Anyone else's Subdivision in the Dumps? (foreclosure, HOA fees, mortgage)

[italnyer]

We moved to our subdivision over a year ago, our HOA is a joke, we are in the red in terms of our reserve, so they just raised our fees over $100 for the year. The problem is this horrible housing market. About 20% of the homes are in forclosure so there are code enforcement signs everywhere, overgrown grass, and then there's about 10 homeowners who refuse to pay their fees and have been avoiding them for about 3 years!!! The reest of us are left to make up the difference. It's frustrating, but I go to every meeting and it seems that we just have to suck it up. Has anyone experienced this or experiencing it currently and was your HOA/subdidvision able to rectify it and how? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

[Magnolia Bloom]

Is the board placing liens for the unpaid assessments? If not, that should be automatic after a predetermined amount of time.

Do you have a property management company? We had a national company for several years that was horrible. They gave us incorrect information and very poor advice on numerous occasions. A good property manager can work wonders.

When I got on our board, we inherited a lawsuit to require a homeowner to fix her property. We recently obtained a final judgement and liened her property for 20k. We had an investor who lives out of state that the association had been hounding since 2001 to fix his property. When news of our final judgement filtered down to him, the property was repaired within ten days.

One of the things our board never did was make reports to the city. We have had a lot of success with this. The complaint can be entered online and is good for various code violations. Might check your city's website to see which properties are in violation of local ordinance. Anyone can file the complaint.

And, if you are attending the meetings, how about running for the board? Yeah, it's thankless and way too time consuming, but we have accomplished so much this past year. And I figure that the time I put in is an investment in my home's value.

[italnyer]

HIF,
Yes they do assess liens and have placed many on the properties in question, but they don't care. I would be mortified!! These people have no conscience. As for the houses with lawn issues, code enforcement has been called and they have since taken care of it, but first the huge sign goes on the lawn and it just looks like a condemned house!! I guess I should just be thankful that they cut it, but it just takes away from the beauty of our subdivision.
We do have a management co., but I don't think they give 2 dimes about us, they get paid regardless, they don't have to live here!! I am seriously considering running to get on the board. I think the current president is up to no good. I believe he is corrupt and getting kickbacks. One example is that they asked us at one meeting if we had any suggestions to cut costs and one homeowner works for a major landscaping and pest control co. He pointed out we were paying way too much. So he took the # down at the end of the meeting. Long story short, at the next meeting we were informed that our original landscaping co. won the bid and when asked if he had even met with the competition, the President said that he didn't have time to schedule a meeting. So we would just keep the co. and they planted some extra trees for us at no extra cost!!! BIG DEAL. He even show up at meetings and says he didn't have time(in a month) to review the financials, and this has happened about 6 months in a row!! Something's up. I'm tired of shelling out money and having it wasted. Thanks for your input though!! I will definitley run for President!!

[Magnolia Bloom]

I'm glad that you are going to run for president. Our association was so poorly managed- the board let the president do whatever he wanted- and he was a piece of work. The management company was terrible. We've really made some progress in the last year. Much more to do, but many good things have been said about the changes. Of course, there are always those who do nothing but complain....but I just acknowledge their concerns, tell them that they have some good ideas and ask them to chair a committee- LOL....they get really quiet after that!

Our goal is to create a footprint that future boards can step into. Now that we have a good management company, anyone should be able to serve and do a good job.

RE: code enforcement- we had a parking problem and I would just call the police and have them ticketed. It took a couple of months- I walk my dog at all different times of day- 5:30am, 1:30 am....no real schedule, so they could never predict when they would get a ticket. I know the code enforcement signs must look bad, but if enough people get cited and you stay on it, it should help a lot.

RE: the liens....I'm thinking out loud- wonder if HOAs can report unpaid assessments to credit agencies? A lien just means you will get paid when they sell or want to refinance....but a ding on their credit report can affect credit card interest rates, employment, etc.

How many homes in your HOA?

[italnyer]

HIF,
We have 250 homes in our subdivision. Our president is also a "piece of work" as I have mentioned. One homeowner who frequents the meetings is obsessed with finding another way to penalize the homeowners regarding these liens. They have told him at about 6 meetings that all they can do is put a lien on it and hope to get paid (fat chance after the bank collects) so their solution? Stop the liens all together, because since we can't even get the money back, they said we are just wasting those $30.00 to file it with the town so let's save those pennies!! It just seems so ridiculous. There must be another way, your suggestion sounds like a great idea, but the other question is, if these people don't pay their HOA fees and don't care that a lien is on the record in thier name, what are the chances that they care bout thier credit assuming it is even good to begin with. I have come to the conclusion that we are dealing with people who "just don't care". My job is to hit 'em where it hurts, I am doing reserach on how we as an association can do that legally of course. There has to be a punishment that will affect these folks. I pay taxes and my mortgage and my HOA fees, why shouldn't they and why are all of us being penalized?
Sounds like you have really turned things around, that is what I am hoping to do. It is shame that such a beautiful place is becoming overrun with problems. Out of curiosity, does your "president" atend the meetings now? HA

[Magnolia Bloom]

LOL, no our former president hasn't been to any of the meetings. He can't stand us. Not sure why, as he didn't run for re-election when I got on board. He didn't want to run again. The only reason I "ran" was because no one else would do it.

When we were having 12 trees removed, the former pres went around telling at least two families that we were "idiots", that he had gotten estimates and it cost 12K to have them cut down....it only cost $1,200!

And we had seven unregistered junk vehicles in our secured parking area, some for more than ten years. He and the owner of one of the vehicles almost came to blows because he wanted to pick and choose which unregistered vehicles were towed. The owner had threatened legal action..it was really nasty. We had the city red tag the lot, sent out a notice (neither of which were required by law due to posted signage and our C & Rs, we just wanted to go above and beyond in noticing people.). Then we had any that were not removed towed away. Here is a pix of one of our board members leading the "parade" with the tow truck driver

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w76/kshellyflorida/parade.jpg (broken link)

And the owner who was so upset with our last president removed his vehicle and actually sent me an e-mail thanking us!

Of course, I've had two residents come to my door to cuss me out. One threatened me, so he is not allowed to come on my property any more- he can deal with the management company.

The other complained because an untagged car was towed (had a pink day-glo notice giving the date that it would be towed in 2" letters and the owner parked his truck right next to it two days in a row before the deadline- again, not required, just what we think is the right thing to do). I just asked him to highlight all the areas of the C & Rs that he felt he should not have to follow and we will vote on it at the next board meeting...heh, heh.... This is the same guy who dumped leftover wet cement in our park on five different occasions. The third and fourth time he was asked to stop. The fifth time I got pix, called the cops and the cement was removed.

Like you said, some people just don't care and you have to hit them where it hurts.

[italnyer]

HIF,
OMG hysterical pic of the tow truck. I cannot believe that your president was being so obnoxious. One of the reasons my husband is nervous about me getting too involved. He doesn't want to go through stuff like that eg. people cursing you out or coming onto our property, that is why I suggested we get a few large dogs!!! HAHA. Well it really looks like things are moving along for you. Good for you, unfortunately people don't want to speak up or get involved for the reasons you mention, they don't want to be bothered or "upset" people, and let's face it, it is a hard job. You are dealing with people's money after all!! Out of curiosity, how did you get information related to legal avenues for taking care of things such as towing, etc. we do have attorney's, did you use yours or did you do research? Was it a bit of both. I will take all comments and suggestions. You seem like you are in control over there.

[Joe S]

I'm a property manager and took over an HOA that had $15000.00 in out standing dues that the previous management company said was uncollectible. I collected every penny of these past dues with interest and late charges within the first six months I took over. The key to collections is getting a good collection attorney to work with the HOA. I collect 99.9 of the assessments for the HOA's I manage. The .1 percent that don't pay get there house foreclosed on by the HOA or the lender. I also have had been successfully collecting dues by contacting the homeowners mortgage company. If the collection attorney can’t collect they will recommend foreclosure. We never had to foreclose on any property the homeowner usually pays everything when they get the foreclose papers they know the HOA means business. If you’re looking for good manager who cares and knows how to get things done I’m looking to take on another HOA to manage. You can get E-mail address from my profile.