An expert in property and building disputes has issued a warning about resident's associations.

Separate to the likes of bodycorps, resident's associations are popping up more frequently around the country and causing nightmares for litigation experts.

Unlike a bodycorp, resident's associations don't have to disclose what their money goes to, how it is governed, and there's no overarching body to make sure what they are doing is actually beneficial to their members.

It isn't compulsory for there to be a notice that you would need to enter into the residents associations on a title of a home, meaning it can be sprung on the new buyers.

Special litigation counsel at Duncan Cotterill Tanya Wood told Mike Hosking that the associations are different from bodycorps as those are for apartment buildings. 

"[Resident associations] are cropping up in situations where there are communal lots, access lots, driveways, parks, gardens, that sort of thing."

She says that they are also self-regulated unlike body corps, which sparks concerns about where their money is going and how they are levying. 

Wood says that the industry wants regulation, but the bill to change that has been sitting on the shelves for years.