HOA Transfer Fees and law

HOA (Homeowner Associations) fees may make you sick, if you do not anticipate the amount that may be levied upon you when you buy or sell any property subject to any HOA.

When you buy or sell you need to pay a fee. This fee is document and transfer fee. Though buyers and sellers expect a fee but they may be startled to see the fee charged under the document and transfer fee. These fee is charged by the Homeowners Association under which the property in discussion falls.

If you are dealing in California, then you will find a section in your real estate agreement which speaks about the HOA fees. Buyers and sellers need to agree to who will pay the fee in case of the transfer of the property. The purchase agreement only shows who will pay the charges but does not specify the amount.

When there is any agreement the buyer, the seller or the agent, nobody knows the charge to be levied. So ultimately it comes in the closing statement and then only they get to know.

The charges may be anything like $200, $300 or more. Many of the buyers, sellers and agents think that this is too much for a service that includes simple data entry job.
So you may think that there is a law. Some of you might think that law should limit the fee that I being taken. But according to California’s Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeal there is no such law.