State Agencies

The business model used to implement HOAs makes no sense

they don't include HOA homeowners in what they do for others

*Minnesota Governor

I tried several times to get a meeting scheduled with HOA homeowners, but his scheduler refuses to set up the meeting. There were two times where I was yelled at and hung up on by the person who answered the phone. Using the online form has never resulted in a response, either. He's been fishing, he's been to Iowa and he's been the grand marsjall of a parade, but according to his scheduler, the harm homeowners experience is "enough" to warrant a meeting.

*Minnesota Attorney General

His public bio says this: As the People’s Lawyer, Attorney General Ellison’s job is to help Minnesotans afford their lives and live with dignity, safety, and respect, but it is their policy to not get involved with anything related to HOAs. They've collected information from homeowners, but have shown no evidence of using it to inform the legislature. They have misleading information on their website about the nature of bylaws, and when I called to ask about putting some more appropriate information there, I got screamed at and hung up on. I asked for a meeting with him to see about getting some clear answers about what exactly they can do for HOA homeowners, and I got screamed at and hung up on - three times. Still don't know.

*Minnesota Department of Human Rights

This primary purpose of this office is for rental housing and for the transfer of property. HOAs are not included in the statute that establishes what they do.

*Minnesota Housing Finance Agency

This agency was established by the legislature for the purpose of financing housing for low and moderate-income Minnesotans. They do this through offering down payment assistance programs for homebuyers and the finance develpers, as well. However, there are two areas where the commissioner refuses to acknowledge or address in any kind of meaningful manner. The first is around their policy of not verifying the truthfulness of a developer's application for funding. Their policy is that if they later find out a developer was not truthful, they "may" do something about it, but they also have the choice to look the other way.

They know about the harm HOAs can do to homeowners, but they don't believe in being truthful and transparent with them in the training they support for first time homebuyers classes. The circle they keep going in is that they don't want to tell people where to live, and refuse to acknowledge that the issue isn't about telling them where to live, but rather allowing them to make an informed choice. They want homeowners to have a choice in where to live, but won't explain why someone would knowingly choose to live in a place that strips them of their civil rights and can force them into foreclosure simply because it rained out.

They could be advocating to the legislature to help them make more sense for HOA homeowners, but they choose to not step up or speak up. If a homeowner is harmed because of their choice to remain silent, the commissioner still get paid.

*Minnesota Department of Commerce

This is what their website says: Commerce protects the public interest through a broad range of regulations and programs. We oversee more than 40 industry areas in Minnesota and license about 250,000 professionals and businesses to ensure that their services and products are fair, accessible and comply with state laws. Whether you’re filling up on gas, purchasing a home, working to reduce energy consumption, or rebuilding after a disaster, the Department of Commerce is with you every day.

They can't help where there is no license involved or where the license is not in their jurisdiction. HOA management companies are not required to be licensed. They can help with things like loans to purchase a home, but they don't help when a HOA files an insurance claim to have roofs replaced that don't need to be replaced.

*Bureau of Criminal Apprehension

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) investigates suspected insurance fraud to hold criminals accountable. Consumers and industry professionals can report fraud to us.

*Department of Labor and Industry

I asked them to do a classification ruling on the nature of the relationship of management companies to the business that is on the articles of incorporation to get a determination on whether or not they are an employee or a contractor. The response I got was that it was a housing issue, not a labor issue. When I asked for a justification or an explanation for that, they chose to not respond.

However, their website says they will investigate contractor fraud.

*Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility

An agency of the Minnesota Supreme Court. The Board oversees the lawyers professional responsibility office, which investigates complaints of alleged lawyer misconduct and prosecutes disciplinary actions against lawyers. There are many things they are "supposed" to do, but there is no accountability for when they don't do it. This is also no one requiring them to be consistent in their rulings or even to make sense when they do make a ruling on attorney misconduct.

An article published in the Minnesota Lawyer publication on Feb 4, 2025 says this: For the second time in a decade, the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility (OLPR) has failed to fulfill its primary responsibility under law - to process complaint files “promptly.”

*Minnesota Secretary of State

The Minnesota Secretary of State's office is responsible for the review, approval, and filing of documents for businesses and organizations operating in the state. This includes processing articles of incorporation and amendments for corporations and nonprofit organizations.

However, there is no process to answer the "and then what" question when the association goes into involuntary dissolution. There are hundred of associations that have had an involuntary dissolution for several years at a time, and many have had it multiple times. State law says when that happens, the business no longer exists, yet HOAs are allow to redeem themselves at any time.