Saturday, April 02, 2016

Homeowners want changes to HOA transfer fees - 7NEWS Denver TheDenverChannel.com

Homeowners want changes to HOA transfer fees - 7NEWS Denver TheDenverChannel.com

Ka-ching, ka-ching, goes the cash register at the property management firm.

1 comment:

robert @ colorado hoa . com said...

While I disagree with Stan Hrincevich’s efforts regarding alternate dispute resolution, I do agree with him about this. Stan was on Shu Bartholomew’s radio program, “On the Commons”, back on March 15 2014 (14 MB mp3 file). According to Stan, Colorado HB14-1254 started out as a bill to eliminate (or limit) H.O.A. transfer fees. Then C.A.I. sent their lobbyists from Virginia.

“back in 2011 in Colorado, transfer fees were made illegal on all residential home sales except H.O.A.s, mobile home parks, and time share communities that have memberships — like an H.O.A. has membership dues”…”So the C.A.I. from Virginia in Denver, in Colorado, lobbied and in one week turned around everything we did over the past two months, two to three months, of our citizen efforts, and gutted the bill entirely. We were trying to limit these fees and have them justified. They were being used illegally, we even proved that. And all of that was taken out of the bill, and replaced with — I hate this word in any law — a ‘disclosure’ law which now simply means ‘You can continue to be abusive, but please document it someplace’. It will go unabated, unchallenged, and that’s where the bill is today. It’s quite sad.” …”In Colorado, the support we had vanished overnight, even from those folks who are traditionally against taxes and unwarranted fees.”

The text of the final bill does not require that the transfer fees be disclosed to the home owners beforehand, but by the management company to the H.O.A. corporation’s board of directors (“every manager…shall disclose to the executive board”):

Section 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 12-61-1004.5 as follows: 12-61-1004.5 Fees and charges for contracted services and home sales - disclosure required. (1) Every manager, and every agent or other person who represents or negotiates on behalf of a manager, shall disclose to the executive board of each HOA for which it provides or offers to provide services, during contract negotiations and thereafter on an annual basis, all fees and other amounts that the manager charges or will charge to the common interest community, unit owners, and purchasers of units in the common interest community for or as a result of any service, product, transaction, or item of value provided by the manager, any employee or contractor of the manager, or other individual or entity with whom the manager associates in the performance of community association management services.

Although the bill is described by Colorado Capitol Watch as “Limit HOA Transfer Fees & Late Payment Penalties”, I don’t see anything in any draft of the bill that limits transfer fees or penalties. Maybe I’m missing something. Perhaps Stan can chime in. In any case, the final vote by party was

Democrats | 53 yes | 00 no | 02 excused
Republicans | 32 yes | 11 no | 01 excused

The Denver Post quoted the worse-than-useless State Senator Morgan Carroll (Democrat) as saying that 'touching HOA law is always a bit dicey around here,' Carroll said of the vested interests surrounding the state's HOA laws. ("Horror Stories Prompt Industry Group To Ask Colorado To Regulate HOA Managers". February 13, 2012, also here). In the four years since then, nothing has been done to actually address the horror story in that Post report.