Among other things, please create clean, simple, truthful MD Home Sale Disclosures for Buyers

I have been an HOA Homeowner for 31 years in 5 different associations, a past HOA Board Member, a current HOA Delegate, and am a member of a number of HOA organizations.

Two years ago, I sold my dream home in the Denver Metro because of a rogue HOA Board that upended my life, costing me $68,000 in expenses and adding $50,000 of new mortgage obligation. If I could have found a home not in an HOA that would work for me, I would have purchased it.

The new home I settled for has 2 HOAs, one now with multiple construction defect lawsuits and the other just coming out of a pricey lawsuit, homeowners vs. the HOA. Yes, before closing I read 738 pages of incomplete and out of date HOA documents. (The seller paid well over $1,000 for those documents that were wrong and upon which I based my purchase decision.) There were no Metro District disclosure documents.

I knew my property taxes here were going to be 60% higher and I recall vaguely thinking the related Metro District infrastructure debt must be close to being paid since the planned community is largely built out. Then I learned that my Metro District was in the headlines for bond debt financing issues.

Eventually I found a website about my Metro District. My neighbor and I began writing and calling them. Here’s all we really wanted to know as new homeowners.

• how much debt was left,
• what exactly the money was spent on
• and when, and after 37 years of bond debt would the tax payer obligation be met

Our calls and email messages went unanswered.

It turns out that all 5 of the Board members also work for the same development company, coincidentally the same developers that created my HOAs. None of them are homeowners in my District.

I learned that there was an election coming up for the MD Board. I wrote asking for a self-nomination form. They dragged their feet indicating that I had to show them first why I was qualified and then they’d put the form in the USPS mail. I called them on it and they begrudgingly sent me the form.

I was elected by acclamation much to their dismay, and was sworn in May 2, displacing a Denver Development company Director and. I wrote to them with questions. They declined to answer. I wrote them again, this time copying the press. They responded with “oops” rhetoric and sent me one document. I persevered.

For 37 years the Metro District meetings were held in Denver, 24 miles from most of our residents. Colorado Statutes require the meetings to be held in the District, or not more than 20 miles from the District. I asked that the meetings be held in our District.

I also asked that instead of combining our District meeting with 5 other Metro District meetings that they be separated. They grumbled, but, eventually accommodated separate meetings for 2 of the six Metro District budget meetings because there were homeowners on the Boards for the first time. All six meetings were held in the District for the first time.

I put the following items on my District’s Board meeting agenda:

• HB23-1105 MD Task Force notifications - They put a note on the website and called it “close enough.” I asked that the notification be sent by mail. They eyerolled "no." And, no, they don't collect email addresses. I asked that, too.
• Home purchase disclosures – I didn’t get one. They said that was “unfortunate,” but, they were only required to give notifications to the first buyers of a home.
• Resident inquiry practice – (I attended my county’s tax townhall meeting on my own and later found out one of the lawyers for my Metro District were there, but declined to identify themselves as representing my District.) The lawyers made the decision to go, stay on the QT, but, didn’t even notify me as a Board member of the opportunity.
• District invitation decisions – They agreed next time our District gets an invitation to attend an event that they invitation would go to one Board member (but, not to all, not to me).

I noticed that in the MD meeting held right before mine that the new homeowner Board member was squeezed in at the end of the table, not audience facing like the other Board members. This is subtle, but, powerful messaging. “You’re not a real Board member. You’re an outsider.” If it was Thanksgiving, that new Homeowner Board member would have been seated at the children’s table.

So look at this objectively. If nothing’s wrong here, what’s up with all the smoke and mirrors (and at the very least unprofessional) behavior?

Oh, the answer to my original question? The interest on the debt will stop accruing beginning in 2029 because the debt is supposed to be fully paid in 2028, 43 years later. And guess what? Because of how the financing has been done the debt will not be paid off for GENERATIONS.

THE INFORMATION IN THE PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE REAL ESTATE LISTING OF EVERY HOME SALE IN MY (and every Coloradan’s) METRO DISTRICT.

MD Task Force: Please take the information in the paragraph as an action item.

Post Script: When I made a comment to one of my fellow Board Directors (a Developer) I told him I would rather have had that infrastructure added to the price of my house as opposed to paying for it for generations. His reply? “What do you care? You’re not going to live in your home that many more years anyway.” (Yes, I'm old.)

Bottom line: Colorado has a housing crisis. We need Developers to help address the issue and solve the problems. We do not need Developers exploiting taxpayers for Developer exorbitant personal profit.

Task Force members: Please don’t let homeowner concerns here end up in a dusty report that no legislator is ever going to even bother to read. If you work together, you can create solutions and recommend them to the General Assembly.

And hey, Chairperson Waters has a top shelf real estate forms committee. Bring them in to your discussion and they can write the disclosure homeowners need and you all can take the credit for initiating it.