- Utah's HOA ombudsman Erin Rider addresses rising complaints and costs in HOAs.
- A new working group will explore changes to prevent issues like Florida's collapse.
- Rider's office offers nonbinding advice; HOAs often prevail in disputes, but not always.
SALT LAKE CITY — In Utah, homeowners' associations aren't just common, they're nearly unavoidable. Data from the National Association of Homebuilders shows just four out of every five new homes built in the Mountain West belong to an HOA.
With lots of HOAs come lots of complaints, said Erin Rider, who became the first director of Utah's Office of Homeowners' Association ombudsman this past September.
"It's been a wild ride," she said of taking the helm of the new office, which gets about one request a day from either a homeowner or a Utah HOA seeking an opinion.
KSL often hears from members who believe their HOAs are too intrusive in telling people how to paint their homes, landscape their lawns, and park their cars — among many other examples. Others complain their HOA doesn't do enough — letting pools, recreation areas and even roofs get run down.
"One of the biggest things we hear is record requests," Rider said when I asked her what sort of things she hears from homeowners.
Namely, records requests from homeowners seeking transparency or trying to resolve disputes over their HOA's rules.
There are also some big money issues.
"Reserves is a huge issue," Rider said.
Without enough extra money in reserve to brace for unexpected events or major projects, homeowners in a Utah HOA could get slammed with new mandatory fees.
"We've seen special assessments as high as $65,000," Rider said. "We've heard of others as high as $100,000."
Poorly managed HOAs can also be disastrous. For example, in the 2021 collapse of a 12-story beachfront condo in Florida that killed 98 people, investigators have largely pointed to poor maintenance by an underfunded HOA.
Here in Utah, less than a year in, Rider's office is so busy that the state is launching a new working group to examine how and what needs to change about HOAs.
"Maybe it highlights some trends and some issues that we need to address so we don't become Florida, right?"
To be clear, Rider and her office do not have the authority to force anyone to do anything. The Office of Homeowners' Association Ombudsman provides nonbinding advisory opinions. Their job is to help everyone navigate rules and laws now instead of fighting it out in court later.
I asked her, based on the complaints they've gotten so far, who is usually right — homeowners or HOAs. Usually, it's the HOA that prevails, Rider said. But not always.
