One Suncadia HOA Bill, Several Layers: Who Pays for What, and the Settlement Money Owners Are Still Deciding On

Three Suncadia boards meet over the next five days. The Suncadia Fund for Community Enhancement has a regular board meeting set for today, October 22, according to its July minutes. The Suncadia Residential Owners' Association board meets Friday, October 23. The Tumble Creek Village Association board follows on Monday, October 26.

As of their most recent published minutes, all three bodies had money or policy waiting on a decision. That includes their share of roughly $2.85 million recovered from historical overbilling, plus a pause on the fund that collects a fee from Suncadia buyers at closing. If you're under contract this fall, your HOA disclosure shows where things stood on a particular date. Several of the numbers behind it are still open.

The Dues Figure Is a Chain of Budgets

A listing shows a single HOA line. Behind it are separate associations, each with its own board, its own budget, and its own job. The associations' June 2026 FAQ on the Tumble Creek sale and HOA structure lays out who pays for what.

The money moves upward. Residential SCC assessments go to SROA, so the patrol and road costs a Suncadia homeowner funds reach the Council through the residential association. SROA's October 2025 minutes put its contribution to the SCC budget at $3.3 million when the 2026 budget was adopted. Tumble Creek owners pay both TCVA and SROA, and that didn't change when Tumble Creek was sold. The buyer became declarant and took control of TCVA. TCVA adopted a 4% assessment increase for 2026.

Sub-associations account for the widest spread. The 2026 Trailhead II assessment schedule lists monthly totals from $889.33 for unit TH2207 to $1,720.69 for TH2119, due on the first of each month. Two homes in the same resort can carry very different monthly costs depending on which layers sit above them.

Since each layer budgets on its own, each one can also take in money, set it aside, or vote on it separately. That's what happened this year.

Where the $2.85 Million Came From, and Where It Sits

The April 24, 2026 SROA minutes describe a 2023 audit. It found that between 2009 and 2021, under prior management and ownership, the associations had been billed for front gate, patrol, and attendance hours that were scheduled but never staffed. Ankura, a forensic accounting firm, concluded the billing problems predated current ownership. The associations demanded $2,847,464, and Lowe Enterprises' liability insurer, AIG, agreed to pay the full principal.

The principal was split three ways:

• Suncadia Community Council: $2,009,551
• Tumble Creek Village Association: $496,062
• Suncadia Residential Owners' Association: $341,851

All three boards accepted 4% interest on top of the principal. For SROA, that came to about $30,260, for a total of roughly $372,111, according to the May 22, 2026 special meeting minutes. TCVA reported receiving its proceeds on July 2, and SROA reported receiving its share in early July.

When the July minutes were written, neither board had decided what to do with the money. SROA asked its owners' advisory committee to form a steering committee, approved up to $10,000 for professional survey work, and pointed the committee toward Zogby Analytics to design a survey. TCVA moved its share into a money market account at Columbia Bank. The minutes say the board chose a short-term account partly because it signals to owners that no decision has been made. TCVA's advisory committee suggested adding the funds to reserves, which could help avoid assessment increases in 2027.

The Refund Question Splits Buyers From Sellers

There's one option on the table that ties the settlement directly to people who are selling and buying now. SROA directed its counsel to give a formal legal opinion on whether the money could be paid back to the individual homeowners who owned in Suncadia during the overpayment years. TCVA asked management to count how many current owners would be eligible. Some owners have said they'd like their portion paid to them directly. At the same meeting, an advisory committee chair estimated that a refund to eligible owners would be no more than $3,000. She also said former owners who have left the community could be hard to reach and that the cost of a refund process would need to be weighed.

How it's resolved affects people differently. If the money goes to reserves, it stays with the association and supports whoever owns the home when the next repair bill comes due. If it goes to owners from the overpayment years, it follows people by when they owned, and a buyer closing this fall would have owned during none of those years. A seller who owned between 2009 and 2021 might be in either position, depending on what the boards decide and on what counsel says is possible. Purchase contracts are signed now, and these decisions come afterward.

The Fee a Buyer Pays on the Way In

Separate from dues, Suncadia resales carry a Fund for Community Enhancement fee. The developer's public offering statement says the person acquiring title pays it on a later sale, unless the sale is exempt. For residential lots it "will, in no event, be greater than one-half percent (1/2%) of the gross purchase price," and the Fund sets the actual amount and how it's calculated. The current rate belongs on your closing statement, and your escrow officer can confirm it.

The fund's grants go out into the wider valley. According to its July 23, 2026 minutes, the board ratified the following:

• $8,000 for the FISH food bank's 2026 summer lunch program
• $12,500 for Suncadia Community Events to develop the Woodland Wonders Trail
• $2,500 for Cle Elum Downtown Association's Pioneer Days
• $2,000 for the Roslyn Farmers Market season
• Smaller amounts for the Roslyn Ronald Cle Elum Heritage Club and the Rotary Club of Upper Kittitas County golf tournament

At that same meeting, the board said its legal counsel had advised pausing community grants until the Washington State Office of the Attorney General released a statement on transfer fees. According to the minutes, the AG was reviewing a case with similarities to the fund's program. Requests from the Upper Kittitas County Senior Center, two Community Builder requests, and the Boys and Girls Club of Columbia Basin were tabled. The fund's next regular meeting is today.

What the Resale Certificate Captures, and When

Washington's RCW 64.90.640 generally requires a selling unit owner to give the buyer a resale certificate signed for the association. The statute lists exceptions, including certain sales that come with a public offering statement, so whether it applies depends on the sale. Where it applies, the certificate has to disclose, among other items:

1. Assessments currently due on the unit, any delinquencies, and any special assessments that have been levied but aren't yet due
2. Other fees payable to the association
3. Expenditures or anticipated repair costs reasonably expected to exceed 5% of the annual budget
4. Whether there's a reserve study, along with financial statements and the current operating budget
5. Unsatisfied judgments and the status of legal actions the association is a party to
6. Meeting minutes from the past 12 months, plus current rules and board resolutions

The association must deliver the certificate within 10 days of an owner's request. Preparation is capped at $275, and updating a certificate within six months of the previous request is capped at $100. Depending on when the buyer first receives it, the buyer may have five business days to cancel. A certificate received more than five business days before the contract is signed carries no cancellation right under this section.

Timing matters most this month. A certificate prepared before October 22 will include the July minutes and the open questions in them. It won't include anything decided this week. The settlement funds, the possible refund, and the fund's paused grants will likely show up through the minutes and resolution categories rather than as a line item, so the minutes are worth reading closely. This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Confirm how the statute and these fees apply to your own transaction with a real estate attorney or your escrow officer.

A Few Questions Before You Sign

Is the settlement money already reflected in reserves? Not according to the July 2026 minutes. TCVA was holding its share in a money market account, and SROA had set up a steering committee to decide.

Will 2027 dues rise? The July 2026 minutes leave that question open. The 2027 budget item they record is a proposal to raise the design-review fee builders pay from $5,000 to $5,500, and TCVA's advisory committee suggested that putting settlement funds into reserves could help avoid 2027 assessment increases.

Does a Tumble Creek owner pay SROA too? Yes. The June 2026 FAQ confirms that Tumble Creek owners stay members of both associations and pay both.

If you're buying or selling in Suncadia this fall, The Graham Group can go through the resale certificate, the October minutes, and the fee lines on your closing statement with you, so you know which questions are settled and which are still open. Contact Us.