How to Rent Your Home in an HOA

If you live in an Aurora Colorado HOA, you know that there are rules and guidelines that you need to follow as a homeowner to live in the community. However, what happens when you decide to rent out your home within an HOA to someone else? Are you even allowed to do so? What is each party responsible for? As a community management firm, we get asked a lot of questions about the logistics of long-term and short-term rentals within a community association. To help you feel as informed and prepared as possible, here’s our go-to guide for renting your home within an HOA.

Am I allowed to rent my property?

Usually, yes. However, this will vary across communities. Read your CC&Rs and speak to your HOA before you list your property for rent. Although most communities permit long-term rentals, it’s always best to double-check whether they’re permitted and what regulations there are when renting. There may be restrictions regarding the lease agreement, payment logistics, or even who is allowed to rent the property.

What is the landlord responsible for?

Although you may no longer live in the community association, you’ll still ultimately be responsible for most of the same things as when you were living there. Since you still own the property, you’ll need to ensure that you’re paying your annual fees and maintaining the home as required by your HOA. When it comes to paying HOA fees, the lease will specify who is responsible for paying them directly. Some homeowners may prefer to have the tenant pay the HOA directly, while others may prefer to handle the payment themselves and will add the cost into the rent. Ultimately, however, ensuring payments are made is up to the property owner, since they can be foreclosed upon if they fail to pay their required dues. You’ll also need to ensure that you’re following all home maintenance requirements, whether that’s painting your home annually or receiving routine lawn maintenance. This cost can be built into the rent, depending on how the lease is structured by each homeowner. Finally, you’ll need to ensure that you provide your tenants with a copy of the CC&Rs and rules for renters. You should also provide your HOA board with a copy of the lease agreement for their records.

Which benefits extend to the renter?

When you rent your property in an HOA, some of the benefits you receive may be extended to your tenant since they will be paying for the right to live there. These can include access to shared amenities, entry to common areas, and the ability to keep pets. There are also rights which are rarely extended to renters, including voting rights and the ability to attend HOA meetings. Again, this varies according to each specific HOA. Your community management firm can give you a better idea of what privileges apply to renters in your particular community association.

If you’re an Aurora homeowner looking to rent out your property within an HOA, consult your CC&Rs and speak to your community management firm about whether you’re allowed to do so. As long as you and your tenants follow all community guidelines, most homeowners find that they have no issues with long-term rentals in their community association. If you’re an HOA that needs assistance enforcing these rules and regulations, trust an industry expert such as The Management Trust. For more than 30 years, we’ve assisted HOA boards with managing their communities to spend more time enjoying it and making the crucial decisions needed to improve it for every resident. To find out more about our community management services, give us a call at (303) 750-0994.