June 22, 2026 | Mark Luis Foster
If you’ve been following the bouncing Ombudsman ball, you know that the person who was hired to be Minnesota HOA ombudsman as part of a July 2025 law has since been, a-hem, dismissed, for some time now.
I talked today with the interim Ombudsman, Dan Bryden, a MN Dept of Commerce enforcement officer who has stepped into the role pending the hiring of a permanent replacement. I asked Dan if he could supply any tracking data that they have to show the types of complaints that are coming in to the department from HOA residents. He said he would attempt to provide something soon, and gave me some preliminary insights of what they see:
- They have fielded more than 100 HOA complaints (although I am not sure of the timeframe)
- Many of the complaints break down into a half-dozen categories, including: Fines, foreclosure issues, financial information requests from HOAs, disputes on rules/regs, maintenance issues, and general non-responsiveness of boards.
- People who call think that the Ombudsman Office can enforce and fine HOAs for infractions; but that is not the case as the office has no such capability or charter
- The office is informing people that mediation efforts are on hold pending the hiring of a permanent Mr. or Mrs. “O”
- He did say that the phone is “ringing off the hook”
If you want to visit the MN Ombudsman office website, it’s HERE. We hope to have some concrete data to share soon. Stay tuned.
