July 27, 2025 | Mark Luis Foster

Last week I was interviewed by PRX, a public radio source that describes itself thusly:

PRX was launched in 2003 through a collaboration between the Station Resource Group and Atlantic Public Media, an inventive public radio production and training organization whose work also includes Transom.org. Today we serve independent producers and organizations by helping them connect to their most engaged, supportive audiences.

I honestly had never heard of this radio source, but I gladly accepted the invitation to discuss the new Minnesota HOA Ombudsman program, which launched this month following passage in the most recent legislative session. The interview is intermingled with an announcement about some new cancer treatment center in central MN.

I did a fair amount of explaining about the ombudsman program and like any media interview, you never know what they’ll use. It seems the reporter was trying to juxtapose my rather negative light on this legislation against that of HOA homeowners, who likely don’t mind that they now have a number to put on their speed dial (or will apparently have one, at some point) to complain that their HOA yards weren’t mowed or that their HOA driveway didn’t get plowed. I do wish the state luck with this endeavor.

If you don’t know much about this new bill, read our blog on it HERE.

I’ve yet to hear how they are going to set up this new ombudsman office, which is part of the Department of Commerce. Forgive me for being dubious, but a state-run ombudsman  office that sits between homeowners and HOA Boards is a recipe for either comedy or disaster, given the kind of complaints they’re likely to receive. The person in the chair, whoever that may be, will have their proverbial hands full. I hope we get to see the data collected by this taxpayer funded complaint department but I’m not holding my breath.

You can listen to the radio interview that I did HERE.