HOA transfer fees

[Bob H.]

I own three homes in two homeowner associations that have exorbitant fees charged when homes are sold. In one neighborhood, the management company charges at least $500 (and won't say exactly how much) for emailing HOA documents and a statement of the account to a title company and then creating the new owner's account. In another neighborhood, the management company charges $490 for the same service and the association tacks on $300, financing the association disproportionately from homes that change hands.

The clerical work involved in these transfers probably takes no more than 30 minutes, but homeowners are stuck paying because title companies won't close escrow without the HOA managers' documents. In my experience, association board members do not pay attention to this and are unresponsive to complaints, because they don't like to question the management companies. Does anyone have a solution to these ever-growing charges?

[Michael L.]

I recently closed on a townhouse with an HOA, and while I feel that the monthly fee is quite reasonable for the services provided, I was definitely NOT very happy with the $2000 new ownership fee (although they claim this is in the "capital improvements" budget). Even worse though was how rude the company was when I tried to get information from them as a prospective tenant; I immediately filed a complaint with the supervisors.

The financials should be public. I took a look at mine and found that about 25% of my monthly fee is going towards some type of administration. Mostly wasted money, but nothing I can't live with. At the end of the day I just had to factor in the costs and decide whether or not it was still a good deal.