HOA's losing some power under new legislation signed by Governor Whitmer

Homeowner's associations are losing some of their power under new legislation just signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

House Bill 5028 will no longer let homeowners associations ban on a number of clean energy projects like outdoor clotheslines, solar panels on roofs, solar water heaters, and electric vehicle equipment.

It certainly has people talking, and I got different perspectives from a resident of an HOA, a property manager and an attorney about the fallout from the new law.

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"My mother's HOA, they have restrictions on how long your garage door can stay open," said Rochester resident Adam Chmielewski.

With HOA's, some people might feel restricted on what they can and cannot do. I spoke with Adam, who lives in an association, and he gave me his take on this new bill that was signed into law.

"I don't think the HOA's are going to be happy that something is taken out of their power, but like I said, if it's a necessary thing you should have in your house and it's done to proper safety standards, I think they shouldn't have say of what goes in and what doesn't."

To break this law down, I needed an attorney, so I headed to see Mark Demorest, who specializes in real estate law and got his take on this new law.

"I think there's going to be resistance to it," Demorest said. "One of the things it requires HOA boards to do is to adopt a policy about energy-saving devices or energy-saving systems. They have to do that within a year after the bill goes into effect. So it's actually going to create a fair amount of work for homeowner association boards."

"Out of the 41 years you've been in law, do you know of any HOA's that will say 'we're going to challenge this'," I asked Demorest.

"It's possible but it's an awfully big undertaking to take on the state, and there's really nothing about this law that is unconstitutional I don't think, so it would be very difficult to challenge it," Demorest said.

Screenshot from WXYZ video

"It's these communities that are now losing control of what they have had control of in the past."

That's Frank Gucker, who manages 31 different properties for FD property management. He says he is opposed to this new bill being signed into law.

"The biggest issue in discussions with the association's attorney, in regards to this, is the loss of control of maintenance, insurance, structural and appearance matters that would relate to these condominium associations," Gucker said. "So it's just another, and I would confur with the attorney, it's just another overstep by government inserting themselves into allowing the private communities to control what's going on within them."

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