H.O.A. Members Are → Not ← Neighbors

the fact that after developer turnover all HOA members are neighbors

- rlinquanti, "HOA Members Are Neighbors", September 30 2023

Wrong.

Some H.O.A.s -- especially condominium associations -- have a high number of non-resident investor owners. *

Non-resident owners can make up a large plurality, or even a majority, of owners.

Some owners are even corporate entities and not natural persons.

The interests of non-resident owners do not necessarily coincide with the interests of the resident-owners who live in H.O.A.-burdened communities.

• e.g., For investment owners, H.O.A. fees are a tax write-off and/or a cost passed on to their renters. But for resident owners, especially seniors and others living on a fixed-income, rising H.O.A. fees represents a hardship that could make their home unaffordable.
• e.g., An investment group that owns a majority of units can -- and do -- take control of an H.O.A., with disastrous results for the residents.
• e.g., An owner trying to organize neighbors to take some form of collective action will have a difficult (and expensive) time doing so when a large plurality of so-called "neighbors" are not residents. I speak from personal experience. **

What percentage of owners in each H.O.A. is a non-resident investor owner? A corporate entity?

The State of Colorado does not track such information, because our policy makers do not want to know the answer.

At the very least, our legislators should consider making it illegal for non-resident owners to be Directors & Officers of so-called "Community Associations" / "Common Interest Communities". *** Which are really corporations, not communities. But if we are going to pretend that H.O.A. corporations are communities, they should at the minimum be governed by those who actually live in the community.

* As far as I know this has not yet become an issue with single-family home H.O.A. corporations. Yet. But with private equity investment firms like BlackRock and Vanguard buying large swathes of housing, give it a decade or two.

** For example, click → here ← for a "Motion of Continuance" I filed on behalf of owners opposed to amending the Declaration. In most of the cases where the non-resident owner was a corporate entity, I didn't even know who to contact. Organizing owners, especially when a large plurality -- I think it was above 40% -- are non-residents, to take collective action is something I never want to do again.

*** This policy proposal should also be applicable to Metro Districts.