In the most recent legislative session, HB 410 was on the agenda. House Bill 410 was introduced to provide a list of information that home owners associations, property owners associations, and condominium owners associations would be required to provide upon request for a closing. The proposed legislation, if passed, would also cap the fees the association or management company could charge for preparing and providing the closing documents and information.
House Bill 410 was designed to set the fee below the average of any state that is currently regulated. The proposed fee was arbitrarily low and below the cost to perform the services needed to effectuate closings on behalf of the association. The association management industry and lobbyists worked diligently all session to educate legislators on the negative impact this proposed legislation would have on the industry, associations, and owner of homes and condos in associations.
Earlier this month, Governor Nathan Deal vetoed House Bill 410. In his press release Governor Deal stated,
“House Bill 410 provides a list of information that home owners associations, property owners associations, and condominium owners associations would be required to provide to a homeowner upon request and caps the fees the association could charge for producing and transferring that information.
First, the cap provided by HB 410 is, to my knowledge, lower than that of any other state in the nation with such a cap and may not be sufficient to cover costs of providing the information required, which could result in increased costs to association members.
Second, such associations often contract with private parties to provide these services so that association members need not complete the tasks personally, on behalf of the association.
Consequently, it appears that HB 410 could impose burdensome responsibilities on associations and their members and, regardless, absent sufficient justification, parties should generally be left alone to dicker the terms of their private agreements without government intrusion. For the foregoing reasons, I VETO HB 410.”