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Bill would let some homeowners associations record open space on county records without quiet-title suits
Summary
Representative Alana Griffith told the Senate Local Government Committee that House Bill 233 would allow certain subdivision common areas to be put on county records when plats or preliminary plats expressly assign them to an HOA, avoiding costly quiet‑title litigation in some cases.
Representative Alana Griffith, sponsor of House Bill 233, told the Senate Local Government Committee that the bill would let counties and cities place certain subdivision common open space on property rolls and in county clerk and recorder records in limited circumstances.
Griffith said the measure is intended to help homeowners associations that discover shared parkland, sidewalks or private roads were never put into their name and now face expensive quiet‑title actions. “The only method to get open space technically into your name right now is Quiet Title Action,” Representative Alana Griffith said during the hearing.
The bill applies only when the municipality or county reviewing a preliminary plat or final plat finds the developer intended the area to be owned and maintained by the homeowners association and the plat or preliminary plat contains language to that effect. Griffith told senators the bill is not an attempt to “perfect title” — quiet‑title litigation remains the legal route when ownership is unclear — but rather to let local governments record circumstances they can reasonably determine from plats and the preliminary‑plat process.
Senator Hertz asked whether the Department of Revenue had reviewed the bill. “No,” Griffith said, but she said she had consulted county planning officials in a number of counties, including Gallatin, Flathead, Richland, Broadwater, Park and Madison.
Senator Pope asked whether the provision would allow transfer to local government; Griffith replied that when a plat or preliminary plat specifically requires transfer to the city or county, the HOA would not be able to claim it. The sponsor also confirmed the bill would not apply to very old properties that predate the state subdivision planning act; those parcels would still require quiet title to resolve ownership.
Griffith said insurance companies increasingly require additional riders for open space that is not clearly owned by the HOA, and that some associations seek to transfer small remaining park parcels to local government so the HOA can dissolve when it has no other assets to manage.
The committee held the bill hearing and asked technical questions of the sponsor. No formal committee vote occurred during the hearing recorded in the transcript.
