Many Chelsea Wood condominium residents at 8403-8495 Greenbelt Road are without heat this holiday season. Pleas to the management company (RGN Management Services of Largo) and the condo’s board of directors and approaches to county and state administrations and elected officials have produced little change. The residents’ plight highlights the complexities condominium owners face when things go wrong.
Pipe Failures
The problem stems from a pipe system that serves heating and cooling to the 280 units. Unit owner Jessica Fomalont said that when she moved there in 2005, she was told the heating system was installed in 1965. She said one pipe broke in October 2024, eliminating heat in half the complex. Contractors began work in November and residents were told heat would be restored by Thanksgiving, but the contractors disappeared and RGN had no answers or was unreachable, Fomalont said. When she called RGN’s emergency line on Thanksgiving weekend, she was told to call Monday, December 2. When she did, she was told RGN was seeking a less expensive contractor.
New Management
On December 10, another pipe failed, leaving the entire property without heat. RGN notified residents on December 13 that repairs could take at least two weeks, discouraged them from using space heaters, encouraged staying elsewhere and cited high owner delinquency rates as limiting funds and impeding obtaining contractors.
Fomalont and three-year owner Jocelyn Cox said RGN hasn’t returned calls since Thanksgiving, and that board communications since October have largely consisted of notices that they are working on the problem. The News Review saw a December 23 board notice at the complex that proposals were being reviewed to “determine the best course of action.” The board also notified residents in mid-December that a new management company, Metropolis, would take over on January 1.
Living without Heat
Cox described how she and her husband are living in one room at a time with a 6-month-old, a 3-year-old and a space heater, and noted the challenges for owners who are elderly or not native English speakers. Fomalont has found the warmest place to sleep is on her couch with many blankets. Lauren, a 19-year resident, said she and her children have been sick and “to top it off, when you plug heaters in the power goes out.” Residents that the News Review spoke to said excavations caused reduced parking and mountains of mud in front of buildings. Others described going to their cars for warmth. Resident Tonyia Thompson told WUSA9 she could go to her sister’s small home for shelter but doesn’t want to leave the home she owns.
Another resident said water was repeatedly turned off for up to a day at a time for heating work this fall. When the News Review visited Chelsea Wood on December 29, condo owner Jeffrey Samuels, whose family has lived there since 2000, said multiple air conditioning and heating failures occur each year, but never before for this long.
Condo Complications
Getting help is complicated by several factors. Renters’ rights don’t apply because condominiums are owned. Chelsea Wood has a Greenbelt ZIP code but is located in an unincorporated area outside the municipal boundary. Homeowner’s insurance doesn’t apply because the HVAC system is owned by the condo, so Cox’s homeowner’s insurance won’t cover a hotel stay for her family.
No Results from County
On December 28, Cox and Fomalont reported requesting help from county and state officials with no results yet. Cox listed attempts to engage the Prince George’s County Community Relations/Common Ownership Communities office, County Councilmember Eric Olson, U.S. Representative Glenn Ivey and the offices of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and Governor Wes Moore. Residents have contacted NBC4, WUSA9, WJLA and DC News Now. Fomalont said a response from Olson was copied to Lamont Hinton, deputy director of the county’s Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement, which includes county code enforcement.
Cox was told by Common Ownership Communities Office staff that they contacted the county attorney on December 20 with no response by December 27. Fomalont, Cox and other residents opened PGC311 tickets (the county’s request form for follow-up assistance), at least one of which was closed without the submitter being contacted. Cox has begun organizing neighbors to track communications with officials and plan next steps.
Aging Infrastructure, Inadequate Finances
Condominium boards and management companies are responsible for maintaining common infrastructure from funds raised through condo fees and special assessments. Fomalont, Cox, Samuels and others said their condo fees have increased and they each paid thousands in special assessments in the last two years. Fomalont said she has repeatedly suggested to the board the idea of dividing the repair cost by 280 units, with no response.
Other communities have faced the consequences of not gradually accumulating reserve funds to update aging shared infrastructure. Greenbelt Homes, Inc., also responsible for major maintenance in the cooperative ownership model (it is not a condo), was in a similar position in the 1970s when insufficient reserves required large loans to replace major systems. Since then, successive GHI boards have maintained larger reserves. Nearby Westchester Park condo owners learned in 2022 that replacing aged systems in their building could cost $15,000 to $45,000 per unit.
Delinquent Owners
Delinquent Chelsea Wood condo fees exacerbate the problem of funds for repairs. Maryland court records show many court cases against Chelsea Wood owners, with 12 in 2024 alone. One resident said many units were bought as investment properties and then sublet. She wrote, “This place is a case study in how important it is to think it through before going condo.”
Samuels doesn’t believe he should suffer because others are delinquent.
Holidays without Heat
On December 29, heat was available in a few buildings, including that of Samuels. Other buildings, including those of Cox and Fomalont, were not so fortunate. Even at Samuels’ building, problems remained. Hot water was flowing from an outdoor hole next to an excavator and a mud pile, and Samuels said there was a leak into his neighbor’s basement unit.
Fomalont said she just wants to see better planning, good communication, honesty and heat. On January 2, Cox told the News Review she still had no heat, as temperatures began to sharply drop.