"Everyone belongs to both except about 11 homes built before the Club Board was formed and have never joined." That's how the Ranch board president described Cottonwood Ranch's two homeowners associations in the community's March 2022 newsletter.
Eleven homes is a small share of a community whose recorded plats run past lot 520. For a buyer under contract on one of them, though, it matters a lot. On those lots, clubhouse and pool membership doesn't come with the house. It's a decision the buyer makes after closing, under a deadline that starts on closing day. The 1997 Club declaration sets that deadline at 30 days, and the Club's 2021 Rules give it as 60.
The Covenant Came After the First Houses
According to the Verde Independent's archive, Cottonwood Ranch opened in 1996. The master declaration, which created the association now known as the Ranch HOA, is dated April 9, 1996.
The clubhouse association came more than a year later. Del Webb's Coventry Homes Construction Co. signed the declaration for The Club at Cottonwood Ranch on September 24, 1997, and recorded it with Yavapai County two days later. By then, homes in the first phases had already sold. Those owners had bought into a community without a clubhouse covenant, so the developer couldn't simply add a new assessment to their lots.
The declaration handled this by naming "Excluded Lots." Their owners got an option period to join by signing a Declaration of Acceptance. Owners who didn't sign by the deadline were "barred from membership in the Association." The Club's 2021 Rules and Regulations give that deadline as November 11, 1998.
Most of those owners signed. That's how roughly a hundred excluded lots became the "about 11" homes the 2022 newsletter described.
The Lots Named in Exhibit A
The excluded lots are listed in Exhibit A of the 1997 Club declaration, all in the community's earliest plats:
- Phase I: lots 1–5, 11–20, 22, 27–37, 63–75, 78–79, 82–83, 86–124 and 126–132
- Phase II: lots 141, 144, 149–150, 193–195 and 198
- Phase II replat: lots 142, 143, 238 and 240
Phase III lots 241 through 366 have no exclusions. A separate Club declaration from 1999 covers the Phase III replat and Phases IV and V, and it doesn't add an excluded-lot carve-out.
A lot on this list isn't necessarily a nonmember today. Most of these lots joined in 1997 and 1998. The list tells you which lots need a second look.
What Happens at Closing
The provision that matters to a buyer is the resale clause. In the 1997 declaration it reads:
"In the event of a sale of an Excluded Lot to a third party ('Subsequent Purchaser'), the Subsequent Purchaser shall have thirty (30) days from the date of the closing on the Excluded Lot to join the Association."
The same section says a buyer who misses the window is barred. It also says the right to join "shall arise each time title to the Excluded Lot is conveyed." So the window comes back with every sale, but only for the person buying.
The Club's 2021 Rules describe the same window as "sixty (60) days from the date of closing." Those Rules also say that when a rule conflicts with the governing documents, the governing documents control. The copies posted on the community website are labeled as scanned convenience copies. The official declarations are held by the Yavapai County Recorder. Under both documents, the window opens at closing, and the Club is the place to confirm which date applies to a given lot.
Joining only goes one way. Under the Declaration of Acceptance, the Club covenants "attach to the Lot and constitute covenants running with the land" for "all subsequent grantees," and the form calls it "permanent membership." By the form's own terms, signing ties the Club covenants to that lot for later owners as well. Under the declaration's resale clause, a buyer who doesn't sign leaves the choice for the next buyer.
This means the same street can hold three kinds of early-phase homes:
- Lots that joined in 1997 or 1998. The acceptance form describes membership as permanent, so Club dues come with the house.
- Excluded lots that never joined, now in a buyer's window. The buyer decides whether to join, once, within the deadline.
- Excluded lots whose last buyer let the window close. No membership until the next sale.
From the curb, the three look the same.
What Each Association Covers and Charges
The Cottonwood Ranch HOA FAQ splits the community's common property between two boards, and HOAMCO manages both.
| The Club at Cottonwood Ranch | Cottonwood Ranch HOA | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Clubhouse, its parking lot, pool area, bocce courts, horseshoe court | All other common areas, including the park and trails |
| Current dues | $145 per quarter, or $580 a year | $200 semiannually, or $400 a year |
| Who pays | Every lot except excluded lots that never joined | Every lot |
On a nonmember lot, the $580 a year buys more than pool access. The clubhouse is staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. According to the Club's June 2026 newsletter, all of its activities are led by volunteers. Groups include bocce, water aerobics, aqua yoga, Mah Jongg, line dance, a book club, a bridge group and a Writing Club that meets in the Jerome Room on the third Tuesday of the month.
Nonmember households can still get in, but only as guests. Under the 2021 Rules, members must stay with their guests, and each household gets one guest card good for ten visits, with more available at $20. The Club Board can also charge "owners and/or tenants of a nonmember Cottonwood Ranch property, a fee of $10.00 when entering as a guest." For an owner who wants the pool every week, guest access doesn't do much. For an owner who never planned to use the clubhouse, it's a way in now and then.
The dues figures above are the ones the FAQ currently lists. The Club board held its budget meeting on August 17, 2026, and its November 16, 2026 meeting is listed as the annual review. A buyer comparing costs should ask the associations for current figures.
Where This Shows Up in the Paperwork
Arizona law already makes sellers in planned communities provide association information. A.R.S. § 33-1806 requires a resale disclosure that covers the declaration, rules, assessments, transfer fee and budget. When more than one association governs a property, the disclosure must identify each association's report and fee. The statute caps what an association may charge for those services at $400, with a rush fee of up to $100 and an update fee of up to $50. The fee can be charged only once per transaction and collected no earlier than closing. Separately, the master declaration requires the buyer to pay a transfer fee set by the board.
In a Cottonwood Ranch sale, the question is whether the Club appears as a second association on that lot's disclosure. The Club's 2021 Rules say the Club Manager's office can provide membership information, and the Association can be contacted to clarify a lot's membership status. All of the governing documents mentioned here are posted on the community's governing documents page.
Timing is on a buyer's side here. In the ARMLS October 2026 STAT report, which covers data through September, ARMLS says Sedona Verde Valley properties averaged 111 days on market before the region joined ARMLS in October 2025 and have averaged 86.3 days since. That's usually enough time to settle a lot's Club status during the offer and escrow period, before the post-closing window opens.
This post is general information about the community's recorded documents. It isn't legal, tax or financial advice, so confirm your own lot's status and deadlines with the associations and with your attorney or escrow officer.
Questions Buyers and Sellers Ask
Does the HOA FAQ settle whether every owner has to be a Club member?
The FAQ says each owner of a home "purchased after September 24, 1997 is required to be a member of the Club Association." The 2021 Rules use the same wording but go on to describe the excluded-lot option and the resale window. They also define "Member" so that it excludes owners of excluded lots who haven't delivered a Declaration of Acceptance. For a lot on the Exhibit A list, the declaration and the Rules go into more detail than the FAQ.
If I'm selling an excluded lot that never joined, can I join first?
According to the 2021 Rules, an owner who didn't join during the original option period is barred until the lot sells to a third party. The choice goes to the next buyer.
Once a lot joins, can a later owner leave the Club?
Under the Declaration of Acceptance, membership is described as permanent, and the covenants run with the land to every later owner.
What's the first step after joining?
The FAQ says clubhouse access starts with a mandatory orientation scheduled with the Club Manager and a one-time $50 orientation fee, which covers the household's badges and key fob.
If you own one of the early Cottonwood Ranch lots or are about to make an offer on one, Sylvia Ray can help you find out the lot's Club status and build that question into your listing or offer timeline. Request a free home valuation or market consultation, and we'll start with the lot number.
