Know Your Responsibilities as Homeowner

Get to know your responsibilities as a homeowner. If you will be part of a homeowners’ association, find out from the HOA’s management company if there are any fees or requirements. If you are buying a waterfront home that is part of a homeowners’ association or is located in a developed community, you need to inquire about the regulations that they have established. Generally, communities and HOAs will hold the riparian rights to waterfront properties, so you need to know what you are allowed to do with your non-riparian home.

When a home is non-riparian, there is water access, but the property leading to the water is not owned by the homeowner. Given this, the homeowner does not have a pier or dock in the water, but the communities will grant the owners access to the water. When a Maryland waterfront home has riparian rights, the homeowner’s deed extends all the way to the water’s edge, so the body of water actually forms one of the property’s boundary lines. When you own riparian rights, you have direct access to the water and the right to extend use into the water upon the approval of the local government, with the condition that you do not encroach upon the neighbors’ rights.