Utah Homeowner Associations Registration
What are my rights as a Homeowner in an HOA or COA?
The first step to understanding your rights in an association is to review your association's "governing documents." Governing documents include the declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (commonly known as CC&Rs), articles of incorporation, bylaws, and rules of the association. Under law, homeowner associations are allowed to exercise the authority described in their governing documents. Homeowner rights vary by HOA/COA depending on what is in the HOA's/COA's governing documents.
All HOAs and COAs are required to register with the Department of Commerce. You can search to see if your association is registered here. For associations that are registered, you can find important information about the association including the names and contact information for the HOA's/COA's leadership. These individuals have access to your governing documents and must share them with you upon request. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-227(1)(a)(ii), 57-8-17(1)(a)(ii). You can also check with your local county recorder's office to obtain a copy of the CC&Rs and bylaws.
In addition to rights provided under your governing documents, you have rights under state law under either the Condominium Act or the Community Association Act, depending on if you live in a COA or any other type of association (HOA). Most of these rights are common to HOAs and COAs, though some additional rights exist that are specific to COAs and HOAs. Some of a property owner's general rights include:
- All association rules must be reasonable. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-218(14), 57-8-8.1(6).
- An owner has the right, subject to some exceptions, to have the association's rules applied in a similar way to all owners in the association. Utah Code § 57-8a-218(1).
- No rule can interfere with the freedom of an owner to determine the composition of the owner's household, subject to occupancy limits. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-218(5), 57-8-8.1(3).
- An owner has the right to obtain a statement of payoff fees within five business days of a request. The association may charge for this, but not more than $50. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-106, 57-8-6.3.
- A unit owner has the right to inspect documents kept by the HOA/COA, subject to costs and some limitations. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-227, 57-8-17.
- The HOA/COA may not charge more than the actual cost of reviewing and approving submitted plans for construction or improvement of a lot or unit. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-109, 57-8a-6.7.
- The HOA/COA cannot require more than a supermajority (67%) vote of the unit owners to amend the governing documents. Also, the association cannot require that any specific member give approval before an amendment to those documents. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-104, 57-8a-104, 57-8-39.
- If you own a condominium in a shared structure, you have a right to sell your individual unit as if it were its own independent property. Utah Code § 57-8-4.
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While HOA/COAs may set restrictions on the number of units that may be rented, it must allow a unit to be rented if the owner is:
- Currently deployed by the military;
- Renting the unit to a parent, child, or sibling;
- Relocated by the owner's employer for less than two years;
- A business owned by the unit's resident; or
- A revocable trust created for the unit's resident or the resident's parent, child, or sibling. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-209(2), 57-8-10.1(2).
- Upon written request, owners have a right to obtain a written statement showing any unpaid assessment on the owner's property. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-206, 57-8-54.
- A reserve fund may be maintained by the HOA or COA to cover costs of repairing, replacing, or restoring common areas (but usually cannot be spent on typical maintenance). Reviews of the need for and the appropriate amount that should be in a reserve fund should be conducted every six years. Homeowners have a right to receive a summary or copy of the most recent reserve analysis. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-211, 57-8-7.5.
- The annual budget should include the amount the board or committee determines to set aside each year for the reserve fund. Within 45 days of the adoption of the budget, the owners may hold a special meeting to consider a veto of the amount being put into reserve. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-211(7)(a), 57-8-7.5(7)(a).
- An owner has the right to enforce their rights pertaining to the reserve fund in court. But before beginning an action, the owner must submit a notice to the association with information about the alleged failure to comply. Utah Code §§ 57-8a-211(8), 57-8-8.5(8).
- Owners in a COA may not be charged a fee greater than $500 a month in aggregate fines for violations of the same rule or provision of the governing documents. Utah Code § 57-8-37.
- Owners in an HOA have the right to display religious and holiday signs, symbols, and decorations, subject to association rules about time, place, and manner. Utah Code § 57-8a-218(3). They also may display political signs, subject to time, place, manner, and design criteria of the HOA. Utah Code § 57-8a-218(4).
- An HOA may not set a rule forbidding an activity within the confines of a dwelling or lot if it is otherwise legal within the confines of a dwelling under local laws and ordinances. Utah Code § 57-8a-218(6).
- For other HOA specific rights, see Utah Code § 57-8-218.
- For time-share owners, under Utah Code § 57-8a-102, a time-share condominium unit shall be entitled to the exclusive ownership and possession of the physical unit that the time period relates and shall be entitled to the use and enjoyment of the common areas and facilities during the time period unit allowed as said in the declaration.
Owner's Rights after an Allegation of Violating Association Rules or Provisions
Disputes sometimes arise between unit owners and association management over whether a fine should be assessed for an alleged violation of the association's rules or provisions. Rights are provided to unit owners by state law in Utah Code §§ 57-8a-208 (HOAs) and 57-8-37 (COAs). A summary of these rights is below:
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HOAs and COAs have to provide a warning before assessing fines. The notice must:
- Describe the violation;
- State the rule the owner is alleged to have violated;
- Provide a notice that a fine may be imposed if a violation is not cured, or if another violation of the same provision occurs within the next year; and
- Provide a time frame (not less than 48 hours) to cure a violation, if the violation is continuous.
- If a fine is assessed against a unit owner, the owner has 30 days from the notice of assessment to appeal through an informal hearing before the HOA's/COA's board or committee. At the hearing, the unit owner must be given a reasonable opportunity to present the owner's position, and allowed participation by electronic transmission if desired. While this hearing is pending, the HOA/COA cannot assess interest or late fees against the owner for not paying the assessed fine.
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If the HOA/COA upholds the decision to assess the fine at the hearing, or if the unit owner chooses not to request a hearing, the fine assessed may be appealed to state court by initiating a civil action. This civil action must be filed within 180 days from:
- The day the owner receives a final decision from the board, if an informal hearing was requested or;
- The day that the 30 days to request an informal hearing passes, if no informal hearing was requested.
This section is meant as a summary and may not provide all rights that may apply under all laws in your situation. The Department of Commerce cannot assist you with specific questions on any given case, and you should consider obtaining legal counsel from a licensed attorney if you are in a dispute with your COA/HOA.
