Property; owners association; sale of real estate; notifications; disclosures; fees; restrictions; documentations; emergency.
HB2800 creates new requirements for homeowners associations, real estate developments, and closing/settlement services providers regarding access to covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) and related disclosure documents. It requires managing entities to retain copies of recorded covenants and amendments and make them electronically accessible within three business days of a request by a party to a home transaction or an affected property owner. It also requires HOAs to notify homeowners by email or mail within five business days after adopting updated covenants and restrictions.
The bill further regulates HOA fee and record-disclosure practices. It requires disclosure of individual HOA or third-party management fees, caps those fees at $175, prohibits charging a homeowner for a property-condition report requested for a sale, and requires HOAs to maintain updated financial records, including audits, dues, assessments, and fines. Upon request, an HOA must provide a statement of a homeowner’s standing within five business days, with a maximum charge of $50. The bill also requires HOAs to spell out their fee structure and fine schedule in governing documents, limits fine-structure updates to once per calendar year at an annual meeting, and ties notice of that meeting to existing statutory notice rules.
HB2800 also amends existing Title 60 law governing closing documents. It revises Section 857 to require title companies or other settlement services providers to provide copies of recorded covenants and restrictions referenced in the title commitment to the buyer at or before closing, with a maximum charge of $25 for the copies, plus any actual county-clerk cost for certified copies. Delivery may be by mail, hand delivery, or electronic delivery. The bill includes an emergency clause, so it would take effect immediately upon passage and approval.
The general sentiment reflected in the voting history is strongly supportive, with unanimous or near-unanimous committee approval and broad House approval on third reading. That suggests the measure was viewed as a consumer-protection and transparency bill aimed at improving access to HOA records and reducing surprise fees in real estate transactions.
The main points of contention appear to center on the bill’s regulation of HOA and management-company charges, including the fee caps, the prohibition on charging for certain reports, and the limits on fine-structure changes. These provisions likely affect homeowners associations, property managers, title companies, and settlement services providers by imposing new disclosure, timing, and cost restrictions, but the recorded votes indicate limited opposition in committee and only modest floor resistance in the House.
HB2800 would add new statutory duties for homeowners associations, managing entities, and settlement services providers under Title 60 of the Oklahoma Statutes. It creates new sections requiring retention and electronic access to recorded covenants and restrictions, prompt notice of amendments, disclosure of fee structures and fine schedules, periodic financial recordkeeping, and timely issuance of homeowner standing statements with capped charges. It also amends existing closing-related law to require delivery of CC&Rs to buyers at or before closing and limits the amount that may be charged for those documents. These changes would directly affect HOAs, property managers, title companies, and buyers/sellers in real estate transactions.
The bill appears to have been received favorably overall. It passed both House committees unanimously and cleared the House floor with substantial support, though not without some opposition on final readings. The voting pattern suggests broad agreement with the bill’s transparency and consumer-protection goals, especially around HOA disclosures and real estate closing documents.
The most likely areas of disagreement are the bill’s limits on what HOAs and related entities may charge, including the $175 cap on individual fees, the $50 cap on homeowner standing statements, and the $25 cap on copies of recorded covenants at closing. Some stakeholders may also object to the requirement that fee structures and fine schedules be fully disclosed in governing documents and that fine updates be limited to once per year at an annual meeting. These provisions place administrative and financial constraints on homeowners associations, managing companies, and settlement services providers, while benefiting homeowners and buyers who want clearer, cheaper access to records and fee information.