Most HOA’s are organized as Not For Profit Corporations. In Oklahoma, all corporations are required to file an annual franchise return with a franchise fee. Failure to file the return and pay the fee results in the Corporate status being changed to “Suspended”, which means the Corporation has no legal authority to sue or defend in Court.
A quick check with the Oklahoma Secretary of State is all it takes to make sure your HOA is in compliance.
Filed under: Homeowners Associations |
Marshall's Oklahoma Law Blog 
In a HOA if one is behind on payment and sales their home. Is the new owner responsible for the past dues.
If the Association has recorded a lien on the property, or if the covenants make the assessment by operation of law, the new owner would be liable for back due assessments, but would possibly have a recourse against the former owner.
I have lived in a community with a developer-run HOA since June 2009. Although residents have been requesting a meeting for years, and the developer has reportedly acknowledged that a meeting is overdue, according to the covenants, the developer has never held a meeting of the residents, and has never appointed anyone to the Board of Directors. His company secretary has been performing the HOA secretary duties, and he recently began circulating emails claiming to have changed the covenants without any resident approval. The developer continues to collect annual dues, under threat of lien, despite failing to hold annual meetings or to appoint residents to a Board of Directors. Does this constitute obtaining money by false pretenses? If not, do we have any other recourse?
It does not constitute obtaining money under false pretenses, but some of the actions may well be illegal, not from a criminal, but a civil, perspective. I would strongly advise a core group pitch in to have a knowledgeable attorney look at the documents and advise on possible courses of action. At the point where the HOA is formed, it could authorize the reimbursement of the group’s out of pocket costs.
I used the link above to check the corporate status of our HOA, and there is no listing for the not for profit corporation as it is listed on the articles of incorporation. In that document, the developer himself is listed three times under the “incorporants” section. The secretary of state’s website says at least three incorporants are required. It seems as though our HOA doesn’t have any status as a not for profit corporation, which could explain why some residents have reportedly not paid dues in years and the “HOA” has not taken legal action to collect.