August 2, 2025 | Mark Luis Foster

Local NBC affiliate KARE 11 waded into the stormy waters of HOA reform with this report they filed about the HOA Ombudsperson office that is being set up under the Department of Commerce. The reporter makes the point that “this is just the beginning of oversight that HOA’s really need.”

The story focuses on a woman who is now on an HOA board after having a dispute over a large assessment at her HOA. They also interview the author of HOA reform bills, Kristin Bahner, who said “HOAs don’t have much regulation in Minnesota” (MCIOA, anyone?).

This is fairly typical anti-HOA hit piece, citing property managers and associations as being the bad guys in all of this.

The drum beat on HOA reform continues. If we were to guess what the next legislative session will look like in St. Paul in January, it will likely be a HOA Reform 2.0, with some changes to the original bills and possibly even more restrictions upon HOA boards to do their jobs. We’ll have to wait and see.

Watch the report below.