How To Handle: Realtor provided Incorrect HOA Amount

[Race Jeet]

Hi everyone,

I need some advice. I recently closed one of the property deal. During my property deal process I had provided information that the monthly HOA amount will be $100 (mentioned by listing agent on brochure and Redfin listing). Now I moved to my new home but now management mentioned the monthly HOA due is $165. We purchased this property as it has low HOA but looks like listing agent provided wrong information in the listing detail.

When i asked this question to listing agent during my closing process then she forwarded me email that she had conversation with HOA management and in that it was mentioned that from April 2022 it will be $100 monthly due but now they are revising it to $165.

Now my question is who will be responsible for this and can i take any legal action against listing agent in this case.

Thanks,

[Scott Johnson]

Investigate the HOA to confirm if there was an increase that was voted on and approved by the HOA membership. Sometimes they can be "on the table, but not yet approved." This is a material fact that should be disclosed.

You can get made and run headlong into legal action, but those fees add up to $780 for the year. Court costs, in the event you lose, will be far more.  

I'd start by filing a complaint with your state's real estate commission and go from there. 

[Matt Devincenzo]

It's not the agent's responsibilty to ensure the information is correct, it is yours. So this is on you since you accepted what was provided. If you were interested in the monthly dues that significantly, then you should have asked the HOA directly. So you take this as a lesson learned, and do better on the next one.

[Kristin Kiddy]

I'm not quite sure why you or your realtor didn't request a copy of all the HOA documents, rules and regs, etc. In Florida we have an HOA rider which is required... I'm not sure if you are saying that something like that was filled out wrong. If you just took someones word for it without something in writing, well not a good idea ever. Trust but verify!

[Bill B.]

Request the documents? In most areas you are required to get a copy and sign a form saying you read the documents and agree to them. If you didn’t get the dox and acknowledge them check your local requirements. It does sound like you know they raised on April 1st, but again, luckily they are so low. GL and lesson learned. 

[Matt M.]

Two lessons learned the hard way-

#1 make sure to do your own due diligence 

#2 never buy anything with a HOA

[Caroline Gerardo]

You are responsible to contact the HOA Management company for: CCR's, Budget, Bylaws, and upcoming changes... HOA fees ALWAYS go up. HOA's get in lawsuits, HOA's become unwarrantable when more investors buy that 51% owners, The Master insurance policy goes up every year. Things have to be repaired. If you had a lender they would have known what the monthly fee was. The listing agent does not represent you. I don't think you have any claim

[Alyssa McEwan]

@Race Jeet

This is where “Trust but always verify” comes to play.

[Race Jeet]

Thanks everyone for all the useful Information and suggestions. The good news is after multiple follow up I got update from HOA management in written note that the HOA for 2022 will be $110 per month (starting from April 1st).

[Race Jeet]

Another issue identified when I looked at homeowner insurance policy. Before purchase I asked listing agent about the roof life and when it got installed then agent mentioned it is installed 10-12 yrs ago according to the county record but in my insurance policy it is mentioned that the roof is installed 22yrs ago. Why agent was lying to sell the property and providing false information? What are the options I have now to deal with this situation?

[Matt Devincenzo]

It's not the listing agents responsibility to provide you this information. You need to go obtain this yourself if it is that important. There's a saying 'trust but verify'. If the agent said 10-12 years your next question is, do you have documentation or where can I verify that?

And again this isn't part of the agents responsibility, this is part of your DD. You can go do this research yourself or pay someone to do it, but the agent has no responsibility to. They probably should have just said they didn't know when you asked to avoid accusations like this.

[Joe Norman]

It sounds like the OP was working directly with the Listing Agent. In addition to some of the other useful suggestions posted above, I would also add that inexperienced buyers should always be represented by a Buyer's Agent. I suspect that a lot of these issues could have been avoided if a professional was involved who was there to protect the buyer's internet.

[Bruce Lynn]

The realtor does the best they can typically with the information they have, but this is not always easily verified by them.

In my experience with HOA communities, including condos and townhomes is that the association will provide you with a copy of the Rules, Regs, CCR, etc.

They will also provide a financial statement or resale certificate of the association which will include the current dues, back dues owed, any special assessments, thing like that.

This is typically a document you would get to review and then bring up any objections or cancel the purchase at that time if you don't like what you see.

I guess that could depend on the contract and how that was written.

HOA dues can change, Taxes and Insurance can change, Rules and Regs can change.

All that is beyond the control of your agent, the title company, and management company.

Not a fun situation, but not sure you have a claim against others in this case.

Roof ages also should be on the seller's disclosure, but may not always be available or known to the seller on a condo. Many inspectors also don't inspect the roofs on condos...some do, to me they should, because if it is old, or there are other items around that have deferred maintenance like a central boiler, chiller, cracks in the parking garage, foundation and drainage issues, things like that. YOU are the HOA, if things need fixed or replaced, you may have special assessments to pay for them....or you can just vote to push them down the pike, until you get a situation like the building in Florida where it ends up falling down and killing a lot of people.

[Tanner Connelly]

Call the HOA to confirm OR pull the MLS listing. Those are your two big options. Never rely on a realtor to do someone else's job.

[Dan Maciejewski]

This would highly depend on your state and jurisdiction.  It sounds like you have buyer's remorse and are grasping at "legal gotchas" to get unwind the purchase.

In my state, it's buyer beware. And the buyer's responsibility to obtain the HOA docs during the document review period, and determine all building stats and get insurance quotes during due diligence.

I assume that you paid cash if you're only looking at the insurance policy after closing.  A financed deal would have required insurance to begin on the day of close.

The answer, in most cases, to the question of, "who will be responsible?" can really only be you. There's nobody that will swoop in and pay your HOA dues or make sure your insurance is where you want it. Generally, teh time to verify everything is before you write the big check and take possession. Of course, that is what lawyers are for, so you can always ask an attorney in your local jurisdiction.

[Race Jeet]

Let me be clear here, for my property HOA just maintaining common amenities and taking care of yard cleaning. The property is on individual lot and HOA has nothing to do with the building roof maintenance. Now moving to my actual question, I personally text the listing agent with the question about the roof age and got reply "that according to county record it is 10-12 yrs. old". My question is why they lied on this and provided false information? Due to listing agent written confirmation on roof age I moved forward with this deal. Now insurance has provided the documents and it was clearly mentioned that the roof age is 22 yrs. How i can resolve this dispute? Do I need to take a legal advice, and Is it worth to spend time and energy on this?

[Colleen F.]

@Race Jeet  Not worth the time/energy.  If you are saying the county records say it is 22 years old, if the seller has proof otherwise then get it corrected otherwise not much to do.   You can complain about the relator if you want to take some action but it isn't going to get you anywhere.