Kansas lawmakers have rejected a bill that supporters said would have made homeowners associations more accountable by placing their oversight under the Kansas Attorney General’s office.
Lawmakers shot down House Bill 2629 after a 36-minute debate on the House floor, followed by an unrecorded voice vote.
“I just don’t get it,” said Scott Wircenske, an Olathe homeowner who sued his HOA to see its financial documents, then went to authorities after discovering the property manager was mishandling the funds. “Why would you not want this level of protection if you’re a homeowner? If I’m a homeowner, I want to know that the books are clean through and through and that I don’t have to worry about it because there’s this oversight.” House Speaker Pro Tem Scott Schwab, an Olathe Republican who proposed the bill, told how Wircenske, a constituent, was forced to take his HOA to court because board members wouldn’t let him see the financial records or meeting minutes.
“These are mini-governments. And the city can’t stop it. The county can’t stop it. The township can’t stop it. The only way to hold them accountable is you’ve got to sue yourself and your neighbors for people who aren’t obeying existing law,” Schwab said.
But Rep. Russ Jennings, R-Lakin, said homeowners know what they’re getting into when they buy in an HOA.
“People who buy property that have restrictions or covenants on that property do so at the time of the purchase knowing that it exists,” he said. “I’m not sure why the state should provide counsel for folks who have a complaint about an HOA when they entered into a contract to do it with them in the first place.”
(Read more: Government & Politics News |)