Originally aired: Feb. 9, 20223
Some people love them, some hate ‘em, but almost everyone has an opinion about homeowner associations.
They’re the fastest-growing form of residential governance in the country, up 30% in the last decade. The average monthly HOA fee is about $250, and in Nevada, more than a 500,000 homeowners live in HOAs. And there are 3,460 HOAs throughout the state.
People often wonder what an HOA does; what do members pay for?
And the oversight HOAs provide — on everything from the color of your house to yard plants to speed limits — really rubs some people the wrong way.
Then again, some wouldn’t live anywhere but with an HOA.
Christina Snow is the executive director of the Nevada chapter of the Community Associations Institute. She joined State of Nevada host Joe Schoenmann on Thursday morning along with Chuck Niggemeyer, the past president of CAI and an elected homeowner member of the Summerlin West council; Jason Wyatt, the HOA ombudsman for the state; and Charvez Foger, the deputy administrator with the Nevada Real Estate Division.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
On who the HOA is
FOGER: A lot of people don't understand what the board does; they're elected and they're not being paid, they're volunteering, and most of them are homeowners. They're committed to what's best for that community so a lot of people come to them looking for guidance and things, but they're pretty much in the same bracket as the homeowner their self because that's what they're there for.
On what issues the state hears about
WYATT: To be honest with you, the top issue right now probably would be fiduciary duty. It seems like the catch-all phrase where people don't think that the board is doing their job and protecting the homeowners and their rights. So we get that kind of as a catch-all of the main concern, but we do get other complaints, requests for records, they don't feel they're getting the documents they request in timely manner. Meetings, they want to know about the meetings, they want to know about minutes, they want to know about a lot of things. So there's a plethora of calls that we get in and complaints that we get, but like I said, and that changes literally month to month.
On what CAI Nevada is working on in the legislature
SNOW: We have a legislative action committee that's under our umbrella, actually national's umbrella. But they do lobby for us up in Carson City. We have a lobbyist. Members of our chapter are on the committee. One of the issues that they're dealing with is manager protection. We have all heard about the unfortunate situation that happened in Atlanta to that one community manager that was killed on site. So there's there's protection in the workplace and that's an issue. And it's the one nice thing I like to see is they're working for everybody. It's not just our members, it's for everybody in the state. It's not just CAI members. It's anyone that works in a public place. It's an issue of our times now.
On if your HOA can force you to renovate or paint
NIGGEMEYER: In their governing documents ... like the HOA I live in, for instance, painting of the homes is covered every month in the assessment. A certain amount is set aside, by the way in a reserve fund, we cover the painting of the house on the outside. If someone can't afford to paint their house, you know if they are in that type of nature, a lot of that way they are responsible for their own painting when it's due. Unless it's in dire need of it. I don't know of anything that can force someone to do that at all. They obviously could get an exception and probably could get a loan if that was addressed. And I think that's something the board would have to do to decide with the membership.
Guests: Christina Snow, executive director, Nevada chapter of the Community Associations Institute; Chuck Niggemeyer, past president, Community Associations Institute; Jason Wyatt, HOA ombudsman, state of Nevada; Charvez Foger, deputy administrator, Nevada Real Estate Division
