Idaho HOA laws have ‘no teeth,’ homeowners say. They want help with disputes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Idaho law now mandates developers share HOA power after 75% lot sales.
- Homeowners cite gaps in enforcement as HOAs skirt the rules.
- Advocates push for stronger state oversight amid growing HOA disputes.
In a large subdivision in Eagle, Idaho, developers were set to hand over control of the homeowners association to the homeowners. They had agreed to relinquish control once a certain percentage of units in the community were sold, according to court records.
Then the conditions changed. Homeowners at Legacy Development had waited to assume the HOA when 85% of the allowed units were sold. Instead, the developer, Red Butte LLC, replaced the terms to require that 85% of almost 1,400 homes were sold, the initial number allowed by the city — despite the fact that developers now plan to only construct 1,100 units, according to a lawsuit filed by the homeowner.
Ivan Richardson, one of the Idaho HOA Neighbors for Change founders, sued Red Butte, arguing that the company should allow homeowners in the Legacy Development to hold a new HOA election.
For new subdivisions, developers create HOAs and the rules for the community. Developers maintain control of the governing board until they turn over the HOA to the homeowners.
Idaho HOA Neighbors for Change, an unincorporated nonprofit, plans to seek out state lawmakers to work with them on legislation that would give homeowners more power on HOAs. The goal isn’t to fight developers, Richardson said, but to “make something livable.” People feel like they have no say, he told the Idaho Statesman.
“You could close your eyes and meet somebody from an HOA and you’ll hear the same things over and over,” Richardson said. “There’s no regulation.”
Red Butte LLC did not return a request for comment.
New Idaho law changes HOA board membership
Rep. Jon Weber, R-Rexburg, told the Statesman he’s heard complaints from homeowners all over the state.
Weber introduced legislation that requires developers to transition an HOA to homeowners at a certain number of houses built. House Bill 361, which Gov. Brad Little signed into law, mandates that residents within a community get at least one-third of the available HOA board positions within six months of the developer selling three-fourths of the subdivision’s lots. Once 95% of the homes are sold, developers have one year to transfer the HOA to the residents. The new law takes effect in July.
Several Idaho homeowners said the new law will help new subdivisions but doesn’t go far enough. Idaho’s laws don’t protect people from HOA boards that turn petty or ignore state code, they said. Some homeowners told the Statesman they’ve had to turn to private attorneys because a 2022 state law requiring financial transparency from HOAs doesn’t have an enforcement mechanism. Legislators in a committee hearing at the time acknowledged they knew the bill lacked enforcement.
Pamela Eaker, a Star homeowner in an HOA, said she hired a lawyer to contest what she considers an unreasonable HOA dues increase. The same HOA cited her neighbor for a violation for having plants on her back patio, Eaker said.
“There’s no teeth,” Eaker told the Statesman.“I think they’re asking for trouble here in Idaho if they continue to not rein in HOA boards.”
Weber said the new law charts a path forward to give homeowners a seat at the table.
“You feel like you’re being taxed without representation and taken advantage of. No one likes that feeling,” Weber said. “There’s still work to be done.”
But Richardson said starting an HOA transition at 95% of homes sold and giving the developer a full year comes too late and risks letting the developer walk away without passing important information onto homeowners.
Weber said it wasn’t a perfect bill, but it was a compromise that respected both developer’s goals and homeowner’s rights.
“Sadly, there’s some bad actors in some of these developers and that’s where this is coming from,” Weber told the Statesman. “There are HOAs across the state that actually function quite well with no issues. But then bad actors come in, and that’s where the concern is.”
High emotions over HOA management
As Idaho grows, more homes are under HOAs, according to the new bill and the 2022 law, known as the Homeowner’s Association Act. Lawmakers at the time said they wanted to provide protections for homeowners. Rep. Rod Furniss, R-Rigby, said Idaho has been called the “wild, wild West when it comes to HOAs,” as he supported moving the bill forward.
But the law doesn’t always work as intended.
The Idaho Homeowner’s Association Act addressed transparency, requiring HOAs to provide financial disclosures within certain timeframes. But some homeowners have said HOAs still aren’t providing those disclosures.
In one case in December 2022, three homeowners in Star went to their HOA’s management company, which is based in Nampa, to request certain documents. A woman with the management company gave them only some of what they wanted. The next day, the woman called the police on the three men, accusing them of disturbing the peace, according to dispatch notes from the Nampa Police Department. Police said no crime had occurred, according to the notes.
“Even though the Idaho statute from 2022 says ‘open, transparent and inclusive,’ they don’t want them to be open. They don’t want to be transparent,” said Eaker, who lives in the subdivision.
The Idaho Attorney General’s Office has limitations on what HOA disputes it can resolve. The office has jurisdiction only for matters specifically mentioned in statute, spokesperson Daniel Estes said. For example, if the HOA hasn’t provided services that homeowners paid for, like installing a pool, that is a violation of the Idaho Consumer Protection Act.
In the past, legislators have proposed bills that targeted some HOA requirements. Former Sen. Rick Just, D-Boise, in 2024 introduced a bill to stop HOAs from requiring grass lawns. The year before, lawmakers tried to ban HOAs from limiting people’s ability to grow food. Both of those bills failed. But legislators have succeeded in preventing HOAs from banning in-home day cares.
Chris Cox, a Star homeowner who started Star Idaho HOA Joint Advisory Group, a local Facebook group about HOAs, said the state needs an office of accountability to protect homeowners from HOA boards and property managers.
For many people, their homes are their biggest financial asset, which means people often are wary of potential harms to property values. HOAs aim to keep property values high, according to a local real estate site.
”There’s no accountability, nobody is going down for it,” Cox said. “The laws need to be changed, and that can only be done through our elected officials.”
