Are All HOA Monies Tax Exempt?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Admin

By Gary Poliakoff
A Las Vegas HOA is currently fighting with the IRS over the question of whether $2 million held in the HOA’s savings account is subject to a 30% sales tax as corporate surplus.

Associations are generally organized as not-for-profit corporations (some older associations are not incorporated) and therefore must file tax returns like other not-for-profit corporations. Associations are not entitled to tax exempt status like charitable organizations. To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in the Code. To be tax exempt under IRC 501(c)(4), a homeowners’ association must operate for the benefit of the general public, i.e., it must provide a community benefit – not a benefit to the owners or residents.  However, homeowners’ associations are still taxed on any income or support received that did not constitute dues or assessments paid by its property owner-members for maintenance and improvement of its property.

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Big Money To Be Made In Foreclosures

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Admin

By John Gittelsohn
Private equity firms are jumping into distressed housing as the U.S. government plans to market 200,000 foreclosed homes as rentals to speed up the economic recovery.

GTIS Partners will spend $1 billion by 2016 acquiring single-family homes to manage as rentals, Thomas Shapiro, the fund’s founder said. That followed announcements this month that GI Partners, a Menlo Park private equity fund, expects to invest $1 billion, and Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management LP will spend $450 million on similar housing. “It’s a massive market,” Shapiro said in a telephone interview from New York. “We’re starting to see this as a billion dollar opportunity to buy rental housing.”

–> Read Complete Story Here

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Disturbing New Trend Impacting HOA’s

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Admin

By Donna DiMaggio Berger
Two recent legislative attempts signal a disturbing trend that has the potential to negatively impact Florida’s community associations.

The first is this year’s construction defect bill, HB 1013, sponsored by Representative Artiles and its Senate companion, SB 1196, sponsored by Senator Bennett. These bills would take away a homeowner’s rights to pursue a developer for defects to the driveways, roads, sidewalks. utilities, drainage areas and other so-called “off-site” improvements that are not located on the lot on which a home is constructed or which are located on such a lot but do not contribute to the “habitability” of the home.

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Texas HOA Law Changes

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Admin

By Jennifer Slewer
A slew of changes are now in effect for the state’s homeowners associations, the love-’em-or-hate-’em groups that everyone seems to have an opinion about. The changes grant homeowners more freedoms when it comes to outdoor decorating and installation of environmentally friendly systems. The changes also make it harder for HOAs to foreclose because of unpaid fees.

Now, HOAs won’t be able to keep you from displaying the U.S. or Texas flag, or flags of military branches. Free-standing flagpoles 20 feet tall or less will be allowed, too — legislation filed in response to an HOA that sued a Marine veteran for flying the Stars and Stripes on a flagpole.

HOAs also won’t be able to keep you from hanging a religious display on your front door, but they can require you to keep it at 25 square inches or less. That legislation was filed after a Jewish couple was threatened with a recurring fine for displaying a mezuzah, a parchment with Hebrew verses enclosed in a case affixed to the doorpost.

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Preparing For HOA Annual Meeting

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Admin

By Stan Riddle
Over the next few months, a number of homeowner associations will be holding their annual meetings. Of all of the HOA meetings held during the year, this one probably has the most members in attendance due to a number of important issues that are likely on the agenda, such as election of officers.

In an effort to assist HOAs in making this meeting run both effectively and efficiently, the Green Valley Council offers a few suggestions:

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Round Rock TX HOA Confuses

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Admin

By John Salazar
Construction on the Patton family’s backyard shed began in August 2010. At that time, Brian Patton said he was given the green light from his neighborhood’s Homeowners Association. “They came out and did the first inspection. That’s a line inspection (he said pointing to the outline of where their shed would go) where they set out ropes and they check the lines to make sure we are not on easements. They passed it,” Patton said.

The storage building was nearly completed when the postman delivered a letter of bad news. “The letter says we were not in compliance with HOA rules,” he said.

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Texas Homeowner Association Disagreements

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Admin

By Christin Coyne
Located in far east Parker County off of White Settlement Road, Remuda Ranch Estates is where rural Parker County allows residents to escape the Fort Worth area. When a home burned down several months ago, many neighbors left their homes to support the family. But the neighborhood isn’t as peaceful as it appears.

After years of feuding, some neighbors don’t speak to each other any more. Ten lawsuits have been filed in Justice of the Peace Court or District Court during the last three years involving the Remuda Ranch homeowners association, those on the board of directors, and Colina Court resident Jack Cavenah. At least two heated issues between neighbors have gone to county commissioners court for decisions. And tens of thousands of dollars go to attorneys as the neighbors duke it out in the legal system.

–> Read The Complete Story Here

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New Texas Laws Change HOA Powers

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Admin

By Natalie Solis
Nearly 5 million Texans live in neighborhoods with homeowner associations. Compared to other states, HOAs wield a lot of power. But that’s starting to change. For many North Texans, home owners associations are the norm and not the exception

Angel Long is well versed in the rules. “Just those little things… the arbor on the back that had to be approved, and all the regulations,” she said of her Frisco home. “It wasn’t ever a hard process, but just something that had to be followed.”

Rules are one thing, but taking away someone’s house is another. “Lawyers from other states can’t believe how easy it is to take away someone’s property down here,” said attorney Clint David. “They think it’s like the Old West. They really do.”

Now Texas lawmakers are pulling the reins on HOAs with new laws. Some took effect last year, and others began January 1, 2012. Most of the new laws affect single-family homes, not condos or townhomes.

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