NEW HOA LAWS for 2012 in ARIZONA (Gadsden: real estate, lease, mortgage)

[Captain Bill]

SB 1149 becomes effective January 1, 2012

Two of the more important issues for home buyers and sellers are:

Document Fees, and Real Estate Signs

Document Fees:

• Provides that the statements must be furnished by an association to the requesting entity within ten (instead of fifteen) days of receiving a written request.

Note: Most HOA's are managed by professional management companies. These companies provide the Disclosure and Transfer documents, and the money charged for providing those documents goes to the Management Company, and not to the HOA.

Possibly the most important aspect of SB 1149 is the cap on charges by the management company for supplying the documents.

The charge to a new buyer is now limited to no more than an aggregate of $400 for the costs incurred in the preparation of a statement or other documents furnished by the association for purposes of resale disclosure, lien estoppel and any other services related to the transfer or use of the property.This will include the Disclosure Fee and the Transfer Fee which transfers the property from the seller to the buyer on the Associations

They can charge a rush fee of no more than $100 if rush services are required to be performed within 72 hours.

The title company usually orders these documents for the buyer, and they have 10 days to request the docs. Therefore, a buyer or their agent should request the title company to expedite ordering the documents if the escrow is going to be less than a 30 day escrow.

• No more Upfront fees. Some HOA management companies were requiring the Disclosure fees to be paid upfront. So if the home did not pass inspection, or if the mortgage did not get approved, the HOA doc fee had already been paid, and could not be refunded.

• Beginning Jan 1, 2012 these fees cannot be collected upfront. They are payable no earlier than close of escrow.

Reserve, or Capital Fund charges: The HOA, in addition to what the Management Company may charge for the Disclosure and Transfer Fees, can charge a fee that may be called Reserve Contribution Fee, Capital Funds Fee, or a fee by any other name. That money goes directly into the HOA funds for use by the Association in the manner in which it is stated. It benefits the community.

Real Estate Signs:

SB 1149 also amends the real estate sign law as follows:

• An association may not prohibit or charge a fee for the use or placement of the indoor or outdoor display of for rent or lease signs and sign riders, in any combination, displayed by a property owner on their property.

During the 2011 session some other bills were passed and are currently in effect. Below are a couple of them:

• Members attending an open meeting of the Board of Directors or a meeting of the members may audiotape or videotape the meeting. However, the Board of Directors may adopt reasonable rules governing the taping, so long as the rules do not preclude the taping by those attending.

• If you like to fly flags, the Gadsden Flag is added to list of flags that owners are allowed to display. This is the flag with the snake and the words “don't tread on me.” The same rules apply as with the American flag and the other permissible flags.

• The new law clarifies that associations may limit the member to displaying no more than two flags at once and may limit the height of the flagpole to no more than the height of the rooftop of the member’s home.

• The association shall not prohibit the installation of a flagpole in the front yard or the back yard of a member’s property.

[caryberry]

Please define "statements". A law for HOA's responding to written requests for documents has been around for a while.

Arizona Revised Statute:
33-1258.Association financial and other records; applicability
A. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, all financial and other records of the association shall be made reasonably available for examination by any member or any person designated by the member in writing as the member's representative. The association shall not charge a member or any person designated by the member in writing for making material available for review. The association shall have ten business days to fulfill a request for examination. On request for purchase of copies of records by any member or any person designated by the member in writing as the member's representative, the association shall have ten business days to provide copies of the requested records. An association may charge a fee for making copies of not more than fifteen cents per page.

[ritafranco]

Can you please indicate where the language regarding the Capital Funds Charges is located in SB 1149?

[rational1]

Not wacky. We can be thankful for that.

[Steve Pickering]

It all seems like good common sense to me. Good rules in favor of the home owner. Some HOA's are out of line with reality and lean towards anarchy. The answer is don't buy if there are HOA's and be vocal as to your reason. But these changes are good.

[Sunni2012]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

It all seems like good common sense to me. Good rules in favor of the home owner. Some HOA's are out of line with reality and lean towards anarchy. The answer is don't buy if there are HOA's and be vocal as to your reason. But these changes are good.

be great not to have Hoa's but seems like almost all developments have Hoa, especially if your deciding on New Build Homes.

[ritafranco]

"Reserve, or Capital Fund charges:[/b] The HOA, in addition to what the Management Company may charge for the Disclosure and Transfer Fees, can charge a fee that may be called Reserve Contribution Fee, Capital Funds Fee, or a fee by any other name. That money goes directly into the HOA funds for use by the Association in the manner in which it is stated. It benefits the community. ".

This is not stated anywhere in SB 1149. Where did you quote this information from?

[DAGRAG]

Could you please advise on the following. If a homeowner in a HOA makes an unauthorized alternation and the Directors of the HOA has not fined or commented on the alternation for over 1 year and the HOA knew or should have known of the unauthorized alternation can the HOA fine the homeowner?

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]SB 1149 becomes effective January 1, 2012

[/FONT][/FONT]Two of the more important issues for home buyers and sellers are:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] Document Fees, and Real Estate Signs

Document Fees:
[LIST][*]Provides that the statements must be furnished by an association to the requesting entity within ten (instead of fifteen) days of receiving a written request.[/LIST]Note: Most HOA's are managed by professional management companies. These companies provide the Disclosure and Transfer documents, and the money charged for providing those documents goes to the Management Company, and not to the HOA.

Possibly the most important aspect of SB 1149 is the cap on charges by the management company for supplying the documents.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The charge to a new buyer is now limited to no more than an aggregate of $400 for the costs incurred in the preparation of a statement or other documents furnished by the association for purposes of resale disclosure, lien estoppel and any other services related to the transfer or use of the property.This will include the Disclosure Fee and the Transfer Fee which transfers the property from the seller to the buyer on the Associations

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]They can charge a rush fee of no more than $100 if rush services are required to be performed within 72 hours. [/FONT]

The title company usually orders these documents for the buyer, and they have 10 days to request the docs. Therefore, a buyer or their agent should request the title company to expedite ordering the documents if the escrow is going to be less than a 30 day escrow.
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][LIST][*]No more Upfront fees. Some HOA management companies were requiring the Disclosure fees to be paid upfront. So if the home did not pass inspection, or if the mortgage did not get approved, the HOA doc fee had already been paid, and could not be refunded.[/LIST][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][LIST][*][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Beginning Jan 1, 2012 these fees cannot be collected upfront. They are payable no earlier than close of escrow.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/LIST][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] Reserve, or Capital Fund charges: The HOA, in addition to what the Management Company may charge for the Disclosure and Transfer Fees, can charge a fee that may be called Reserve Contribution Fee, Capital Funds Fee, or a fee by any other name. That money goes directly into the HOA funds for use by the Association in the manner in which it is stated. It benefits the community.

Real Estate Signs:

SB 1149 also amends the real estate sign law as follows:
[LIST][*]An association may not prohibit or charge a fee for the use or placement of the indoor or outdoor display of for rent or lease signs and sign riders, in any combination, displayed by a property owner on their property.[/LIST][/FONT][/FONT]During the 2011 session some other bills were passed and are currently in effect. Below are a couple of them:
[/FONT][/FONT][LIST][*][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] Members attending an open meeting of the Board of Directors or a meeting of the members may audiotape or videotape the meeting. However, the Board of Directors may adopt reasonable rules governing the taping, so long as the rules do not preclude the taping by those attending. [/FONT][/FONT][/LIST][LIST][*][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] If you like to fly flags, the Gadsden Flag is added to list of flags that owners are allowed to display. This is the flag with the snake and the words “don't tread on me.” The same rules apply as with the American flag and the other permissible flags. [/FONT][/FONT][/LIST][LIST][*][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The new law clarifies that associations may limit the member to displaying no more than two flags at once and may limit the height of the flagpole to no more than the height of the rooftop of the member’s home. [/FONT][/FONT][/LIST][LIST][*][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] The association shall not prohibit the installation of a flagpole in the front yard or the back yard of a member’s property.[/FONT][/FONT][/LIST][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]
[/FONT][/FONT]

[observer53]

Originally Posted by DAGRAG

Could you please advise on the following. If a homeowner in a HOA makes an unauthorized alternation and the Directors of the HOA has not fined or commented on the alternation for over 1 year and the HOA knew or should have known of the unauthorized alternation can the HOA fine the homeowner?

I think for that you need legal advice. A consultation with an attorney experienced in these matters can likely be had very reasonably and would be well worth it, more so than even well-intentioned legal advice from an anonymous internet forum.

[texdav]

Ypou also need to rad the contract sign as HOA are mostly a matter of contract law.The see a atorney and you will know what he is talkig about whe he advises you.