Homeowner Association Fees are Outrageous!

For those of us in Texas, HOA's are the rule in any city of size. Most are managed by large, professional management companies and are added value to a community. They really help keep home values up and act as the fearless neighbor when it's time to tell another resident to keep the brken down car off the lawn, remove the Christmas decorations in May, and cut the lawn to keep it at least under 6 inches.

But, by now most agents have also seen the meteoric rise in fees that are charged when a seller needs to move. There has always been a transfer fee to cover the administrative changing of the name, even though the address remains the same. OK, a $100 fee maybe can be justified. Then a resale certificate needs to be provided, but again there is a cost. So, ok maybe another $100 from the seller to provide this to a buyer.

But it has gone to the extreme. HOA management compaies are now charging for code compliance inspections prior to closing (maybe they should be doing this all along?) and charging up to $300! Transfer fees are increasing and we just had one HOA charge $300 to the buyer to register! And the resale certificate and CCR copies are the real killer. $275 for the resale certificate, and $200 for a copy of the CCRs!

Many members of our board, SABOR, are up in arms and we need the legislature to reign in these unregulated companies. However, it has come to our attention that one of our powerful politicians owns one of these companies! Until I have more details, I am not going to name names, but we need help. If an HOA is mandatory, it needs some sort of regulation. Continuing to accept these outrageous costs is only going to make it easier for them to increase in the future.

Please, if you are a Texas Realtor(R), get the conversation going and let's try to get some tread on this issue. We know our legislators won't act until it is a real public issue, so we need our buyers and sellers to make noise as well. If you sell a home, or are purchasing, look at the costs and ask why!

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Latest Lending Rules

Here is the latest on the new lending rules enacted and in place as of 1 August:

In 2008, The Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) were passed by Congress and the Federal Reserve Board published the regulations under the Truth in Lending Act. These regulations were written to provide a more transparent, level and fair regulation of the real estate industry; to add additional steps to help prevent deceptive lending practices; and to protect consumers by making them more informed --and therefore more confident--in their home financing choices.
HERA - Amends the Truth in Lending Act (TIL) implemented through Regulation Z. Has a number of provisions including the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act which changes the Truth In Lending requirements surrounding early and final disclosures to home buyers and addresses the timing of when fees can be charged.
HERA applies to:
* ALL Loans registered on July 30, 2009 and thereafter
* ALL Primary Residence and Second Home Transactions
* ALL Purchase and Refinance Transactions
HERA changes:
*Collection of Fees - No fees, other than an actual and reasonable credit report fee, may be collected prior to the borrower’s receipt of the initial disclosure from the lender. Disclosures are considered “received” three full business days after mailing.
*The borrower must be provided a copy of the appraisal a minimum of three business days before closing. The appraisal is considered “received” three business days after mailing.
* Business days for HERA timing purposes include Saturdays and exclude Sundays and Federal Holidays.
*The absolute minimum number of days to be able to close a transaction once HERA is implemented is 7 business days from initial TIL Disclosure.
*An APR increase of more than .125% from the initial TIL requires re-disclosure of the new and final APR via the TIL disclosure a minimum of 6 business days prior to the closing date.