HOA extra rental fees and no external repairs?

[bartleby]

I live in Utah. I have owned this condo as a rental for about 12 years and never had any issues with the HOA, until today. I pay my dues every month on time and make sure my tenants follow the HOA rules. Tonight we had our annual HOA meeting and they announced that the 6 rental units in the association will be charged an extra $25/month for their HOA fees. No vote or anything, just the new rule. They also said any outside damage to concrete or the exterior of the building will not be covered for those who own rentals.

I am confused because my HOA is intended to cover these costs and I can't see how the rental units cost the HOA any more than a normal unit.

First, is this legal? Second, is there anything I can do to attempt to get this reversed?

Thank you,
Justin

 

[LdiJ]

I live in Utah. I have owned this condo as a rental for about 12 years and never had any issues with the HOA, until today. I pay my dues every month on time and make sure my tenants follow the HOA rules. Tonight we had our annual HOA meeting and they announced that the 6 rental units in the association will be charged an extra $25/month for their HOA fees. No vote or anything, just the new rule. They also said any outside damage to concrete or the exterior of the building will not be covered for those who own rentals.

I am confused because my HOA is intended to cover these costs and I can't see how the rental units cost the HOA any more than a normal unit.

First, is this legal? Second, is there anything I can do to attempt to get this reversed?

Thank you,
Justin

Its quite possible that these new rules are not valid. I suggest that you get a consult with an attorney experienced in dealing with real estate and HOAs.

 

[festival]

Your condo assessments (dues) are determined in your condominium Declaration. Your share of the assessments cannot be changed without amending the declaration, which usually requires approval by a super-majority of the owners, sometimes even 100%.

You will also find the association's maintenance responsibilities in the Declaration, which usually include maintaining all of the common elements as a common expense. This should include the outside of the building.

Both the assessments and the maintenance responsibilities may also be in state law.

Owners associations do not like rentals for a lot of reasons, but they cannot change the percentage of your assessments or deny you maintenance.

I would start by finding the assessment and maintenance sections in your governing documents, and then talking to the board. You can also send copies to your board by certified mail and demand clarification.

 

[bartleby]

Thanks for the input. I found the CCRs and generally what I found was that all assessments, both regular and special, will be charged to all unit owners equally. There is nothing that allows this type of rental fee and based on the financial state of the HOA they won't be able to afford to amend it due to cost of legal fees. It also says the association is responsible for all common area repairs and each unit owner owns their equal percentage of the common area. They can't restrict repairs to rental units.

Overall, I'm realizing they were just hoping to sneak one by and not have anyone say anything. Even when they got called out on it, they didn't have any substantive to back their reasoning.

I decided I would just put it to bed. I am having my lawyer write them a letter to explain what they are doing is not legal based on the current CCRs and association legislation in Utah.

Thanks again for the help

 

[cp10204]

Hi, did you make any progress on this? My HOA in Ogden just sent out a letter with similiar rental fees. I'm going to ignore it and see what they do because Utah Code 57-8a-201 says owners can be charged their share of common expenses. Also, my tennants are using the same resources that I would be using if I live there.

 

[FarmerJ]

Cp10204 It is better that you make your own thread for this problem Please try this , copy your post , then paste it into say word pad or note pad , then use the edit feature and I think there you should see delete and remove your post then start your own and copy n paste what you need to to your new posting.

 

[bartleby]

Mine is in Roy, maybe they are all conspiring... I actually had my brother (who is a lawyer) write them a letter pointing out there was no legal grounds for charging an extra fee to the rentals and restricting repairs to common area in front of rentals. They didn't follow the majority vote process to add such a thing to the CCRs.

They actually responded to my brother and said they were not going to pursue increasing the fees right now, but they may in the future. The issues is my HOA has a deficit and they determined they could just charge more to the 6 rentals vs increasing the HOA fee for the whole. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of the HOA, though I realize it is necessary.