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Old 01-13-2013, 02:40 PM
 
Location: Tennessee
10,688 posts, read 7,650,950 times
Reputation: 4674

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Quote:
Originally Posted by HWTechGuy View Post
There can still be issues, after all, as they are run by people. And, it's no secret that people can be corrupt and immoral.

Before we were married, my wife had a townhouse. The place seemed great, and the HOA folks couldn't have been nicer. Once she got in there, things started to change. The HOA saw fit to apply the rules differently to certain people, and to some - no rules at all.

They actually tried to bully her into paying for repairs to a common area by claiming that she owned it. After asking them to produce a site survey and amend her deed as such, that put an end to it. But, the fact that they even tried that nonsense is unacceptable.
It is entirely possible to get an HOA board with a nazi or two on it. They can make life hell for homeowners. I both worked for a couple of years (following my retirement) as the admin. asst. to the president of a small HOA management company AND served for three years on the board of my own HOA as the president (for all but four months).

Keeping the proper balance in an HOA is difficult when the board is basically all amateurs. Good, experienced advice is critical.

But the reason HOA's came about is NOT to keep houses from being painted purple in a development, it was so developers could write CC&R's to protect themselves from homeowner lawsuits. In addition, the developers then sold it to local municipalities by saying, "Hey, you don't have to keep up the roads or common area mowing, or anything, but you still get to TAX the property as if there was NO hoa."

Of course, the municipalities fell head over heels in love with HOAs.

The biggest problem for 90% of HOA's is not a Nazi board---you can vote those people out, and you should by going FREQUENTLY to your board meetings---the biggest problem is underfunding for the reserves necessary to fund replacement/repair of common area holdings such as roads or clubhouses or swimming pools. Developers will almost always set up their initial HOA fee far below the proper reserve level needed to make those repairs. Why? They want to sell the units and get the hell out!

Then when the owners are left in total control of the board, someone, maybe the management company, says, "You need to do a reserve study." You pay the cost of the study and find out the fees should have been double or triple what was initially set up.

So be very careful in moving into an HOA community. READ the CC&R's before purchasing. It is contractural in nature which will move many things out from under what you may consider your "rights" as a homeowner, and put you into the position of a contractural nature. Courts generally rule in favor of what the contract explicitly says unless it violates State or Federal law. Florida laws are among the toughest in the nation, so that is to your advantage, Floridians.

And above all, go to board meetings. Ask questions about the budget. If you have a nazi director, gather votes so that you can depose them at the next annual meeting.

And please note that changing just about anything in the CC&Rs generally requires two-thirds to three-quarters of all owners to vote in favor. Not just of those voting--but of those OWNING. It is very difficult to do.

Even with all those potential problems, an HOA can serve a community well, particularly condominium/townhome communities by providing for lawn mowing service, snow removal in colder states, and repairs to common areas.

Good luck, OP

Last edited by Wardendresden; 01-13-2013 at 02:42 PM.. Reason: spelling
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Old 01-13-2013, 02:47 PM
 
27,206 posts, read 46,547,726 times
Reputation: 15661
You know what you are talking about and in our community the Board is run by the developer and committee are canceled due to lack of volunteers but there are enough volunteers but the HOA doesn't call anybody so it is like a scam...

It is never good to get the media involved but at some point it may the only thing that will help to get a bad management company out that is put in place by the board without any input from home owners and is not doing anything other than collecting money and trying to foreclose on home owners....

Don't get me wrong, I believe it is good to foreclose on dea beats but not on people who are trying to start paying meanwhile not doing a thing about properties that are non in compliance and it seems they choose who to target and who not.

I'm in compliance and up to date on payments and like to live in a HOA community but I own multiple homes an see the big difference between Seven Oaks and where I live myself...


Quote:
Originally Posted by Wardendresden View Post
It is entirely possible to get an HOA board with a nazi or two on it. They can make life hell for homeowners. I both worked for a couple of years (following my retirement) as the admin. asst. to the president of a small HOA management company AND served for three years on the board of my own HOA as the president (for all but four months).

Keeping the proper balance in an HOA is difficult when the board is basically all amateurs. Good, experienced advice is critical.

But the reason HOA's came about is NOT to keep houses from being painted purple in a development, it was so developers could write CC&R's to protect themselves from homeowner lawsuits. In addition, the developers then sold it to local municipalities by saying, "Hey, you don't have to keep up the roads or common area mowing, or anything, but you still get to TAX the property as if there was NO hoa."

Of course, the municipalities fell head over heels in love with HOAs.

The biggest problem for 90% of HOA's is not a Nazi board---you can vote those people out, and you should by going FREQUENTLY to your board meetings---the biggest problem is underfunding for the reserves necessary to fund replacement/repair of common area holdings such as roads or clubhouses or swimming pools. Developers will almost always set up their initial HOA fee far below the proper reserve level needed to make those repairs. Why? They want to sell the units and get the hell out!

Then when the owners are left in total control of the board, someone, maybe the management company, says, "You need to do a reserve study." You pay the cost of the study and find out the fees should have been double or triple what was initially set up.

So be very careful in moving into an HOA community. READ the CC&R's before purchasing. It is contractural in nature which will move many things out from under what you may consider your "rights" as a homeowner, and put you into the position of a contractural nature. Courts generally rule in favor of what the contract explicitly says unless it violates State or Federal law. Florida laws are among the toughest in the nation, so that is to your advantage, Floridians.

And above all, go to board meetings. Ask questions about the budget. If you have a nazi director, gather votes so that you can depose them at the next annual meeting.

And please note that changing just about anything in the CC&Rs generally requires two-thirds to three-quarters of all owners to vote in favor. Not just of those voting--but of those OWNING. It is very difficult to do.

Even with all those potential problems, an HOA can serve a community well, particularly condominium/townhome communities by providing for lawn mowing service, snow removal in colder states, and repairs to common areas.

Good luck, OP
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Old 01-13-2013, 03:18 PM
 
27 posts, read 53,705 times
Reputation: 40
Interesting topic to me. I've lived in town without an HOA for 36 years and the biggest issue I had was my neigbor's non running truck in his drive. Hasn't moved for years. That being said, he never complained about my workshop noise - so we really had no issue with each other. We are now building a new home in Bradenton. Looking at different developments, we chose one with an HOA because we saw some areas that allowed horses on small lots. (Something like 2A would allow 2 horses or whatever the ratio was.) We were simply appalled at some homes having horses right up to the front door (but fenced in) and no suitable buildings for shade or stable use. We quickly decided we would not want to take the chance of building a new home and later have someone move in next door who wanted horses looking into their (or our) windows. I'm even a farm boy, and would never treat livestock in such a manner, or would I want their smell by my front door.

HOAs can be a good thing and exist for a reason.
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Old 01-13-2013, 04:01 PM
 
Location: Florida & Arizona
5,908 posts, read 7,241,767 times
Reputation: 7484
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wardendresden View Post
It is entirely possible to get an HOA board with a nazi or two on it. They can make life hell for homeowners.

And above all, go to board meetings. Ask questions about the budget. If you have a nazi director, gather votes so that you can depose them at the next annual meeting.

And please note that changing just about anything in the CC&Rs generally requires two-thirds to three-quarters of all owners to vote in favor. Not just of those voting--but of those OWNING. It is very difficult to do.

Even with all those potential problems, an HOA can serve a community well, particularly condominium/townhome communities by providing for lawn mowing service, snow removal in colder states, and repairs to common areas.
There are some very important kernels of information here.

I am the VP of my HOA. If someone shows up for a meeting, it is a major event. Our HOA is very laid back and gives everyone the benefit of the doubt whenever possible. Our biggest problem is keeping the management company reigned in. As long as we can keep them from being overzealous, we have no problems.

Sadly the only time someone shows up is if they are mad about something, and sometimes not even then. We try to get them involved, but it rarely occurs. We don't have any real issues - the worst last year was someone doing an architectural review for a particular color of paint, then painting the house something totally different and hideous. We had to serve notice on them to repaint the house, which they pretty much told us to go pound sand, despite their arch review being completely different than what they said.

Our attorney just filed a foreclosure notice against them. I saw that they were out painting the house this weekend.

Why people would be like this is simply beyond me.

The stories you get as a Board member are almost pathetic at times. My personal favorite:

"I didn't know there was an HOA here."

Right. Your real estate agent has to disclose it as does the paperwork you sign at closing, not to mention the very obvious signs at the entrances to our community that say "Deed restricted". Either people are stupid, ignorant, lie, or a combination of the three.

(rant over)

Anyway, HOAs aren't as bad as most would portray them, and they do have a purpose in most cases. Yes, they can be overbearing and obnoxious, but if you find yourself considering a property that has one, ask the neighbors about it and you can get a pretty quick assessment as to what its like.

RM
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Old 01-13-2013, 04:24 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,234,143 times
Reputation: 14611
Quote:
Originally Posted by Buckeye Joe View Post

HOAs can be a good thing and exist for a reason.

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Old 01-13-2013, 11:35 PM
 
Location: Tennessee
10,688 posts, read 7,650,950 times
Reputation: 4674
Default When HOA members attend meetings

Quote:
Originally Posted by MortonR View Post
There are some very important kernels of information here.

I am the VP of my HOA. If someone shows up for a meeting, it is a major event. Our HOA is very laid back and gives everyone the benefit of the doubt whenever possible. Our biggest problem is keeping the management company reigned in. As long as we can keep them from being overzealous, we have no problems.

Sadly the only time someone shows up is if they are mad about something, and sometimes not even then. We try to get them involved, but it rarely occurs. We don't have any real issues - the worst last year was someone doing an architectural review for a particular color of paint, then painting the house something totally different and hideous. We had to serve notice on them to repaint the house, which they pretty much told us to go pound sand, despite their arch review being completely different than what they said.

Our attorney just filed a foreclosure notice against them. I saw that they were out painting the house this weekend.

Why people would be like this is simply beyond me.

The stories you get as a Board member are almost pathetic at times. My personal favorite:

"I didn't know there was an HOA here."

Right. Your real estate agent has to disclose it as does the paperwork you sign at closing, not to mention the very obvious signs at the entrances to our community that say "Deed restricted". Either people are stupid, ignorant, lie, or a combination of the three.

(rant over)

Anyway, HOAs aren't as bad as most would portray them, and they do have a purpose in most cases. Yes, they can be overbearing and obnoxious, but if you find yourself considering a property that has one, ask the neighbors about it and you can get a pretty quick assessment as to what its like.

RM
RM, you have a well run HOA if few people are attending. When I got on my board it was not unusual for 80-90 people to be in attendance (we had 60 buildings, 192 units). They were unhappy because a few on the board wanted to sue the developer for some serious structural defects, one that had invalidated the warranty on our aluminum siding.

But the builder had a few people in our community that were his "friends" to whom he gave special attention with regard to repairs even past the one year warranty he provided on the homes. So the war between the board that mostly wanted to sue and the homeowners who said we would end up owing a fortune to attorneys if we brought suit---was contentious, with yelling and cursing and name calling.

When I came on the board, initially as a replacement for someone who had resigned I was almost ousted in an attempt to throw all the board out. My term was already 8 months into a two year term, so when the annual meeting came, I was up to be voted out. A new group came on that wanted to "negotiate" with the builder, and after just two weeks into the new term, our new President resigned in frustration. I volunteered to take the President's position if our recently resigned president would remain on the board.

And that started a long, long journey to healing. We fired our management company and hired a new one. The lady that ultimately became our manager had served on the City Council for over 20 years and was very politically adept with handling upset homeowners. The first time someone cursed and called another person a name she said, "Sir, if you cannot be civil and polite to your neighbors you will be asked to depart the premises." He told her she couldn't do that. She picked up her cell phone and said, "I have 911 on speed dial. If you speak like that again in this meeting you will find yourself not only being escorted out, but potentially being charged with disturbing the peace."

He shut up. We never had a bit of problem going forward.

Over the next year the number of people coming to our meetings began to decrease. Even the annual meetings only averaged about 40 people. And though it was a long, slow process, we got the builder to agree to split costs with us on an engineer study of the property. The upshot showed that failure to put plastic sheathing between the wall and the siding was resulting in mold in some buildings.

Not suing the owner became less of an issue!!!!

In changing peoples minds, I spent hours in their homes, making phone calls, going out to coffee. One of my ardent opponents became my friend by the time we left the community.

But being on an HOA board is hard, hard work. You cannot stretch the CC&Rs to cover what they do not--or you will get sued. But you cannot IGNORE the requirements of the CC&Rs -- or you will get sued.
Make sure you have directors and officers liability insurance and have your insurance agent meet with your board to explain ALL the exclusions and give examples of where they might come into play.

Our second, really wonderful management company, offered free educational seminars three times per year for the members of all the boards of the 55 communities they served. Normally about 40-50 board members showed up to learn something different each time about budgeting, control of dogs and cats, parking issues, insurance, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and many others.

Make sure your HOA company does more than drive around your neighborhood checking up on who put their garbage can back behind the house!
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Old 01-14-2013, 05:48 AM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,234,143 times
Reputation: 14611
Why would a person involve themselves in so much dysfunction as an HOA board member? My community is still new and the builder is in control, but eventually the owners will take over and I expect things will get very ugly. I never could understand why a resident would involve him/herself in the mess.
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Old 01-14-2013, 07:13 AM
 
5,453 posts, read 9,250,550 times
Reputation: 2141
Quote:
Originally Posted by BucFan View Post
Why would a person involve themselves in so much dysfunction as an HOA board member? My community is still new and the builder is in control, but eventually the owners will take over and I expect things will get very ugly. I never could understand why a resident would involve him/herself in the mess.
Well, I was in an HOA when we lived in Orlando, and the reason some people get involved is mainly because you don't want others to make decisions about your property (that YOU pay for) without your consent.

I think it is "enough" that we need EXTRA people telling homeowners what to do even though these people are not the ones paying that mortgage....so, at least you get to have a SAY in it, and not wake up one day and be told you can't plant roses anymore.
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Old 01-14-2013, 07:55 AM
 
5,453 posts, read 9,250,550 times
Reputation: 2141
Makes you wonder how people lived before 1960's!
Homeowner association - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This alone would be reason for me to repel them all:
Quote:
It allows a civil municipality to increase its tax base, but without requiring it to provide equal services to all of its citizens.
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Old 01-14-2013, 07:56 AM
 
Location: Myrtle Beach
3,381 posts, read 9,085,110 times
Reputation: 2943
I would knock on the doors of neighbors in a community I was thinking about living in and ask them about the HOA before moving in. I think that would give you a sense on how the HOA operates.
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