What this means is if a member has owned the unit for at least one year and sells the unit within 12 months of purchasing a new unit in Sun City West and a tenant card has not been issued for more than three months with the 12 months immediately prior to the sale of the unit.”

Gerry Connor, Recreation Centers of Sun City West board president

IF YOU GO:

What: Recreation Centers of Sun City West board workshop meeting

When: 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 7

Where: Lecture hall at R.H. Johnson Recreation Center, 19803 R.H. Johnson Blvd.

R.H. Johnson Recreation Center
19803 R.H. Johnson Blvd.
Sun City West, AZ
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A decision to make changes to the Recreation Centers of Sun City West’s asset preservation fee was delayed to allow for additional clarification.

The governing board established the APF in 2000 to be paid by the purchasers of the residential units. This fee is used to offset capital expenditures. The board continued discussions during the Jan. 10 governing board workshop on the Budget and Finance Committee’s review of the APF.

Proposed changes would make the APF payable upon any transfer of ownership of a residential property. Proposed additions detail a number of exemptions when the APF would not be applied, including transfer in foreclosure, trusts, limited liability companies and similar legal entities and owner death.

Gerry Connor, governing board chairman, explained the exemption and the possibility for refund of the APF for the purchase of a residential unit in Sun City West if all criteria is met, including a two-year time frame to submit a request.

“What this means is if a member has owned the unit for at least one year and sells the unit within 12 months of purchasing a new unit in Sun City West and a tenant card has not been issued for more than three months with the 12 months immediately prior to the sale of the unit,” he said.

Another exemption includes trusts. It stated the APF will not apply to the transfer of legal ownership of a resident unit to a trust, to a limited liability company or similar legal entity, if the resulting beneficiaries of the trust are identical to the legal owners immediately prior to the transfer.

Additionally, the governing board may, in its sole discretion and without obligation to do so, grant an exemption.

The board decided to delay a decision on the proposed changed until after further discussion at the next workshop meeting, 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7 in the lecture hall at R.H. Johnson Recreation Center, 19803 R.H. Johnson Blvd.

Board President Jim Sloan said the committee is trying to capture and close the loophole, which in 2000 didn’t seem significant, but now appears to be looking at the numbers falling through the cracks.

“With inheritance and the way the policy was written we decided to start looking at what was out there and how Sun City Grand and Sun City handled it and saw they do charge those fees,” Deb Long, Member Services director, explained. “And when I started looking at it, I took all the fees from the title company and owner’s fees, as well as change of title we have not collected APF’s on and at a minimum half of those are an inheritance situation. We estimate there’s around $350,000 in unpaid APF’s.”

Residential unit owners who leave the unit in a trust, ownership can then change upon their death to the children.

“When the new people inherit the property they are not brining in the paperwork to notify and since they are truly new owners they should be paying an APF, but that’s where the gap is and then the only other APF collected is when the new owner comes through,” Ms. Long said.

The change in review establishes everyone will pay the APF and can request a refund if they fall into the exemption.

Governing board member Jim Young said everyone should pay for the fee and Mr. Connor explained the committee thought the policy to be too harsh in the event the husband dies and the wife must pay an APF to change the title.

“The exemption seemed appropriate and we wanted to offer it to those who have no interest in living here to dispose of the property within one year,” Mr. Connor added.

There is a way already in the system to catch the missed APF upon membership when people apply to get their recreation card. Resident Keka Wessman wanted clarification.

“If we now move all our properties under a trust, would that require the fee and if we die will our children have to be on the title in order to sell it within the 12 months,” she asked.

Mr. Connor said if the properties are put into a trust there is no APF. However, the fee will be put on the new owners of the property.

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