House committee hears bill to create state HOA resource center

Representatives Emily Krasnow and Derek Torre introduced H.172 on Wednesday, a bill that would direct the Office of the Secretary of State to establish a Common Interest Community Resource Center to provide free public information and materials about homeowners associations, condominiums and other common interest ownership communities.

The bill, as described to the House Committee on General & Housing, would require the Secretary of State—s office to "establish and maintain the Common Interest Community Resource Center" and permit the office to contract with a nonprofit to carry out the work. Representative Emily Krasnow said the center would "be made available to the public at no cost," offering guidance on governance, budgeting, conflict resolution and owners— rights and responsibilities.

Committee members said the resource could help residents and volunteer board members who face recurring governance and financial questions. Representative Derek Torre emphasized the need for conflict-resolution tools and said constituents in his district have struggled with private-road ownership, storm impacts and access to energy upgrades like heat pumps in condominium settings.

Cameron, the committee—s attorney, walked members through the statutory landscape that governs different kinds of common interest communities. He said two separate bodies of state law apply to these entities: the Condominium Ownership Act and the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (often referred to in the transcript as the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and appearing in state law as Title 27/27A). Cameron noted that communities created before a 1999 cutoff may remain governed by the older Condominium Ownership Act unless they amend their declarations.

Members pressed staff on several practical questions: whether the center would require a new appropriation (not specified), how quickly the office could post materials before the bill—s proposed effective date of July 1, 2025, and whether the Secretary of State is the correct host agency. The bill text permits the Secretary of State to contract with a nonprofit but does not require it; committee members said they expected the agency to testify about timelines and resource needs if the committee takes the bill up for further action.

Committee members and attendees described recurring problems the center might address: boards run by volunteers with limited legal or accounting experience, board officers acting unilaterally on issues such as access to walking paths, and concerns about financial oversight and reserve funding for common elements. Several members also asked about communities that fall outside the common interest ownership statutes, including cooperatives and mobile/manufactured home parks; Cameron said cooperative housing is defined separately under the Cooperative Housing Ownership Act and that manufactured-home cooperatives may be excluded from the common-interest statute, a point he said he would continue to research.

No formal committee vote on H.172 took place at Wednesday—s meeting; sponsors said the introduction was intended to begin conversation and to identify areas where additional testimony and drafting would be needed. The bill as circulated is two pages long and lists an effective date of 07/01/2025.

The committee asked staff to return with further information if the bill is scheduled for a hearing: a clearer definition of which entity types the center would cover (HOAs, condominiums, cooperatives, mobile home parks), an estimate of staffing/appropriation needs, and examples from other states about where similar centers are housed and how they are administered. Sponsors said they view this measure as an incremental first step to give Vermonters a single, public-facing source of information and to surface recurring problems that may warrant future legislative fixes.