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Workgroup advances disclosure-only approach after homeowners urge fixes to long-running declarant control problems
Summary
After extended testimony from homeowners affected by long-term declarant control, the workgroup discussed a draft that would require disclosure of declarant control in new sales and resale certificates under the Property Owners Association Act, while acknowledging constitutional limits on changing existing contracts.
A group of homeowners and workgroup members urged statutory responses to extended declarant control in common-interest communities; the workgroup responded by developing a narrow disclosure-focused proposal rather than a retroactive change to existing declarations.
Pia Trigiani and other staff summarized the legal constraints: declarant-reserved rights are contract terms in recorded declarations, and Article I, Section 11 of the Virginia Constitution restricts legislation that would impair existing contracts. Pia briefed members on past attempts to limit declarant control and explained why the General Assembly has historically avoided retroactive remedies when litigation is pending.
Given those constraints, the small drafting group presented a targeted package: amend the Property Owners Association Act to require that when a declarant reserves the right to control association business the reservation be disclosed in contracts for sale of lots intended for personal residence; and add similar disclosure to the resale-disclosure certificate. The draft would not alter existing development rights or remove reserved declarant authority in prior declarations; rather it would make future purchasers and resales transparent.
Homeowners who testified during public comment described long-term harms from developers who retain control over associations for decades. Multiple public speakers said they purchased homes believing an association had transitioned to homeowner control, but later discovered the developer retained controlling rights and had not fulfilled obligations such as dredging canals, building roads, or completing promised infrastructure. "This is an outrage," one homeowner said, recounting litigation costs and years of unresolved disputes.
Workgroup members supported the disclosure approach as a pragmatic step to prevent future surprise and to help future buyers make informed choices. Members asked staff to prepare additional options for future consideration, including potential bright-line triggers for declarant control transition (for example bond release or percentage of units sold) and targeted limits on specific development powers, recognizing those alternatives raise legal and practical complications.
No final legislation was adopted; staff and a small stakeholder group will produce a menu of options (disclosure plus possible transition triggers) for follow-up meetings.
