HOA Out of Control!

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Eli
What I meant is that I would never subject myself to that in the first place. lol

The whole premise is stupid. I would never go for something like that.

I could give two shits about my neighbors.. I don't want to have anything to do with them, let alone form into some sort of neighborhood pact where we have to follow arbitrary rules.

Again, why anybody would willingly subject themselves to this is beyond me. If I found a house that I loved and couldn't live without, and it happened to be in a HOA, I would lawyer up and tell them all to kiss my ass. My property, my business. Of course, I generally hate cookie cutter neighborhoods anyway, so I doubt that would happen.. but still.

Part of an HOA is protecting your investment. In the age of zero-lot lines and narrow inter-development streets having a neighbor start a chicken farm or weekend body shop can cause a pretty noticeable blight.

Everyone talks about hiring lawyers but they are usually thinking they are free from the personal injury crap all day long on TV.

You'd have to put up a pretty nice retainer to start this effort and in the end they'd just pull out exhibit A with your signature on it.

Pulling the moron's "NO ONE READS THAT SHIT"...won't help you and may even get a bit of chuckle from the judge/arbitrator and defense team.

Not all HOA's are for cookie cutter neighborhoods, however; it's hard to avoid.

I paid what many thought was too much for my place. I have no guard, no gated entry...no HOA.

I have a decent sized yard with a detached workshop/garage and enough room to put in a good sized pool and still have room. I have room to park a half dozen cars instead of just two in front of my home.

I have to deal with one neighbor that never edges their lawn and cuts it to the roots bimonthly. The rest of use around her sometimes cut/have our yards cut twice a week in season...keep everything trimmed and manicured.

Then you have the asshats on the other side of one of us that has a backyard full of crap, a lawn 3 feet high and freaking ran his cable from the front bedroom out the window and over his house. There are about 10 cars parked in the front yard and back each week. I don't see it or notice it, but my one neighbor has to live with that.

My big thing is auto work...even if you keep it inside your garage most HOA's here outlaw ANY work more than an oil change. I'd rather not break rules that I am directly agreeing with.

If I was loaded I'd buy a $100-200k 1/2 acre to acre and build something with a detached garage/hangar. I don't have $500-750k though for a home right now.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Update on page 1

Edit: copied from page 1

So tonight there was a special meeting called by the board to approve a loan to repair the building. The meeting was rather festive. There were around 300 people in the audience. Apparantly 7 home owners hired a lawyer for the rest of us. The CFO from the board began the meeting saying that the group that hired the lawyer had a different agenda then what the meeting was being called for and that non of those issues were going to be discussed.

This sent half the place into an uproar including the lawyer and those people walked out of the meeting. On the way out, one of the owners of the buidling that is being repaired got into an argument with someone and a fight broke out. There was an off duty cop there and he pounced on one of the guys that started swinging. The dude was like 6'8 300lbs.

Anyways, we found out that the loan is going to be in the upwards of $500,000 and will go towards repairing the building, fixing roofs in the next 4-5 years and replacing the $200,000 of the reserve fund that has already been spent. If the loan was not approved then everyone would be assessed the amount of around $2500 which would be due a week before Christmas.

People wanted to know the exact costs of what has been paid out already and what needed to be done and nobody would answer the question. We also found out that our common charges were going to be increased from $280 to $380 a month to pay off the loan. Oh and the loan is an open ended loan with it being interest only until it reaches term (around 12 months) and then the loan being repaid in around 4-5 years after that.

We left the meeting not casting our vote as nobody did. The CFO said there was going to be an issue as to whether the meeting would be counted as "official" needed atleast 50% of the home owners present. It was going to come down to a legal matter and if it was "official" then since nobody voted then everyone is going to be assessed the $2500.

Edit2: I also forgot to mention that this group of 7 that had hired the lawyer also has sent out a petition to remove the entire board. They came around to our home a couple nights ago and my wife and I signed it.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: TangoJuliet
Edit2: I also forgot to mention that this group of 7 that had hired the lawyer also has sent out a petition to remove the entire board. They came around to our home a couple nights ago and my wife and I signed it.

Sounds like the best thing to do. As much flak as people like to give lawyers myself included for the most part they are there to protect and help you; it sounds like that is the best course of action. Lawyer up (done) and align yourself with those that have your best interest in mind.

Hope things go well, but it sounds like it is going to get very ugly, as it should.

 

[IEC]

There was a issue with shoddy construction in my parents' HOA as well... and rates went up. (un?)Fortunately my parents will need to move this coming summer due to jobs... I hope they end up buying a home that has NO HOA.

I hate corporate communism.

 

[finite automaton]

It's time to move, duh.

 

[DrPizza]

Holy Cow! Your "common charges" are now more than my mortgage.

Good luck with the lawyer & getting the current board removed.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Holy Cow! Your "common charges" are now more than my mortgage.

Good luck with the lawyer & getting the current board removed.

wow, where in NY do you live??

 

[smack Down]

Haha, bet wish you rented your apartment now.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: smack Down
Haha, bet wish you rented your apartment now.

not really. i was looking at apartments before I bought my place and the rent was higher then even with the higher common charges plus my mortgage. plus, now i have equity and I have been able to claim the interest on my taxes the past 2 years - something that renting would not have enabled me to do

 

[AlienCraft]

Re: The Update...Sounds familiar :|
That fee increase is just the beginning. Expect them to creep it up beyond that once the inital resistance is broken.

 

[alkemyst]

so you guys shot yourself in the foot by not voting? Also if 7 condo owners hired an attorney yet didn't let the rest of your know/no one knew about it....you are going about this really half-assed.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
so you guys shot yourself in the foot by not voting? Also if 7 condo owners hired an attorney yet didn't let the rest of your know/no one knew about it....you are going about this really half-assed.

I said that the people that hired the lawyer went door to door last week and let people know. The lawyer was also present at the meeting but left about 1 minute into it (when the half left).

What I think is going to happen is that there will be a vote to oust the current board and a new board will be appointed. The current board's attempt to get this loan or give people an assessment will be thrown out and the new board will come up with something.

Now, one of the problem(s) people were having is that our common charges initially went up from $220 to $260 and the $40 increase was an assessment to get our roofs repaired. The common charges then went from $265 to $285. That increase was an assessment to repair a sewage treatment plant. People are wondering what happened to the $40/m that they had been collecting for the past 2 years for the roofs as part of this $500,000 loan they want to get is going in part to new roofs.

Also, someone had said that once a project has been completed the assessment should have come off the common charges. The sewage treatment repairs were completed last year but that $20/m assessment was never taken off. Part of the $100 increase in our current common charges ($285 to $385) is going to go to repay the loan. The CFO said that it could take anywhere from 3 to 5 years to pay it back so that assessment is going to be on there for a long time. The assessment was estimated at $42 (of the $100 increase) but the CFO said it is subject to change as they don't know exactly how much they are going to borrow and what percentage rate the loan will be.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: TangoJuliet

Originally posted by: alkemyst
so you guys shot yourself in the foot by not voting? Also if 7 condo owners hired an attorney yet didn't let the rest of your know/no one knew about it....you are going about this really half-assed.

I said that the people that hired the lawyer went door to door last week and let people know. The lawyer was also present at the meeting but left about 1 minute into it (when the half left).

What I think is going to happen is that there will be a vote to oust the current board and a new board will be appointed. The current board's attempt to get this loan or give people an assessment will be thrown out and the new board will come up with something.

Now, one of the problem(s) people were having is that our common charges initially went up from $220 to $260 and the $40 increase was an assessment to get our roofs repaired. The common charges then went from $265 to $285. That increase was an assessment to repair a sewage treatment plant. People are wondering what happened to the $40/m that they had been collecting for the past 2 years for the roofs as part of this $500,000 loan they want to get is going in part to new roofs.

Also, someone had said that once a project has been completed the assessment should have come off the common charges. The sewage treatment repairs were completed last year but that $20/m assessment was never taken off. Part of the $100 increase in our current common charges ($285 to $385) is going to go to repay the loan. The CFO said that it could take anywhere from 3 to 5 years to pay it back so that assessment is going to be on there for a long time. The assessment was estimated at $42 (of the $100 increase) but the CFO said it is subject to change as they don't know exactly how much they are going to borrow and what percentage rate the loan will be.

Man it's like a Laurel and Hardy skit...

Get the fucking end of year statement you are entitled to and review the budget.

You guys are following no process. If the foundation, roof and sewage is bad...YOU are the ones that need to figure out paying for it. It's a CONDO, you are forced to share the common expenses even if you aren't affected.

Yes it sucks, but that's the way it goes sometimes.