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CarlosC1

Posts:0

11/28/2008 4:17 PM
I not sure how to get this info. I would like to obtail the most detailed financial info for our HOA. We are a community that the developer is still building and the very brief financial statments dont give us any idea where the money is being spent. How can I obtail this. In addition are all HOA considered 501c3's None profit organizations and if this is the case, cant we request the info through the Goverment. Any info anyone can give would be great.

SusanW1
(Michigan)

Posts:2316

11/28/2008 5:45 PM
Carlos- 501c3 corporations are charities. Your HOA is not a charity, it is another kind of not for profit. If your complex is STILL under the control of the developer, then you must comply with how he runs the board, according to the documents. Do you have board meetings? Are treasurer's reports given out showing the revenue and expenses? What specific questions do you have?

CarlosC1

Posts:0

11/28/2008 6:29 PM
I guess they do hold meetings they just decided to raise our dues. We as the homeowners feel traped. The developement has been under comstruction for more than 3 years and is less than 40% complete. I just want to ensure they our using our fund appriopriate and that the developer is not making us pay for portion they are suppose to pick up. I looked at thier summary of expenses and I would like additional information on them just to verify evreything is in order. I would rather take the inicitive now instead of when they go into bankruptcy. No offense but this builder is not the most honest and I would just like to verify that they are doing things correctly thats all. If it is a non profit arent all thier record public information?

SusanW1
(Michigan)

Posts:2316

11/28/2008 6:52 PM
"If it is a non profit arent all thier record public information?" No, this is for charities only. It's called "public disclosure" and sometimes you can find their Form 990 on line. But back to you . . . you can ask the treasurer questions, but he/she does not have to tell you much. Do you have anyone on the board that you trust? Can you ask them for more info?

RobertR1
(South Carolina)

Posts:2525

11/28/2008 7:11 PM
Carlos, I think what you are asking is if you, personally, can ask your developer for a more detailed financial report. First Susan knows her organizations so pay attention to what she provides. My answer to your question is yes, you can ask anything you want. Not likely you will even get a response from developer and no way is he going to elaborate on anything he puts out, he don't have to. You could hire a lawyer and try to make some waves and maybe get a favorable court ruling, but is would be costly. You can gather up a bunch of owners in your group and this would spread the cost around and be looked at more favorably by a judge, most likely. But first things first: Do you have a BOD? Who is on this BOD? Do they hold meetings? Do they take minutes? Are they published after approval of BOD ? Do they publish financial statements? Can you speak at these meetings? Have you spoke at these meetings? What result did you have? Do you know other owners interested enough to get involved? Do you know your documents completely? Do you have state statutes concerning associations like yours? Have you looked at state business filing to see if you are listed and found out how you are listed. Have you been to courthouse and looked up the registration of your Corp or whatever at court house? You do the above, and you will be able to answer your questions probably better that us. What you want, and probably deserve to have, will not be easy to obtain, but you and your owners do have rights, you just need to know more than you know.

CarlosC1

Posts:0

11/28/2008 7:24 PM
Thank you for all the information it looks like HOA are not the easiest thing to deal with. I am more than eager to learn I just need to know where I can obtain law, rule regs. Any where you could point me to learn Colorado HOA rule is apreciated. I have talked with the community and most if not all share my concerns. Again thanks for the information.

CarlosC1

Posts:0

11/28/2008 7:29 PM
Oh one last question I had. We have no lines for parking they are all faded and and they are telling us it is not in the budget ( not even handicape lines are visable anymore. I am more than willing to do the work and paint them myself. Dont they have to maintain these. In addition we do not have a handicae ramp and they are telling us it is not in the budget to fix this. Isnt that required by law? As you can see I have lot of questions and no answers. Thanks.

RobertR1
(South Carolina)

Posts:2525

11/28/2008 10:30 PM
Carlos, Don't know how hard this may seem to you, but look at the top of this page on the upper right area, and you will see a the word "search". Click on this and type in the search blank space the word Colorado. You should find a bunch of entries about HOA in Colorado. Carlo my friend you would do better taking my list and answering the questions and posting them back up here. I suspect you have never done any homework about this at all. You will need to. You mentioned there were others as concerned as you are, get them together for a meeting and get some organization and formulate a mission (what you want to know) and (how you are going to get there). To even consider specific items at this early stage, given your depth of lack of knowledge about the basics, is no step to productivity and won't get you much. Talk it out with your co-owners and don't be surprised if you only get a few people to show up. Consider it a start and go forward.

MaryA1
(Arizona)

Posts:2504

11/29/2008 10:06 AM
Carlos, Regarding the type of corp your assn is: Some HOAs are organized as nonprofit corp. under the IRS 501(c) designation; however, most are just regualar nonprofits. The declarant can best answer this question for you. A 501(C) corp will file fed. taxes on a form 990; while a regular nonprofit HOA will file fed taxes on a form 1120-H (specific to HOAs) or form 1120 (for corps.). Many states have a state agency that oversees all corporations and require an annual report to be filed. In AZ the Corp. Commission is the gov. entity and the annual reports, which include a financial statement, can be viewed on the Corp. Comm. website. Check with CO state gov. to find out what the requirements are in CO. If you want more specific info that is not shown on a financial statement you will have to contact the declarant and request financial records. Some states have laws stating an HOA member has a right to obtain the records of the assn. Again, check CO HOA laws to see what your rights are in this regard. Also, I would suggest thoroughly reading all your gov. documents to find out exactly what the declarant can and cannot do while in control of the assn. It's not uncommon for the declarant to have certain rights while he is in control that no longer apply after he turns over control to the members.

KirkW1
(Texas)

Posts:1190

11/29/2008 5:49 PM
If you want to see more detailed financial information , then the first step is to ask for it. If the association doesn't provide the information to you then the next step is to check your covenants and bylaws. There is a good chance that they specify the records be available to membership. If not, then check your state laws. At least some states require this information to be disclosed to residents who ask for it. You may not be able to do much about the decisions being made, but in most cases you do have a right to see where the money is being spent.

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