s housing shortage and affordability issues. Learn More>>

he Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) released an updated version of its final Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Affordable Housing Pipeline Report , along with its first quarterly update for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26), showing that the County has significantly increased the number of affordable homes it is supporting through its financial investments. DHCA’s quarterly reports detail recently completed financing agreements, the number of affordable units to be produced or preserved in each project, and pending projects with affordable units that are in the pipeline for future development. Learn More>>

Sara Bronin, founder of the National Zoning Atlas, has won the Heinz Award for her ongoing project to map the land-use rules that restrict housing production. Learn More>>

This bill requires banking institutions, credit unions, and mortgage lenders to include a provision in all conventional home mortgage loans that allows any of the existing borrowers to assume the mortgage in the event of a divorce. This applies to both new and existing mortgages. You can review the new legislation in full here .

Landlords can no longer charge late payment penalties based on the full rent amount. Maryland already capped late rent penalties at 5%, but some landlords applied that percentage to the entire month’s rent, even if most had already been paid. What’s new: Landlords must now calculate late fees only on the unpaid portion of rent. Weekly leases remain capped at $3/week, with a $12/month maximum. Example: Rent is $1,000, a tenant pays $800 on time, $200 is late. Before: fee could be $50. Now: fee maxes at $10. As a result of the new law, tenants who make partial payments will not be over-penalized. Landlords will need to revise lease forms, and unenforceable clauses could lead to tenant lawsuits for damages and attorney’s fees. You can review the new legislation in full here .

This new legislation prohibits community associations from prohibiting or unreasonably restricting the construction and rental of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on lots with primary single-family detached dwelling units. A homeowners association has the authority, but not the obligation, to treat an ADU as a separate lot for purposes of voting and assessments. You can review the new legislation in full here .

The law currently states that community associations cannot impose unreasonable limitations on an owner who wants to install a solar collector system on their roof or the exterior walls of improvements exclusive to them, which significantly increases the cost or decreases the efficiency of solar installations. However, the term “significantly” was not precisely defined, leading to varied interpretations and enforcement. The new law sets an objective standard that a restriction is unreasonable if it would increase the cost of the solar collector system installation by at least 5% over the projected cost of the initially proposed installation, or if the restriction would reduce the energy generated by the solar system by at least 10% below the projected energy generation of the initially proposed installation. To show that the community association’s restriction is unreasonable, the owner needs to provide documentation prepared by an independent solar panel design specialist. Community associations may prohibit or restrict the installation of a solar collector system in the common elements/areas and regulate its size, number, or placement. You can review the new legislation in full here .

The nation’s capital has a severe shortage of affordable housing. Learn about the challenges and ways housing providers are working to meet the need. Learn More>>