HOA Document Disclosure Laws in AL (Birmingham, Huntsville: for sale, apartment, insurance)
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To me, it's just the chance you took for signing a contract without reading all the information. Does this require a specific state law? Not in my opinion.
To me, it's just the chance you took for signing a contract without reading all the information. Does this require a specific state law? Not in my opinion.
Every person in this neighborhood had different experiences during the buying process. Many were caught in the same boat as we were-they were committed and needed a place to live.
We did read the information we could access, so I believe state regulation requiring hard copy documents before closing is highly necessary. But that is a moot point. The point is that the builder knows for every 1 person that walks away from settlement (if given the information and or access to all the information in a timely manner), there will be 99 who by circumstances decide they can't walk away due to money, time and emotional energy invested into the build.
Not all decisions are cut and dry. If you can shed insight into how to get the developer to do the right thing rather than I'd appreciate it. Other than that, there's nothing to contribute to our situation.
We will fix this.
Last edited by ionlife; 07-29-2009 at 12:00 PM..
Reason: just in case
Please read my reply to Flstatefan.... and again, shed valuable insight into how we can fix this situation, I'd appreciate it. Frankly, I think the state should regulate how this information is given to the buyers. There are too many loopholes the way it is right now.
It is not as cut and dry a situation as you perceive.
What development do you live in? This way people will know what to look for if they think about moving there?
Having moved to Southern Breeze development in Limestone County we learned a great deal about the state of AL, County verses City Living and more. I have a thread on this as well but what you are going through is terrible.
At this point, I don't want to say which subdivision because I'm hoping the builder will do the right thing and transfer full ownership of our covenants/restrictions to our duly elected board. However, if not, we are planning to involve the media in this situation. I certainly don't want anyone else to be steamrolled into a purchase without prior knowledge.
And CFOTOCEO: thanks for not judging us regarding why we are in this situation. Truly, it is not as cut and dry as people would like to believe. This developer had a reputation for covering his tracks, and an unwillingness to do the right thing in general. Only by pushing him, hard, do people get resolution. Overall, by staying on top of him and his reps, we have all of our punch list taken care of and we are very happy with our home and location. I know that pushing this developer will require a very hard hard push and will have to hit him where it hurts: the potential effect to his bottom line. If he believes he's got something to lose, he'll bend.
Please read my reply to Flstatefan.... and again, shed valuable insight into how we can fix this situation, I'd appreciate it. Frankly, I think the state should regulate how this information is given to the buyers. There are too many loopholes the way it is right now.
It is not as cut and dry a situation as you perceive.
Perceive? I am in the middle of an issue potentially going through legal chanels. Why would the state regulate contracts between buyer and seller?
"We will fix this. Because you can be sure that potential buyers will be informed about this lock hold." Have you considered the potential legal aspect of this statement? As you state through all your posts - you should have ... But you did not.
I disagree with you but I have tempered my response as you will see in the prior posts. Truthfully, the documents are now online and anyone can now go to the website to access them (at last). So if someone were to ask me about the builder, I am well with my rights to state the truth. And the truth is verified on line. If a buyer reads that before putting a contract on a house, then they can make an informed decision. That's perfectly legal.
Sorry you are having an issue going through legal channels. Perhaps that is why it's difficult to see that our situation is not as cut and dry as the statement "you should have read the docs before signing" implies. Frankly, it was not that simple. But I respect your opinion and only ask that you take a moment to consider that I am one of 120 homeowners who has had a similar experience because the state does not regulate how the HOA documents are handled in the purchase of a new home. I would like the documents to be supplied PRIOR to the purchase, not at purchase time (that happened to someone else I know--they had no time to read it and a mover coming in 3 days--). The builder is hedging his bets that for every 1 person who'd actually read at closing or find it on their own after much hunting (who has time for that?), and then decide to walk, there are 99 who won't know, won't understand why they don't know, and won't walk when they do know because there are many other factors weighing into the purchase.
Yes, it is a choice (although in my case, made unwittingly), and we probably would have gone for it, or started looking again (even with our time crunch), had we given time to discern the entire documents. We were not given time.
I think the OP changes her"facts" from post to post.
In an earlier post she stated they were not available and not online.
Later she says------" but who has time at closing " and --" I was busy"------" they were hard to access"
Why in the world did you think you could buy a house in a HOA and then decide if the rules would be adhered to by you ?
I am not changing my facts--during the months before we moved, we were in the process of moving to a rental community in our original city so my daughter could finish her year. I was focused on her graduation, trying to get the builder to work on the contract we had signed, and preparing for a huge move. I asked about the HOA, but was not given documents. At the time I tried to access the website, but no one told me it was different than the main developer's website. I didn't know anyone here in Madison until we came to CLOSE ON THE HOUSE. So I had no one to ask besides the rep and the builder. The builder did not go out his way to help me find the docs.
Once I found the website, I did find the pool rules and clubhouse rules but I didn't find the actual HOA documents covering the covenants and restrictions. This was before we moved.
I admit, I didn't think about the docs when I was closing on the house. I admit I was more focused on getting the deed settled. And then I had to go back north to finish out my daughter's school year. I admit, I assumed that the HOA would be similar to my Northern counterpart as I was president of that HOA and I had built that house as well, I figured the transfer would be similar so I didn't worry about it. MY MISTAKE.
Then we officially moved here. Other issues were raised, and I finally got the website address for the community. Then I went onto that website and couldn't find the documents. NOW UNDERSTAND: THE BUILDER HAD TOTAL CONTROL OVER THE WEBSITE, STILL DOES CAUSE WE HAVEN'T TRANSFERRED POWER. There is no power to transfer. Now, I called, I had time to call, miraculously they appeared. I read them online but didn't print them. I was looking for some specific info about building a deck.
Then a year later, I see the legalese coming through as we start the assumption of the property. Hence my confusion. And then I went back online to THE BUILDER MANAGED WEBSITE and found a very complicated document, with strike throughs, dates changed, original restrictions and covenants clearly changed.
I merely came to this forum for insight about the regulations and laws. I am trying to piece together how this happened and why. If in one post I state one thing, it is not in denial of another thing posted. It's hard to get all the info down in each and every post.
Now, to cover myself, I am printing out the most recently amended document, which THE BUILDER NEVER INFORMS US WHEN HE CHANGES THE RESTRICTIONS OR COVENANTS THEREIN. I have asked other homeowners for their documents if they have them. We're going to look at all the changes from the first phase of development till now.
I take responsibility for not knowing 100% about the rules and regulations at signing. I tried to know. I assumed I knew and I was wrong. But I refuse to let anyone tell me that I am not getting my facts straight. Some of these things happened over a year ago! I am doing my best to get it all straight. But I can tell you, all I wanted insight in how to proceed from here because other subdivisions with the same legalese did not have the same problems. The builder/developer (not necessarily this one) turned over full ownership at time of transfer.
I guess I expected my developer to be equally as forthcoming. I was wrong.
WhenI asked another neighbor and she said she had to go t
When did you purchase your home? When did you move in?
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