Documentation at 'closing' for HOA Initiation and Dues

In the state of Georgia....

We recently took over our HOA from the builder, and released the management company.

How do we make sure a person buying a house is aware of the initiation fee and yearly dues? All this needs to be paid at closing, with the yearly dues being prorated.

Thx.

There is no formal requirement in Kentucky that the HOA send or provide any documents, much less the deed restrictions or notice of annual assessments, to new buyers.

In Kentucky it's the onus of the seller and/or the title attorney to do that. The only time we get nudged is when there is an existing lien on the property and the closing attorney calls to get the payoff.

The Catch-22 there is that among the gazillion piles of papers that new buyers sign and initial their lives away on is one that contains only one small paragraph stating something to the effect that there MIGHT be covenants tied to the land and there MIGHT be mandatory HOA membership, complete with assessments, but that the buyer waives notice from the Title attorney (or releases the title attorney from any responsibility of providing those prior to sale).

And the only reason I know this is because in the process of purchasing a home for my dad, this little slip of paper popped up.

Now, it might also have been there when my husband and I purchased our current home years ago, but we probably didn't digest what it said and initialed it anyway.

THIS time I read it and asked the closing attorney what it meant. He said basically if there's an HOA with dues and/or covenants then the title attorney can't be held responsible for providing that information.

That was critically important in this case, because my dad was NOT going to come back from Colorado to live in a deed restricted community. So we had to stop the closing and make sure to get a full search done to make sure there weren't any lurking deed restrictions anywhere.

Greg:

I don't know that there is ever a good way to figure this out...the realtor should get that information and a good one will ask those questions and tell the prospective buyer...in some states the disclosure form asks what HOA fees are and the seller ethically needs to put that info out there.

Greg,

Kudos to you and your fellow board members for wanting to put the right procedure in place to ensure that all the members of your assn know exactly what they've bought into.

You may want to contact a title agency to see if there are procedures already in place to obtain this info on HOA properties. I believe all title companys would be bound by the same procedure. You could also contact the R.E. Dept to ascertain what requirements are made of R.E. agents when listing/selling HOA properties. Absent any regulations or procedures from either, I would suggest that each time you see a property for sale you contact the listing agent and make them aware of the presence of an HOA. Let them know you will provide copies of all gov. docs. to a potential buyer and ask them to inform the title company that the HOA should be informed when closing is scheduled. The title co. should know how much to collect for assessments from the buyer and the seller and if there are any outstanding liens against the seller that should be collected at closing. If you live in a small community, this won't be too hard a task; however, if you're in a rather large community -- good luck.

I understand GA doesn't have very many HOA laws. Perhaps a disclosure law is one that should be pushed for!

In Florida, any association documents, fees and declarations are included in the DISCLOSURE documents when a seller fills in the original contract for the sale.It is the Teal Estate agents responsibility to list them on the paperwork. Title companys who do the searches also have any fees or dues owed. Banks when they fill out the loan applications for the buyers also include the dues and original initiation into the associations. Many loan institutions now hold assessments and dues in escrow so that they are not stuck with these huge charges by associations in the foreclosures.