HOA problem with my townhouse (Glendale: real estate, budget, condos)

[richie894]

I have recently bought a townhouse in Sun Valley. The complex is managed by an HOA office in Glendale. Although I have lived there only a couple of months, we have experienced a number of problems with the HOA. I dont think it is necessarily the HOA office, but I think it is the committee board.

We have reported a couple of problems and nothing is getting fixed. We call the HOA committee members and they never return our calls. I was wondering how we can rectify this situation... Is it possible to take legal action against them?

The first problem was that they would not program the electric security gate with our phone number so that we can buzz people in. Their excuse was that they lost the instructions. I gave it a month, then called out a professional and paid $85. I will be short paying my next months HOA fee.

Second problem we have a leak in the roof. Someone came out and checked it about 2 weeks ago and submitted a quote to the HOA. The HOA lady says that she can not do anything until the committee approves it. If it rains again before it is fixed the water will come through and ruin our brand new carpet.

We are very frustrated and any advise is greatly appreciated.

[ferretkona]

The management companies are very slow to respond to us as well. Send certified letters to all concerned that they will be liable for damages. If you attend the meetings you will likely be refunded the $85, you have to be a squeaky wheel.

[greggd]

I would suggest that you nominate yourself and become a board member at the next election. It sounds like the board has no one with prior HOA experience or homeownership experience. This is a growing problem with condos in that you have a group of people with a renter mentality and no concept of the responsibility and procedure to maintain real estate.

For the meantime, I agree with the above post to go to the next meeting, if they even have them regularly, and send out the letter to the management co and president's address personally indicating in the letter that you are putting them on notice. If they know of the deficiency before damage occures and fail to do anything, they are negligent.

[eminent]

having set up a few HOA's during the development process, you will need to find out if first a management company is managing your HOA. if that is the case, you will need to address your problem with them...threaten to organize with other members to remove thier company and replace it with another management team. they will not like this and will be forced to act asap. if there is a board which consists of residents, add yourself to the board and monitor the budgets closely. if you cannot add yourself to the board you will have to organize the other HOA members. its a pain in the rear, but if you threaten not to pay, you should first look into your purchase and sale contract to find any clauses related to HOA dues etc. hope that helps.

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[Paula Lynn]

You need to contact someone on the Board - preferably the President or VP. Management companies are there to GUIDE the Board. The Board makes the decisions. I agree that the management company should have programmed the intercom system - it's hard to believe they "lost the instructions" - any moron can figure it out. But the roof is not the management's decision. They can call a roofer out for an estimate, but if it's over their spending limitations, (the norm is $250)the Board has to approve it.

Maybe you have a very weak Board of Directors. In that case, go to the meetings and get involved.