XP: Refi question - requiring HOA insurance policy?

[lessel]

Accidental XP on MM Moms:

We're in the refi process and the lender has requested the "HOA/master insurance policy" given that our HOA fee includes the neighborhood pool and tennis courts membership.

This didn't come up when we originally purchased the home in 2019 nor when we refinanced in early 2020. This is a different lender and they say this is a new requirement of Fannie Mae and the underwriter is requiring it. The lender requested the info from my HOA and they refused to provide it. The lender forwarded me the email from the HOA Treasurer where she said, "We do have coverage, but I'm choosing not to provide it." Um, thanks? The lender tried to get the underwriter to waive the need for a copy of it, but they were unable to because of the pool/courts. The lender asked that I try to email the HOA in case they are willing to provide it directly to a homeowner.

So I've emailed the HOA now too and they're just flat out non-responsive to my emails.

Has anyone who refi'ed recently run into this? I've googled and am only seeing providing insurance proof for condo associations, which wouldn't apply.

Like, I've hit a wall here and I don't know what to do.

[Susie]

I don't have any helpful info, because neither of the houses we bought or sold recently had an HOA.  I was surprised though when we were doing the mortgage approval for our purchase in May, we had to sign a declaration that our old house, which was under contract to be sold in June and was not tied to the mortgage being approved, did not have an HOA and we had no HOA dues for it.  I had never had to do that on the 2008 purchase or 2010/2019 refi's that were actually for that house.  So it does seem to be a new thing.  Is someone else on the HOA board (VP? Pres?) possibly more helpful?

[lucygoosey]

IANAL and not familiar with living in an HOA community but here’s a few ideas. I realize that these may not help given the tight timeline of a refi.

Are there any upcoming HOA meetings where you may be able to make your request in person? Then your request would hopefully be recorded in the meeting minutes.

Are you using a lawyer in the refi process? My state requires one for all real estate transactions so it would be helpful for them to craft a letter to the HOA if they HOA isn’t responding. Since your HOA dues pay for the purchasing of the policy, there might be a way to say that you have an insurable interest in procuring it. If that doesn’t work, you could try to file a claim against them to spur compliance with your request.

Other than that, ask any of your neighbors if they might have a copy?

[buckeyegirl]

I am currently refinancing and was not asked for that. However, I am the treasurer of our local HOA. I did provide it to a family that moved into the neighborhood. Their mortgage company wanted a copy of our insurance policy and I said no because I wasn't scanning a million pages. They finally settled with me providing the insurance companies name, policy number, and phone number so they could verify it.

[scout8]

As a real estate broker who has had to deal with many awful HOAs and condo associations over the years, my recommendation is to become the squeaky wheel. You are going to have to call/email/text everyone that you can find that is part of the HOA until someone gives you what you want. Typically, they will give you the contact info for the insurance agent and the lender will contact the insurance agent to get what they need. Good luck.

[al dente]

I haven't refinanced, but I recently had to get the insurance info for a claim. Our HOA is a large company so I emailed someone I found on our documents and she sent me the contact information for the insurance association, and told me to have the person contact the insurance directly to get the documents.
Is your HOA a company or just a few neighborhood people? I'm sorry that sounds frustrating esp since she didn't offer anymore help other then no.

[bee20]

I'm on my HOA and have had to provide this to folks buying/selling. For our insurance company there is a one-page summary of benefits, I have scanned that and everybody has been fine with it. They shouldn't be just telling you "no" unless you have outstanding dues or there is another issue.

[melmo1122]

I am currently refinancing and close on Monday. I was asked for HOA documents but I explained to them that the HOA insurance does not cover my property or townhouse, anything that needs to be fixed on my house is my responsibility. They assumed it was more of a condo type dwelling. They pushed back a bit and I spoke with someone else about it and never heard back from them so I guess they were happy with that response.

[awkwardpenguin]

It should be a non-issue to provide documentation of the master insurance policy. scout8's approach is the right one - call/email/text anyone you know on the HOA until you get what you need.

[ellipses84]

If contacting the HOA is not working, look through your original paperwork and see if you can find any info on it, even a company name or insurance contact, and try contacting them directly. Specifically ask them for a COI (Certificate of Insurance). You shouldn’t need the whole policy. This is a proof of policy that’s often provided from one entity to another when proof of insurance is needed. If the HOA person just doesn’t want to do the work, just ask them for their insurance contact, then email the agent and cc: the HOA on the request.

[lessel]

I don’t actually know anyone on the HOA, which is kind of embarrassing to admit. Our HOA isn’t super active in general it seems, but with most of the past year and a half, we’ve really only met a handful of folks in our neighborhood. The HOA is a group of neighbors as far as I can tell, I don’t think there’s an HOA company. (This is the first place I’ve lived with an HOA so new territory for me generally…)

We are current with our dues, which the HOA lady confirmed in the email trail to our lender.

I emailed the board president and VP this morning. If they don’t respond by tomorrow morning I’ll email the whole board I guess.

[pinkalicious]

I called one of the lenders I work with. This isn’t something new, but the lender usually gets that information from the HOA or the management company. It’s a bit of a red flag that your HOA is denying this.

[lessel]

Aug 12, 2021 10:32:14 GMT -5 pinkalicious said:

I called one of the lenders I work with. This isn’t something new, but the lender usually gets that information from the HOA or the management company. It’s a bit of a red flag that your HOA is denying this.

Our HOA treasurer said in the email to my lender that she does refinance requests often and has never received a request for the HOA insurance policy.

No response from the HOA treasurer, president, or VP. I get that they're neighbors and probably live very exciting and busy lives, but this is starting to piss me off. 

[pearls]

I asked my H, who is on our HOA board and he said ours doesn't provide it to residents either because it's not directly about the homeowner's property, it is really specific about insuring the HOA board itself. They direct anyone to the insurer. I'd see if you can find the insurer information in your HOA documents, or ask a neighbor if they have it. Or do you have a community social media group you can ask?
If this were our management company I'd not receive a response to a question like this for days, or maybe even a week or more, and our board doesn't respond to direct emails to them as communication is supposed to be handled through the management company. Our board has been trying to find a new management company, but most in our area don't seem to be much better... Sigh. HOAs can be super challenging at times. Hope you're able to get the info you need fairly quickly.

[lessel]

I am victorious! I have 153 PDF pages of more information than I ever care to know about our HOA's insurance policy.

Thanks, everyone, for your help!

ETA: And the lender dropped a $300 document search fee for my troubles!