The Senate hearing for SF1750, the bill that seeks to “reform HOAs” in Minnesota, was held today and I was one of many in-person testifiers who sat through and participated in the proceedings. Due to the nature of the bill and some controversial portions of it, there was much interest among testifiers, so the public was limited to two minutes of testimony per person. Many others contributed testimony in writing, which afforded much more eloquent responses; I urge all of our members to seek them out and read them. This was much different from the House hearing, where HOALN’s Lynn Boergerhoff testified two weeks ago. The Senate hearing was held in the new Senate Office Building, a very posh office complex that sits right next to the capitol building in St. Paul. There was much more seating than in the House hearing, which was held inside the capital building itself.
Finn Jacobsen of SJJ Law (one of our network sponsors and a frequent speaker at our chapters) also testified. We both took the angle that while the bill has many things going for it, like improved transparency and accountability, we took the opportunity to point out the downsides of the legislation (noted in a previous post), which could add costs to already high HOA fees all while potentially destroying any chance of well qualified residents from running for a future board position due to unnecessary requirements.
I’ve included my testimony below. The entire hearing can be watched at the link, with public testimony starting at the 1:26 mark and my testimony (followed by Finn’s) at the 1:33 mark. VIDEO STREAM
—–
TESTIMONY BY MARK L FOSTER, HOA LEADERSHIP NETWORK, MARCH 13, 2025
MADAM CHAIR, MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE, SENATOR LUCERO, THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TESTIFY.
MY NAME IS MARK FOSTER, AND I AM WITH THE HOA LEADERSHIP NETWORK. WE REPRESENT NEARLY ONE THOUSAND METRO-AREA HOAs AND THEIR BOARD LEADERS THROUGH REGULAR EDUCATION MEETINGS, COLLABORATION AND RESEARCH.
I WEAR TWO HATS TODAY – THE ONE FOR THE NETWORK AND THE OTHER AS A BOARD LEADER, AS I AM ON AN HOA BOARD IN LAKEVILLE.
FROM THOSE TWO PERSPECTIVES, I CAN SAY THAT LEGISLATION THAT BRINGS ATTENTION TO HOAs IN TERMS OF INCREASED TRANSPARENCY, BETTER ACCOUNTABILITY AND MITIGATION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IS WELCOMED. THESE ARE CONCERNS THAT NEED ADDRESSING. HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME COMPONENTS THAT WE ASK YOU TO RECONSIDER.
FIRST, HOA FEES ARE ALREADY AT UNCOMFORTABLY HIGH LEVELS, DRIVEN BY INSURANCE PREMIUMS AND SEVERAL YEARS OF INFLATIONARY PRESSURES ON LABOR AND MATERIALS. THESE HAVE DRIVEN UP HOA FEES TO HISTORICALLY HIGH LEVELS. MANY NETWORK MEMBERS OFTEN COMPLAIN THAT THEIR HOA FEES NOW EXCEED THEIR MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENTS. ANY COMPONENT OF LEGISLATION THAT ADDS MORE COSTS TO SKYROCKETING MONTHLY FEES MUST BE RECONSIDERED.
SECOND, I AM ON MY FOURTH YEAR AS A BOARD LEADER, BECAUSE WHEN MY FIRST TERM ENDED, NO ONE ELSE RAN FOR MY SEAT. THIS IS A COMMON THEME. INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION THAT CHILLS AN ALREADY STRAINED POOL OF POTENTIAL BOARD CANDIDATES DUE TO BURDENSOME REQUIREMENTS WILL ALL BUT KILL VOLUNTEERISM TO THESE CRITICAL POSITIONS.
LASTLY, I WANT TO CONVEY TO YOU THAT OUR NETWORK SEES THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN BOARD POSITIONS AS SMART, RESPONSIBLE, WELL EDUCATED VOLUNTEERS WHO JUST WANT TO DO THE RIGHT THING FOR THEIR HOA PROPERTIES. WE ASK THAT YOU NOT LET A FEW BAD APPLES TAINT THE ENTIRE HOA INDUSTRY WITH LEGISLATION THAT IS OVERLY BURDENSOME TO LEADERS OR MORE COSTLY FOR THE 1.3 MILLION RESIDENTS WHO RESIDE IN MINNESOTA HOAs.
THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TESTIFY.
