Pool pass fees

I need help on a pool pass issue. When the homes were first built in our community each new homeowner was given 2 pool passes and not that people are moving out or being foreclosed, the previous residents are not handing over the pool passes. New homeowners who have current fees paid in full were sent etters that the pool will be opened for the Summer and that they had access because their community fees were current. The issue is you can not enter w/o a pool pass and we charge a fee to replace them of $25. One homeowner is stuck on the fact that all original occupants were given the passes and feels they should be extended the same courtesy. Has anyone had to deal with this particular issue??

Dawn,

What I have see that is similar is from my experience in a gated community. Original residents were provided with two gate passes that would activate the gates into the community. Without them, you could only use the main entrance where there was a security guard 24/7. Upon selling your home, you were required to either provide the passes to the new owner at closing, or turn them in to the association before you left and you would be given a receipt for them. At the closing, the title agent knew enough to ask for the gate passes or the receipt. If you couldn't provide them, you had to write a check to the buyer on the spot for the replacement cost of the passes. The title agent would notify the association that the gate passes had changed hands, and so they were kept activated. If the gate passes didn't change hands, the association would deactivate them after a period of time. If you provided a receipt for the passes at closing, the new owner could turn in the receipt for a new set of passes at no cost. Otherwise, the new owner would have to pay the replacement cost (which the new owner had already received from the seller at closing).

It may sound complicated, but it really was simple.

1. There were only two passes issued at no cost.
2. All passes were accounted for, or they were deactivated. So, a former owner couldn't hold on to the passes, because they would be deactivated. It wouldn't do a new owner any good to get the passes from the former owner and claim that he didn't get them because they would be deactivated and he would have to pay for replacements out of his pocket.

I would think you could do something similar with pool passes. (For this reason, passes are better than keys because you can't deactivate keys.)

There are some great ideas on how to handle this...my two cents are I think it is unfair to charge the new homeowner for passes when the HOA didn't take the necessary steps to get them back from the old homeowners. In that case I feel the HOA should eat the cost.