May 10, 2026 | Mark Luis Foster

If you’ve been following the bouncing HOA ball these days, you know that the Senate passed SF 1750, the so-called HOA Bill of Rights that will amend MCIOA legislation and make things a bit more difficult for HOA board leaders. The next step is for the Governor to sign. You can watch a video interview I conducted about the bill with SJJ Law HERE, and sign up for a webinar that we’re offering on May 28.

The St. Cloud Times goes full-on in their reporting about the genesis of this new legislation:

The legislation is the product of years of collaboration and negotiations among homeowners, HOA board members, lawmakers and property management companies. In 2024, the Legislature created a working group tasked with proposing reforms to the state’s laws governing HOAs and similar organizations. Lawmakers on the task force held several listening sessions to hear homeowners’ horror stories (and support for HOAs via some dedicated board members).

It wasn’t really that simple. It died last year after a tumultuous legislative session in St. Paul and dragged through committees this year with multiple last-minute amendments and a highly managed process of not allowing for much substantive input. I testified in the House Judiciary Committee and was summarily cut off after 2 minutes (as were others who testified against the bill, with no grace period).

More on the why:

Homeowners in Minnesota have faced massive charges from their HOAs for questionable construction projects, like new roofs and siding. . . In at least one case, a homeowner wound up in foreclosure due to hefty assessments.

Apparently, we’re all going rogue, too:

“The reforms in this bill will rein in abusive HOAs by empowering residents with more information, more rights and more protections,” said Sen. Eric Lucero, R-St. Michael, the top Republican on the Senate housing committee and a member of the HOA working group. “This bill is a true bipartisan compromise — in addition to adding consumer protections, nearly every concern raised in good faith was addressed.”