A Transition Study/Inspection Would Have Been a Good Idea

Don't be fooled...a Transition Study and Reserve Study serve very different purposes.

HOA boards should have a transition inspection done at the beginning of the transition period.

When an inspection is delayed, developers might tend to label issues as wear and tear, improper maintenance or natural deterioration.

A Transition Study should have been performed by the end of June, 2017. The Transition Study would have identified and documented existing and potential construction or design deficiencies.

Builders/developers don't like transition studies and discourage HOA's from having them done.

Here is why: A transition study/inspection provides negotiation leverage for the HOA. The study can be forwarded to the developer along with a demand to address and repair any deficiencies or construction defects. Since an independent, unbiased evaluator performs the transition study, it generally has more leverage in pressuring the developer to voluntarily comply with correcting the defects. If the demands and further negotiations prove unsuccessful, the transition study can alternatively be used as evidence in litigation to force the developer to pay for needed repairs.

A reserve study does not take the place of regular, quality inspections (and reports) of common and limited common elements. A reserve study is a long-term capital budget planning tool.

During the initial construction of a community, a developer is primarily concerned with building and selling units as quickly as possible in order to maximize its profits. Often times a developer will take shortcuts with the construction in order to save time or money, which often results in construction defects.

The failure to appropriately investigate and respond to construction defects immediately after the transition control date can be financially devastating to an HOA.

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A Transition Study/Inspection Would Have Been a Good Idea

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