Arizona Capitol Times: George Starapoli assesses the legislative accomplishments of this session
George is the honcho of Citizens Against Private Government, and was heavily involved in the AZ legislative goings-on this year, and moderator of the HOAs group on Yahoo. Here's his opinion on the various things that did and did not pass:

Legislature Responds With HOA Reforms – Or Did It?

There were some 16 homeowner association “reform” bills submitted in this year’s legislative session after only two last year and one two years before. Many, including some advocates, are shouting “Fantastic! Arizona has seen the light.”

Is this a step forward?

The answer is yes. Progress has been made because the Legislature realized that it could no longer ignore advocates’ demands for reform after years of industry-backed bills that only purported to aid homeowners.

But, what was asked of the legislators? More association/industry-favored bills or HOA reform bills? What was the mix, or quality, of these bills? Were only good bills passed and harmful bills killed? Of the 16 bills, nine were passed (56 per cent). Was that good or bad?

Some examples of bad bills:

• H2402 was watered down to permit the loss of homestead exemption and draconian foreclosure methods.

• H2377 was a “due process” bill that would have required a justice of the peace’s ruling on the legitimacy of HOA violations.

• H2381 allows the director to vote after declaring a conflict his interest.

Some examples of better bills:

• S1137 did away with the need for a quorum of homeowners to sue the board.

• S1125 requires registration of HOAs.

• H2380 requires “truth in home buying” with written disclosure to the buyer.

The main failing with most of these bills remains the lack of enforcement by rogue boards who, today, ignore the laws, and we believe will continue to ignore the laws because there is no “motivation” in terms of penalties.

In general, advocates are pleased with the results of this year’s legislative session. After three years of failing to enact any HOA reform legislation we now have the beginnings of reform activity.

Still, many feel that more needs to be done to bring justice and the equal protection of the laws to homeowners living in HOAs.

We will be back next year, and the next year until there is justice and the equal treatment of homeowners living in HOAs.

(by George K. Staropoli, Citizens Against Private Government, HOAs Scottsdale)