By Barbara Andersen · 1 November 2017
I have the story of two Home Owners’ Associations to share with you. Somehow my husband and I managed to simultaneously belong to two HOAs the last couple of years. The HOA for the home we have in Phoenix has a rule that none of the units may be rented. We saw this rule when we read the HOA documents before purchasing, and agreed to this stipulation. Our Phoenix HOA also does a great job of maintaining the common green areas, and last year opened an old well on the property so that we no longer have to irrigate with costly city water.
In 2015 we were able to fulfill a 40+ year dream of mine and purchase a home in Bozeman, Montana. Our plan was to live in the Bozeman home for 3 months each summer, and rent it the other nine months. Bozeman, being a college town, would make this arrangement very easy. The HOA president there assured us there would be no problem with this arrangement. The townhouse complex had plenty of rentals. We closed on this home in September of 2015.
In November, 2015 the Bozeman HOA had a vote to change the rules about renting. The vote was to limit the number of rentals in the complex to 25% of the units. Those units which were already rented would be “grandfathered in.” They could remain rentals until the owner moved back into the unit. (Remember, we want to move back in every summer.) After that the unit could only be a rental if the 25% total was not full. This new rental policy passed with flying colors! The HOA allowed us to rent our unit after living in it the summer of 2016, but after the summer of 2017 they would not allow us to rent it. So my home in my dream location was sold and closed last week.
My answer to the question, “Are HOAs good or bad?” is “Yes.”
First published in The Bodeen Team’s quarterly client newsletter, Third Quarter 2017.