HOA Documents—What Are They,
and Why Are They Important?

July 31, 2025

I moved here 10 years ago from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I really had no idea what an HOA was, but I soon realized that they were all over Colorado. In fact, it seemed there were more communities who had them than didn’t. In case you don’t know, HOA stands for Homeowner Association, and an HOA is an organization in a residential community responsible for creating and enforcing rules for properties and residents within their community.

First, not everyone needs to know about HOAs and HOA documents, but they become important if you are buying or selling a home in a community that has an HOA. So why are HOAs and their documents important to those who are buying or selling a house? Let’s look at things from both perspectives—buying and selling.

HOA Documents & Buyers »

For buyers who are buying in a community with an HOA, as part of the buying process, you will receive a copy of the HOA documents associated with the community and then be given time to examine them to determine if there is anything that you can’t live with. Included in these HOA documents will be things like the following: meeting minutes, financial statements, the budget, the reserve study, rules and regulations for the community, party wall agreements, etc. It is extremely important when you receive the HOA documents to take the time to read through all of the documents you are given, even if there are many. Your REALTOR® can give you general suggestions on what to look for, but they can’t tell you whether or not you should be comfortable with what you discover. That is subjective. If you have any questions, your REALTOR® can provide you with the contact information for the property management company that manages the HOA in the community you are buying a home in. It is best to hear things straight from the horse’s mouth. At TK Homes, we believe you should read all of the documents, but we emphasize making sure you are ok with the amount of money the HOA has in reserves for any unforeseen costs (like needing new roofs due to hail damage), that you are ok with the rules in the community and of course that you have looked closely at the meeting minutes to make sure no special assessments are coming or other issues within the community that are concerning.

In general, most HOAs are similar in that there are certain things you can’t do, like park your camper out front in the street or driveway permanently or paint your home any color you want, but there are definitely differences within each community, and it is important to understand each community’s specific rules. One community I investigated recently only allows 2 animals per home, so if you have 3 dogs, you need to know that. Once you buy into the community, you either need to get rid of 1 of your dogs or move out. Also, even if a rule is not currently being enforced, if a new property management company takes over, they may enforce that rule. A recent buyer told me that after reading the HOA rules, the rules stated that no one can park on the street. We both saw many cars parked on the street when in the community. I reminded the buyer what I said above—just because they aren’t enforcing that now doesn’t mean they won’t enforce it in the future. I told her where the parking areas are in the community, just in case. Ultimately it is up to the buyer to decide if she can live with that risk or not.

HOA Documents & Sellers »

Why are HOA documents important to sellers? In the Colorado real estate purchase agreement, it states that the seller is legally required to provide the HOA documents to the new buyer; this is so the buyer understands what they are buying into and can make an informed buying decision. The contract goes into great detail regarding what should be included in those HOA documents. The bottom line is that if all HOA documents that are available are not provided to the buyer, then the seller can be liable and sued in the future for not providing these documents. It is easy to see how, if important HOA documents are missed, a buyer may not understand the rules of the community and accidentally break them, which could mean a financial penalty for the buyer or even a lawsuit.
 

We recently encountered a situation when working with a buyer where the seller did not understand their liability, and we had to request additional HOA documents multiple times. Believe it or not, the initial documents they gave us didn’t include the financials or meeting minutes. The sellers might have been annoyed with us for continually asking for all of the documents, but at the end of the day, they were legally obligated to provide them. Our buyer had the right to review the documents to ensure she was comfortable with the HOA she was going to be living in.

You can see that whether you are selling or buying a Denver area home, the HOA documents are not something to take lightly. At TK Homes, we know our contracts well, and we want our buyers and sellers to be protected as much as possible. When helping sellers, we explain their liability related to providing HOA documents to the buyer. To help reduce their stress and liability regarding providing HOA documents, we encourage our sellers to order the HOA documents through the title company, so that it is less likely that documents with get missed and the process is not so time-consuming for them. On the buy side, we look at the HOA documents that are sent to our buyers to make sure that the general categories have been provided, and if not, we request them. Contact a TK Homes agent today, and know that we will do everything possible to make sure you understand what you are buying and if selling, that you are adhering to the contract requirements, which will help to prevent lawsuits in the future. It is easy to see that you are in good hands if you are using a TK Homes agent to buy or sell a home!

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~ Written by TK Homes REALTOR®, Mary Smith