In Missouri, it’s an eye-opener that companies managing homeowners associations (HOAs), condominium associations, and subdivisions are not required to hold any type of state license—not even a real estate broker’s license. Yet, just across the river in Illinois, community association managers must be licensed under their Community Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act. This gap in regulation here in Missouri leaves condo owners and homeowners vulnerable, particularly when it comes to the management of large associations that handle millions of dollars in dues and are responsible for common ground and major infrastructure like private streets and utilities.
Think about it: a property manager overseeing a single rental home for an individual must be a licensed real estate broker—subject to audits, escrow requirements, and consumer protections. Meanwhile, someone managing a 300-unit condominium development or an entire subdivision, receiving and disbursing hundreds of thousands of dollars, is subject to little oversight beyond general contract law and, if needed, civil lawsuits. There’s no mandated education, no licensing, no formal fiduciary standard, and no real consequence for poor management short of costly, time-consuming litigation initiated by the homeowners or the association.
Unfortunately, this lack of accountability can have very real consequences. I’m currently dealing with a situation where a St. Louis County occupancy inspection cited an issue with the electric service—a repair that was clearly the condominium association’s responsibility. Here we are, nearly three months later, and the property management company has only managed to get a couple of bids—no repairs have been completed, the unit remains vacant, and a tenant I had lined up has now moved on. It’s not just my financial loss; this kind of mismanagement ultimately hurts all unit owners by negatively impacting property values and undermining the reputation of the community.
It is surprising—and concerning—that Missouri has not stepped up to at least require some form of licensing or regulation for community association managers. After all, protecting homeowners’ investments is critical, and the stakes for mismanagement of a multi-million dollar community are arguably much higher than for a single rental property. Until the laws catch up, property owners need to be extremely diligent when selecting and overseeing their association management companies, because for now, in Missouri, “buyer beware” applies just as much after closing as it does before.
