Before I was elected to the House of Delegates in 1982, I lobbied the General Assembly for the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development.

Throughout the state, apartments were being converted to condominiums.

At the end of their lease, tenants, many of them elderly, would have to move.

The legislation I helped pass required that payments be made to these people to cushion the cost of finding a new place to live.

After the collapse of Champlain Towers in a Miami suburb, condominiums in Maryland have increased their reserve funds to provide, in part, for preventive maintenance.

The increased homeowner fee has burdened many, who are on fixed incomes.

House Bill 1035 would create a state fund to provide financial assistance to condo owners who can’t afford these higher assessments.

One of my witnesses today was in her 30’s when I was lobbying for the condo conversion bill.  The other was in her 40’s.