HOA (non-profit), selling purchased bulk water from the county, and resells it to owners.

Question 1. Has anyone had an experience with their association who purchases bulk water from a city, and then the HOA non-profit sells this same water (and sewer service) to unit owners? The homeowners association will not disclose a previous month unit reading, nor the current month use reading, or disclose their billing formula. Nor have they preformed an audit in 35 years.
Question 2: Is the non-profit homeowners association a sub-agent for the city? And the city sells the homeowners association their bulk water? And if so, is there a sub-agent license/dispensing requirement to sell water and sewer services, on a secondary charge, to each HOA unit owner? Each owner has their own water meter, which is no longer in county code compliance after 35 years, and a water/sewer lines which travels into their specific unit. The main water/ sewer lines come off the our common area road/yardsto each multiple unit bldg, from the primary common area street. The bulk water originates from a common area designated “water storage building” in the development. We have 122 unit owners who receive separate bills.
Thank you to whomever can respond.
NE Ohio unit owner.

Can you look at the Declaration and see if this condo association is subject to the Ohio Condominium statute?

Is this association incorporated? If so, then the association is subject to the state nonprofit corporation statute.

Depending on which statutes are involved here, the association may be required to provide you with records that can answer your questions.

You would need to use a bit of legalese in your first letter requesting this documentation.

Tell me which statutes (Condo statute? Nonprofit Corp statute?), and I can make more suggestions to get you answers.

This sounds bad, doesn't it?

Until you realize that many community associations do exactly that. The county water system gets the water to us and bills the association for the water. Then association-owned pipes distribute the water to the individual units and bills the owners via assessments. The waste water is picked up by association-owned sewer pipes and directed to the county sewer system. The county bills the association for this as well, and these costs are passed on to the owners who generate the waste water.

Reading between the lines it sounds like you believe that the association is making a profit on this.

But the association pays money to handle this. Costs include maintenance and repair of the pipes owned by the association, and paying plumbers to investigate and repair the system when things go wrong, and often paying a manager who handles the administrative tasks associated with HOA business. These costs can be significant in an aging community. If you're not in an HOA, these costs are paid for by your taxes. But if you're in an HOA, these costs are paid directly by you the homeowner. (It's a fact that people who buy in community associations are essentially double-taxed. But we don't say that part out loud.)

Is your association actually making a buck out of this? The only way to tell is by doing a deep-dive into your financials, including any reserve studies.

The costs of maintaining the water and sewer systems don't just occur today. The HOA has to plan ahead for repairs and replacements that may not occur for years. And part of your assessment dollars should be put aside so that the money is there when it's needed.

Otherwise the HOA will have to pass a special assessment which usually involves big bucks and short notice if it's for an emergency repair. Special assessments can cause financial hardship to a lot of owners - so many state laws encourage/require associations to set aside money to avoid this.

As others have said, we need to know what your CC&Rs say about utilities and what your state laws have to say. But this is business-as-usual in my community and in numerous communities in my area. There is nothing nefarious about it, and nobody is getting rich over it. If anything, we board members worry about paying our bills and not getting sued when somebody's sewer system malfunctions. (Ask me how I know.)

Hi,

You will need to check your docs and see if it mentions any type of unit cost for the water and sewage charges.

Would you be able to get back to us on the above and also confirm that all the units have meters?

Your case is not exceptional in that there are condos and HOA have this setup. My own place has one pipe from the city and then it goes to the individual units with no individual meters. The city only cares about the one building not the individual unit owners. Our docs state how the expense is paid. Many landlords in a rental building are very interested in water usage and they pay for a meter installation for their rental properties to pass along the cost to the renter. The meters are really advance and are connected via wifi to software so the landlord gets reports and data for the building.

Thanks in advance for the answers,

Hello, scheduling a meeting with them, in person, next week. Thank you for responding.

Hello. Thank you for responding. My homeowners association does have an entity license #751869, as a corporation for non profit, and on public file in Columbus OH, since 6/1989. Websites; OhioSos.gov or OhioBusinessCentral.gov
Here is our homeowners associations webpage, millcreekwoods.org, where our HOA Docs, Rules/Regs, and By-Laws “should” be found, as well as the most recent reserve study. However, any portion is of this data can disappear at anytime, too, and for no reason or explanation. If we want what is not there, we must pay by the page, and this included any bank statements or expense payment(s).

We owners been in an “information quagmire” without any transparency since about 2017. Several of us owners have spent plenty of our own money on legal advisors. However, no legal advisors will take our case. We have been told as recent as May 2023, per an atty, we have issues with Ohio HOA/revised code and 68 breech/disobedience situations, some are federal housing and age discrimination issues. Our reserves were never funded properly, no waivers was issued per each new calender year, we have lost our common insurance coverage twice due to poor quality building ratings, and some incoming buyers have been refused loans. And then we have yearly fixed board elections, and never had a single audit ever, and there is no yearly budget for it either. So now, I’m pursuing the Atty, General’s office who apparently oversees condo enforcement laws. Right now, we on our second assessment, which we did not get to vote for. So this board is now picking up an extra $200,000 from 1/2024 and into 1/2025, on assessments, plus raising our monthly fees for the past 4 years as well. Yet, we are still in the basement financially. We have 122 units and 21 common buildings. Also, we have no outside professionally licensed management, but it is in our budget, which we pay for. They prefer to “self-management”. This board does have legal counsel, and D & O policies, all which us owners pay for. But, the atty’s, who we pay for, only rep the board. They will not address an owner, and hang up.

Hope this sheds some light with regard to your questions for me. Appreciate opinions going forward. I thank you for your time.

A few clarifications. Our 122 separate units, plus the clubhouse, all have its own water meter. These are brass, with numeric tumblers, not electronic, not digital. Manual reading is required per month, which the board makes one trustee do for all 22 buildings . This Baird has no intentions of replacing any meters unless one breaks. And that will be charged back to the unit owner, even though they own the water, limited common meters, and sewer line. 95% of these meters were installed in the late 1980’s. I am aware of the our aging water metering equipment compared to newer technology, and digital technologies as well as the age of our development. I am very aware of the Ohio Revised Code 5311.
Additionally our development receives no city or county services, except for our township police,ambulance and fire service. We do our own plowing and street paving. We receive no HOA monthly/quarterly newsletter, no monthly expenses or balances, or minutes from monthly meeting, unless we pay for it. That said, yes our board does a very, very poor job regardless of time, no time, or otherwise. And only two board members do all the “managing” if or when they choose. We have no emergency phone number for after hours problems. And we have to email to a general inbox f a problem arises. No board member gives out their phone number. Examples, like if a water tank blew and water is everywhere, or sewer lines backed up inside the common hallway of a building/units, because the tree maintenance was never done and sewer line caved in because of invasive roots,(per a camera run) under ground. So they capped the line off, right at the break. “We have no budget this year for that $7,000 repair.” (And the EPA nor our Township local zoning, or county health dept would help. We were passed off like an empty snack bag). However, this is what these “Five Board Volunteers” signed on for, to self-mange 122 units, and 22 buildings,plus many cars of land. I will not defend what is on their plates. It should not and doesn’t have to be this way. They do not use licensed or bonded handymen. I might add, this board has belittled their homeowner volunteer committees, the very ones which they requested to help them. So yes indeed, our homeowners disbanded their committees, and subsequently will no longer “stir” a finger anymore. So, with all that…. being said…not too pleasant….or unusual.

ElleN's observations from reading the Declaration and Bylaws LindaB42 kindly linked above:

-- This is a condo association subject to ORC 5311 (the Ohio Condo statute).

-- The linked Bylaws Article IX speaks at some length to billing unit owners for utilities.

-- Declaration Article X speaks to assessment of common expenses to owners.

-- Declaration Article XXII, section 5 speaks to association records.

-- the Bylaws are amended in the same way the Declaration is amended.

-- ORC 5311.09 and 5311.091 speak to the examination of books and records by owners.

-- I see nothing giving the Ohio Attorney General authority to enforce covenants per se or the Ohio Condo statute per se. If the Board is violating consumer protection statutes, the Ohio AG might step in.

-- ORC 5311 does say that a civil action may be brought to enforce the covenants.

-- I presume somewhere in the ORC there is verbiage stating that ORC 5311 is enforceable via a civil action in Ohio courts.

-- A reserve study was completed in late 2024 and is available at the site Linda linked above.

-- The sheer number of concerns the OP lists argues for her finding people who feel the same and running for the board. I advise starting a new thread on how to get an election done and win the election.

-- Proposed "demand letter lite" for certain records to follow.

Thank you so much for this valuable information going forward. I spoke with someone in Columbus, and was told to make contact with the Ohio AG’s office as well. Much appreciation!

Thanks for the explanation and the source of the problem. I agree with Ellen to create a new thread on this specific topic if you want folks' opinion if you want assistance.

To have the AG look into your situation, one of the following Ohio statute sections would have to be involved:

Anti-Pyramid Sales Act
Business Opportunity Purchaser’s Protection Act
Certificate of Motor Vehicle Title Act
Condominium Sales Act [see https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5311.25]
Consumer Sales Practices Act
Consumer Sales Practices Act-Substantive Rules
Credit Card Recording Act
Credit Card Truncation Act
Credit Freeze Act
Credit Services Organization Act
Debt Adjusters Act
Defective Assistive Devices Act
Gift Card Act
Hearing Aid Returns Act
Homebuyer’s Protection Act (Predatory Lending Law)
Home Solicitation Sales Act
Lemon Law (Nonconforming New Motor Vehicle Law)
Motor Vehicle Collision Repair Operators Act
Odometer Rollback and Disclosures Act
Prepaid Entertainment Contracts Act
Public Utilities Commission Act
Retail Installment Sales / Layaway Act
Security Breach Notification Act
Short-Term Lender Law (Payday Lending Law)
Telemarketing Act
Telephone Solicitation Sales Act
Title Defect Rescission Act
Title Insurance Act

See https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Individuals-and-Families/Consumers/Laws-Protecting-Consumers

Which of these laws do you think the HOA has violated?

The Ohio AG is the wrong path to take to remedy your concerns.