Idaho is in the ‘Wild West days’ of HOAs. This group aims to rein them in

Some Treasure Valley residents are trying to bolster Idaho law regulating homeowner’s associations — but first they need to find a lawmaker willing to take up the cause.

Idaho HOA Neighbors for Change, an unincorporated nonprofit run by Ada County homeowners, is gearing up for another shot at legislative action to spur “accountability” among HOAs in the state. They’re seeking financial penalties, new transfer-of-power rules and enforceable transparency requirements. Organizers say they’ve drafted legislation, though they haven’t found a representative or senator willing to bring it to the floor of the Capitol when the 2026 session opens Jan. 12.

“We need a champion who is going to be a strong voice for us — who is going to stand up for homeowner rights when the legislative session opens,” Meridian resident Stephanie Mathis, a cofounder of Idaho HOA Neighbors for Change, said at an open house with the group’s informal membership Tuesday night in Eagle. About 30 people attended.

So far, “it hasn’t been going very well” in the Legislature, according to cofounder Ivan Richardson, a retired engineer from Eagle.

“We’re trying to put teeth into these laws, because otherwise these boards and these developers, they’re going to ignore you,” Richardson told the group. “There are no ramifications when they don’t follow the rules.”

He said the organization was frustrated with the 2025 session’s effort, which nibbled at the edges of the complaints he’s heard from homeowners, but didn’t address underlying issues.

In March, Rep. Jon Weber, R-Rexburg, introduced legislation designed to ease control of an HOA from a developer into the hands of homeowners, as previously reported in the Idaho Statesman. House Bill 361 required developers to cede at least one third of available HOA board seats within six months of when a project is 75% sold, and entirely transition control to homeowners within one year once a development is 95% “built and occupied.”

It breezed through both chambers with no opposition and was signed into law by Gov. Brad Little on March 28. But its final form contained scant traces of what the HOA advocates originally asked for, Richardson said.

Richardson believes the new law still sets too high a bar for turning over an HOA, which in turn grants developers too much power. And he thinks he knows why.

“The obstacle is getting a sponsor in the Legislature,” he said, “and I’ll tell you the obstacle behind that: No one wants to cross the developers. No one wants to touch that third rail.”

The 2025 law applies only to HOAs formed after it went into effect on July 1, so it doesn’t do much right away for the homeowners gathered on Tuesday. It also doesn’t offer homeowners a way to resolve disputes with hostile HOAs or to push back against boards that they believe violated state code.

“It’s almost like we’re in the gunslinging Wild West days of HOA law in Idaho,” said Joe Lown, the third cofounder of Idaho HOA Neighbors for Change.

State law lacks teeth, so homeowners hire lawyers

That’s in part because Idaho’s HOA laws are very young. The state’s core legislation dates to 2022, Lown said. The Homeowner’s Association Act consolidated existing law and mandated financial transparency between HOA boards and constituent homeowners.

But it didn’t provide an enforcement mechanism — something legislators acknowledged during committee hearings at the time, according to previous Statesman reporting. Despite the law, several homeowners on Tuesday said they have turned to private attorneys to get financial statements from their HOAs.

“It seems crazy that the only way we can effect change is to hire lawyers,” said Mathis. “We’re not lawyers. We’re not legislators. We’re homeowners who care about our investment. And that’s why we’re advocates.”

On Tuesday, organizers summarized their legislative goals at Eagle City Hall. They included:

• Lowering the threshold at which a developer must transfer control of an HOA to homeowners from 95% complete to 75% complete.
• Clarifying requirements guaranteeing homeowners access to finances, records and other official HOA documents.
• Instituting penalties if boards don’t comply with legal requirements. Richardson said the group is eyeing $100-per-day fines up to $2,500, a sum sufficient to bring disputes into small-claims court.
• Defining procedural requirements for HOA board meetings, including public notice standards.
• Maintaining some developer protections over design review and approval for construction on unsold lots, a concession designed to keep developers engaged through the end of buildouts.

Richardson declined to share a copy of the draft legislation, saying the group didn’t want to cede negotiating leverage before the bill had a sponsor. He also declined to discuss which legislators they’ve approached to sponsor it.

1 in 3 Idaho home-owning households pays HOA or condo dues

Homeowners associations are common in planned communities, collecting fees to maintain amenities and enforce subdivision rules. Among households in Idaho that own homes, nearly one in three paid HOA or condominium dues in 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau data compiled in the American Community Survey. (The bureau doesn’t divide the data between HOA and condo fees.)

Given the pattern of development around the state, Mathis, who works in real estate and project management, expects that figure to rise in coming years.

“This is an Idaho problem,” she said. “It’s not just a Treasure Valley problem.”

Realistically, Mathis said that she didn’t expect to pass every provision in one swoop.

“As with any legislation, it’s a negotiation,” she said. “You have to chip away at these things. You’re not going to get everything you want, but you have to keep coming back to the table.”

Richardson, though, hopes for a faster timeline.

“We’re just homeowners who want to see a change,” he said. “I want to get this done so I can get my life back.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 4:00 AM.