Covenants, Restrictions, and By-Laws…Oh, My! (Birmingham, Huntsville: short sales, real estate, 2009)

[Diffy Q]

Autobahn - Thank you for the link to this article. The increasing number of developer/builder bankruptcies brings up good questions regarding the C & R's that were originally put into place. Do they still apply to the original homeowners? I mean, they were a contract of sorts between the Declarant and the homeowners. When the Declarant loses the property to bankruptcy, I would think his rules no longer apply. If they were the kind of rules that we have been discussing then I would say good riddance. But I wouldn't want them to be replaced by rules that further eroded property values. So that begs the question, can a subsequent developer/builder extend his C & R's to the existing homeowners or would the rules apply only to his phases of the development?

[ionlife]

Originally Posted by autobahn

Wow!

Builder's woes stir property concerns - al.com

I read the article. Wow that is what we've been discussing in other threads as well. The builders thought so many more people were coming here and over extended themselves. Now we, as homeowners, will pay the price. I know my neighborhood is almost built out, BUT we can't get control over our HOA unless we allow our developer to sell our amenities package to at least 50 potential homebuyers in his other, less expensive subdivisions.

I know he is already overextended and can't afford to lose sales. He even asked us to refer people to him and he'd subtract 10 sales of our packages out to these places for 10 referrals to his company--at least this is what I think he said as he spoke so fast and tripped over his tongue so many times it wasn't easy to follow his train of thought.

Well, we are in a true CATCH-22 because we want to have him sign over and surrender his rights so we can be free of his lordship. However, due to the focus on the amenities, I think people are losing sight of the bigger picture. We stand to lose more than our exclusive rights to the pool/clubhouse.

While, on principle, I think it is awful for him to do this to us after selling us a home that came with "exclusive" rights. I'd rather find a way to the middle ground--we need control over our books. We need to become a non-commercial property so we can save money on taxes. We need to have control over our covenants and restrictions/architectural guidelines in order to maintain the quality of the neighborhood. We need to build a cash reserve for a rainy day.

Long term, I think we have to look at the BIGGER picture. Sure, it sucks that he is using our amenities to sell houses to other subdivisions. But it would be suck even more to lose the clubhouse/pool due to poor money management.

Plus, I honestly don't think that many people will make the long drive to the pool. I don't. It's in my neighborhood and I rarely go to it. Perhaps our board needs to look at this more closely.

[ionlife]

Originally Posted by Diffy Q

Autobahn - Thank you for the link to this article. The increasing number of developer/builder bankruptcies brings up good questions regarding the C & R's that were originally put into place. Do they still apply to the original homeowners? I mean, they were a contract of sorts between the Declarant and the homeowners. When the Declarant loses the property to bankruptcy, I would think his rules no longer apply. If they were the kind of rules that we have been discussing then I would say good riddance. But I wouldn't want them to be replaced by rules that further eroded property values. So that begs the question, can a subsequent developer/builder extend his C & R's to the existing homeowners or would the rules apply only to his phases of the development?

If given the choice, what would you do? Risk losing it all and not having control over C&R and stand your ground regarding the sale of amenity packages OR would you allow the sale of a finite amount of amenity packages to guarantee declarant surrendering ALL rights to prevent future alterations to the C&R and possible financial woes for the HOA?

[ionlife]

Apparently the developer won't even meet us in the middle. He refuses to compromise and we have no idea why. Now the news WAFF has a report on Laurenwoods problems... I guess it's time to get the media involved in our situation as well.

Other than being a mule, I see no reason for this man not to meet us in the middle. We stand to lose a lot of property value if he forces us to stay in this unholy contract with him and "in these economic times" he loses his gamble and is forced into bankruptcy.

I guess I'll be calling the station later today to tell them about our situation. Hopefully other residents will do so, too.

[jkratze1]

Will BRAC solve the Laurenwood Preserve and similar problems? Or will these problems continue for the next decade?

[ionlife]

jkratzel1-the tidal wave the builders expected is a ripple at best--the only way this problem will be resolved, along with other similar issues throughout the area with developers, is to contact the city and state gov't and work toward changing the disclosure laws and make the developers accountable for their behavior.

[financelife]

Originally Posted by dramamama

Our developer must really need to sell houses right now if he's willing to prostitute our amenities to do it. Too bad he doesn't use his other super priced development to sell more of his smaller, cheaper homes. But then he'd lose potential buyers at the higher price point if they knew they weren't getting exclusive rights to their even smaller pool and clubhouse.

As I said, till this is resolved and we let as many people know where/how to look for this info about any of the new developments, I recommend buying in established communities.

This all sounds terrible. And many developers are in deep debt. I think I've mentioned before a couple of subdivisions where current residents are angry because the developer is going to build homes way below the price of homes in order to raise cash. Imagine being in a subdivision with $400K homes, and now the developer is going to put in $175K homes on the remaining lots available, which may only be 500 sqft smaller, and use cheaper materials. Risks of buying new I guess.

[ionlife]

It is unconscionable that the developers of new subdivisions have written their C&R documents in such a manner as to protect themselves and not the homeowners. I spoke with a neighbor today and she is very upset. She said she didn't see any bylaws posted when she looked at the web site for our developer. She's angry and feels betrayed. I told her to step in line, right behind me, and then sent her the links to all the city/county and state officials to let them know about her pain.

The truth is, even if we had caught this red flag, and asked about it, I am CONVINCED the representatives would have pointed out the section stating the declarant would sign away his rights and that would have falsely reassured me that all would be well.

Either way, my hiney feels very sore right now.

[friday13]

Originally Posted by dramamama

It is unconscionable that the developers of new subdivisions have written their C&R documents in such a manner as to protect themselves and not the homeowners. I spoke with a neighbor today and she is very upset. She said she didn't see any bylaws posted when she looked at the web site for our developer. She's angry and feels betrayed. I told her to step in line, right behind me, and then sent her the links to all the city/county and state officials to let them know about her pain.

The truth is, even if we had caught this red flag, and asked about it, I am CONVINCED the representatives would have pointed out the section stating the declarant would sign away his rights and that would have falsely reassured me that all would be well.

Either way, my hiney feels very sore right now.

Wouldn't this constitute a matter for Troy King to look into?
Alabama Attorney General - Online Consumer Complaints

or FTC?

These two organizations entered my mind while reading random MSN articles on consumer protection. My daily news fix (CNN for computers, away from TV). These are kind of the top of the escalation process. You know, start low, from addressing the issue with the "offender", than go higher, trade associations, CPSC (safety issues), BBB, AG, FTC.

I know you have lawyers fighting for you, just giving my 2 legal cents.

[ionlife]

Originally Posted by friday13

Wouldn't this constitute a matter for Troy King to look into?
Alabama Attorney General - Online Consumer Complaints

or FTC?

These two organizations entered my mind while reading random MSN articles on consumer protection. My daily news fix (CNN for computers, away from TV). These are kind of the top of the escalation process. You know, start low, from addressing the issue with the "offender", than go higher, trade associations, CPSC (safety issues), BBB, AG, FTC.

I know you have lawyers fighting for you, just giving my 2 legal cents.

I will cut and past this thread into my files -- we do have lawyers working on this. And I am beginning the process of escalating my email campaign to higher officials in the city, county, state and national offices.

Hopefully, others are already joining in the process. I know when I spoke to my neighbor, she thanked me for taking this on as she has 3 children, one of whom needs interventions for his education, and is not able to put the time into as I am. I told her I'd be happy to help her put together a basic letter as well--she can ping that to her reps, too. And she's forwarding all her info about this to EVERYONE she meets who is asking about it, be it on the soccer field or in the PTA meetings.

Madison is a small city, and it has people who care about it running a lot of the show. I believe we can make a difference.