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Now that our development is 99 point something completed, one of the residents emailed the builder website inquiring as a new homeseeker about whether a pool would be put in. The reply was "Reynolds Mill will not be putting in a pool." No one has informed us of this news. We have been waiting for 4 years now. We were supposed to have an HOA meeting in April, and that never happened. Emails and phone calls to HOA go unanswered. I honestly think they lured homebuyers in by telling them there would be a pool...that's what they did to us, and I was told just 2 weeks ago that recent new homeowners here were told a pool would go in for next summer so apparently they are still using the same luring in tactics, yet the email clearly states no pool. We are paying yearly dues for nothing in return. The majority of the fees supposedly goes towards landscaping, which is sorely lacking. There are very few areas considered common ground. There is a walking trail, which is overgrown with weeds and not kept up at all. Bushes were planted at one time but are now overtaken with tall weeds around them. I cannot see where it would cost even a fraction of what they claim they are spending on landscaping. In addition to choosing your home, you choose your neighborhood/location with many factors to consider. One of those factors for us was the pool. Our kids were 13, 14, and 17 at the time we bought. Now we have one in college and two on their way to college very soon. I feel highly taken advantage of.
If you have in a brochure or im some sort of writing from the developer that a pool was supposed to be built in a certain time frame then certainly you can file a class action lawsuit as a group. If you were promised by the builder then perhaps you don't have a case. The builder can come back saying " I never told the builder there was going to be a pool."
We have a pool in our neighborhood owned by a private company. We are in a similar situation as you. We thought and were told it would be included in our HOA fees, it is not. So we have the option to join the pool for 720 a year and also pay 400 in HOA fees. No thanks, we decided not to join for that price and now just use our friends pool down the street for free.
Have you pulled up your communities site plans on the town's website? If it's Town of Cary, here's a link to a alphabetical listing of site plans: Site/Subdivision Plan Index
If there is a site plan for the pool, I believe the developer would have to get the site plan ammemned, if they were no longer going to build the pool.
Was the pool site on the sales/marketing material?
NOTE: Ok, I just Googled your community (Wake Forest)....I looked at the site plans & it does show a pool. However, in fine print at the bottom it reads: Subject to change without notice. Unfortunately, that sounds like an "out" for your developer.
Twenty-three years ago when we were on a house-hunting trip to Raleigh, we were driven through the Knightdale community of Planter's Walk. It looked very much like what we were looking for at the time, but there were hand-made signs in several of the yards blasting the developer about lying to homebuyers about the promise of a pool. Needless to say, that really turned us off since we we wanted a community pool for our young family and we crossed it off our list. Apparently, the very vocal residents of Planter's Walk were eventually successful in fighting the developer because they got a very nice pool and clubhouse the next year. However, they were nowhere close to being built out at that time. Good luck!
Sorry to hear about your situation. As North Beach implies above, it's really common to have developers back out of "agreements" - be it pools, road completion, etc. My community is currently in the throes of dealing with our developer having gone out of business without having met his requirement to get the streets up to DOT standards so they can be taken over by the DOT. The county required bonds be put in place, so we've been working with the county attorney to get the bond money. Unfortunately, the bonds don't cover the full cost of the repairs needed so our options are to either go after the county since they didn't size the bonds correctly, go after the developer (who is no longer in business, so that would be fruitless...), or charge an assessment to all homeowners to pay for the paving. Fun times. I would strongly recommend contacting an attorney as a group if anyone has documentation showing that the developer promised a pool for your situation. Best of luck - I know how frustrating this all can be.
At 99 percent done shouldn't the homeowners run and operate the HOA? I believe it is turned over from the builder at about 75% or something. Regardless I am led to believe that the builder has the HOA under control from your original post even though you don't specify. The first step would be to form your HOA with homeowners and go through elections, hire a management company to take care of the assessments, hire the landscape and everything else. It can then be determined if the HOA wants to build the pool and such from there. The money you have been paying has just been going to the builder. Not really a bad thing to be honest because sometimes the builder has more resources and the fees actually go up once the HOA of homeowners is formed. But that is just an example as I don't know the specifics of your situation.
I agree with others above that you should band together as a group to try to get things done and hire an attorney. Even five on your side could do something benefical for you. But whatever you do, get it started now.
I bet they are legally covered by the subject to change language. Not that it's right and it sucks, but legal.
Your best bet at this point is probably a local troubleshooter reporter to get some attention to the situation, but if they are 99% built, the need for future sales is not as strong. Signs might help some also.
When we signed the contract our neighborhood was half done and the pool had not started, but they had started by the time our closing date came. With all the builders and developers going under I have wondered what I would do in the future. It would be interesting to see if you could get a builder to agree to a liquidated damages clause in the contract if the amenities have not been constructed by some future date. Clearly the amenities are an enticement to potential buyers and used in advertising and it seems like a pretty easy case that you will be materially hurt if they are not constructed.
I agree with others, the develope has a legal obligation to begin the turnover process when it gets to be near 75% homeowners. You should definitely start pressing them. Sounds like it might be time for a little unofficial neighborhood meeting. Also, check the Community Associations Institute. http://www.cai-nc.org/link/linkshow.asp?link_id=20295 They put on seminars helping deal with some of these issues. There is a cost, but it can be helpful. Might even try calling them.
Along with the "Subject to change" language, Orleans' may be able to skate on investing in a pool due to their bankruptcy.
However, if the community has been misrepresented by salespeople, that is an entirely different issue, and also may be worth pursuing. Who knew what, and when did they know it?
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