By Lynn Boergerhoff, president and founder, HOALN |
I was honored to present to the Minnesota Legislator’s Working Group on Common Interest Communities and Homeowner Associations on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. My presentation and other information I submitted is on the Work Group meeting website here. In my presentation, I said that HOAs are more alike than different, that HOA board leaders want to be successful and that HOA homeowners have a right to benefit from living in an HOA. I also noted that both HOA board leaders and homeowners benefit from education. Policy-makers can and should enable HOA board leader education and support HOA homeowners. Finally, I recommended that the Working Group:
- Codify Minnesota HOA board leader education in law.
- Codify Minnesota HOA homeowner grievance mechanism in law.
- Promote certification of Minnesota HOA association managers.
- Strengthen HOA registration in the Minnesota Secretary of State.
- Strengthen regulatory oversight of Minnesota HOA insurance.
The Working Group on Common Interest Communities and Homeowner Associations (H.F. 5032) was authored by Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL, District 37B) and others. Repeated complaints by HOA homeowners to the Minnesota Attorney General and to certain legislators led to creation of the Work Group. The Work Group’s charge is to study the “prevalence and impact of common interest communities (CICs) and homeowner associations (HOAs) in Minnesota and how the existing laws regulating CICs and HOAs help homeowners and tenants access safe and affordable housing.” The primary existing law regulating Minnesota’s CICs and HOAs is the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act (MN Statute 515B).
Members of the Work Group include State legislators, and representatives of affordable housing, realtor services, legal services, HOA board members, HOA homeowners, Community Associations Institute (CAI), and local government. The Work Group will explore the number of HOAs and their residents, the role of governing documents, HOA fees and costs, how HOAs affect the housing market, and other topics. In practice, the Work Group is receiving presentations on a variety of topics related to HOA governance and operations and from homeowners’ describing their experience with HOA boards, association managers, attorneys and others.
You can subscribe to receive Work Group meeting information here. The Work Group invites written remarks and public comment at their meetings. If you are interested in speaking at a Work Group meeting contact Andrew George at andrew.george@lcc.mn.gov.
The Work Group has met several times since its first meeting on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. You can view Work Group meeting minutes, presentations, and other information here. Video recordings of Work Group meetings are posted on the LCC YouTube channel by searching for the Working Group on Common Interest Communities and Homeowner Associations.
I will provide updates on the Work Group in future newsletters and at our meetings.
