Disclaimer: All content is true and correct to the best of our knowledge. Subdivision records remain undisclosed, so information is based on crowd-sourced documents, state and local archives, and interviews with long-term residents. The goals of this initiative are education and transparency. Nothing here should be construed as legal advice.
HOA = PROVISION + ENTITY
2 Parts Required
An HOA has two parts: (1) a provision and (2) a legal entity fitting the terms of that provision.
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Provision: The provision is stipulated in a subdivision’s founding document. In other words, the founding document “provides for” an HOA. It sets the parameters and for any association of homeowners (HOA) and contracts the terms of any mandatory membership.
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​Entity: A legal entity is an organization formed under and governed by state law, with its own existence, rights, and responsibilities. (It is not a “club” or a “committee” or a “pop-up” or “ad hoc” anything.) 97% of Utah HOA are operated as nonprofit corporate entities. Things to know about entities:
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No state regulation: The Department of Commerce only administers the incorporation process. It does not investigate or address improper formation. Incorporation is, in effect, a simple registry: Anyone may easily form an entity and call it whatever they want. (The paperwork takes just 30 minutes and $30.) Indeed, an individual or small group might incorporate 999 different nonprofit entities and name every single one of them an “HOA”.
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KEY: The mere existence of an entity with “HOA” in its name means nothing.
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As such, entity numbers are better references than names, which can be easily manipulated to resemble something legit – for example, by removing, adding, or replacing a small bit of a known name. (This is known as fraud by use of a similar name, e.g., entering your credit card at www.amazon.corn.)
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Authority to Govern: Corporate law prohibits involuntary membership. See Utah 16-6a-603. To validly mandate membership and subjugate homeowners, an entity must precisely fit the terms provided in the founding documents (i.e., terms to which owners already agreed upon lot purchase). No fit? No authority.
Because the state does not regulate incorporation, homeowners must discern for themselves if an entity is valid. (See also Validity Criteria and Litmus Test.) Again, the mere existence of an entity with “HOA” in its name means nothing. The only way an entity governs homeowners is if it adheres to the terms of the original homeowner contract – i.e., the Declaration and its HOA provision.​​
Those 2 Parts in Thaynes Canyon Subdivision
​Founding Document: The Declaration (1971 - present)
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The Declaration is our subdivision’s founding document, and it “runs with the land” deeded to every lot in the subdivision. It includes anything mandatory, both rights and obligations, such as CCR building restrictions and membership in an association.
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It’s a package deal: There’s no separating this contract from the deed to any lot.
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Why does it govern me? When you purchased your lot, you agreed to the terms deeded with that lot. We are all governed by this same contract.
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Provision & Entity
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Our Provision
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Our Declaration both provides for an HOA and stipulates a specific entity. (This is more specific than some subdivision declarations, which may just provide terms for a generic association.) Our provision is found, along with our entity, in Declaration §3.1-3.2.
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The proposal to remove the HOA provision, offered in May 2025, did not garner the 2/3 approval required to amend. The provision remains in our Declaration and attached to our property deeds.
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Our Entity
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“The Association” in Thaynes Canyon Subdivision is, specifically, Thaynes Canyon Homeowners Association (Declaration §3.1), a nonprofit corporate entity that was established by the developer in 1971 (Utah Entity #622536) AND dissolved according to law (Article II.) in 1986 (Dept of Commerce).
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Membership is mandated in that specific – and long-ago dissolved – entity. (Declaration §3.2)
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Those terms don’t change without formal amendment of the Declaration. Such amendment requires 2/3 approval of homeowners per terms of Declaration §8.2.
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These terms are non-negotiable and perpetual, applying equally across past, present and future.
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Simply this: There are no kings in Thaynes Canyon. No individual or group – regardless of how wise or rich or right or tall – gets to unilaterally subjugate their neighbors.
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Status
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Provision: Intact. (See Declaration §3.1-3.2.)
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Entity #622536: Dissolved in 1986. (See Article II. & Utah State Dept of Commerce.)
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Invalid entities -- despite their registration as nonprofit corporations with the State of Utah (see 2 Parts Required above) -- include "Thaynes Canyon 1 HOA" (Entity #6125172, 2005-2021), "Thaynes Canyon Owners Association" (Entity #14577856, incorporated by the same group on 4 June 2025), and any others formed without proper amendment, owner vote, elections, etc.
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HOA = Provision + Entity. Without both, there is no HOA.
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Anyone wishing to change the terms of this contract – e.g., to form a new HOA entity, alter CCR restrictions, or expand architectural committee power – may do so only with homeowner consent obtained through the process stipulated in Declaration §8.2.
Any claim of authority outside that due process is fraud:
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DO NOT ATTEND. DO NOT VOTE. DO NOT PAY.​​​
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