Who is in Charge for the Fee from the Association

Question

This is regarding a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom townhome in the Chicago west suburb area. The townhome association charges a $100 fee annually under the name of the Tenant Administration Program (TAP), regardless of whether I have a new lease with new tenants or a renewed lease with the same tenants as the previous year.

Who should be responsible for this fee: the landlord or the tenants?

I have been paying the fee for my tenants so far, but I am now curious whether this charge could be the tenants' responsibility. Could you share your experiences if you have encountered a similar situation? If so, what is a good way to ask my tenants to cover the fee?

Thank you for your time in advance.

Andrew B. · Answer

The relationship is between the HOA and you (the homeowner), so the fee is levied against the owner of the house. In your normal course of business, you may choose to try to pass that fee onto the tenant. I would personally not do that, since I do not like my tenants to have "surprise" bills. Surprise in this scenario means it pops up annually, rather than monthly/quarterly. Bills like this are difficult for tenants to budget and create messy scenarios when someone moves in/out around the timeframe of the bill coming out.

"I just moved in, I shouldn't have to pay this annual bill."

I would rather increase my rent by $10 per month, vs asking tenant to pay.

"I just moved in, I shouldn't have to pay this annual bill."

I would rather increase my rent by $10 per month, vs asking tenant to pay.

Lynn McGeein · Answer

@Kathleen Park if you want the tenants to cover, just increase the monthly rent a bit at renewal to cover the cost. You don’t want tenant paying the HOA directly because you’d still get charged as the owner if they don’t pay or pay late, so best to handle the HOA payments, yourself.

Jonathan Klemm · Answer

Hi @Kathleen Park - In my opinion, any type of HOA fee should be paid for by the housing provider, but if you want to account for it in the rent (if the market allows), then increase the rent by $100.

What does this TAP program do, and what's the purpose of it?

I had (2) HOA fees on a South Loop condo we rented out, but we only know about one and ended up getting taken to court over it. $100 a year is pretty minor in the grand scheme of things...

Kathleen Park · Answer

Thank you so much for your response. I haven’t mentioned this fee in the current lease, so I will probably need to pay for it. However, I will definitely include it in the lease next time. I’ve learned a valuable lesson.

Chris Seveney · Answer

@Kathleen Park

What does your lease say? If it’s not in the lease I would think you would not be able to charge them for it

Kim Meredith Hampton · Answer

This fee could definitely be passed along to the tenant. You would need to notify them prior to renting the place or when it’s time for renewal so that they are aware.

Who is in Charge for the Fee from the Association

Who is in Charge for the Fee from the Association

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