How to dissolve HOA and have the city/county take over?

I live in a new subdivision with 8 homes(7 owned & 1 rented) and one lot left. All 8 homes were completed and occupied in 2008. FYI, home that is rented is owned by the original builder. With one lot still available for sale, HOA was formed in SEPT of 2008. We elected one president and 2 officers which I am one of.

Other than the 3 of us, home owners do not give a hoot and they are all late on the monthly dues. In the meantime, we have been doing everything such dealing with insurance and maintenance. Also the developer is in a boat load of financial and legal troubles and haven't been paying the association fees on the rental home nor the empty lot that looks like a jungle.

How do we go about dissolving the HOA and having the city or the county take over so that we don't have to deal with these deadbeat homeowners and the shady developer?

Janet is right.. first step, check your own documents.

then, you will need to get permission from the city/county/state, because they will have to take over the properties and management. You will likely need a plan for sale or transfer of any property and assets, and hope the government will agree. they likely will not.

if they do agree, and if you can transfer property/assets, get ready to pay even more money each year on your HOA dues, because you will still be responsible for maintaining everything, you will just have to pay the government extra money for them to do it.

that's unkempt.

wish we had an EDIT key.

As for the documents, we have yet to receive anything like the declaration from the developer which he's been promising from day 1.

Jayre,

The BOD should contact the city/co to ask if they would be willing to take ownership of all the common areas. If they agree then you are home free. And, contrary to what Brian has said, unless they decide to set up a special taxing district for your community the members will not have to continue to pay assessments. The HOA can be dissolved and the members would only be left with the deed restrictions, which run with the land. That would mean that any violations would be enforced by the member(s) in small claims court -- or just not enforced. On the flip side, if the city/co says "no" they will not take ownership of the common areas then I would say dissolution is not an option. I doubt anything can be done with the water retention areas so it would be difficult, if not impossible, to sell those areas. And, the other common areas may also be impossible to sell if they only amount to an area near the entrance and some roadway areas.

The BOD needs to adopt a collection policy and stick to it. Late notices, including late fees, need to be mailed to each delinquent member including the developer for his 2 lots. If the delinquency is not cleared w/i 1 month then other steps need to be taken such as filing liens. The members need to know that they are obligated to pay the monthly assessment and there will be consequences to pay if they don't. As long as the board is lax in collecting the assessments the delinquency rate will only continue to rise. In time this will result in the necessity to increase the monthly assessment thus burdening even more the people who do pay.

The city will never take over your HOA. They will not be interested in paying city workers to mow your retention plot.

What will happen if your HOA fails ..... the court will appoint a lawyer(s) to run your HOA and you will be forced to pay him a salary. He will hire whoever he wants to mow your retention plot, insurance, etc. He might even hire the city to mow it. Think of what that will cost. Your dues will sky rocket and you will be begging to re-organize the association to bring costs back under control.

Have fun.

What do management companies normally charge to run a small HOA like us?

Jayre:

Brian is right this will vary and not an answer which can be obtained here as you will need to call around in your local area.

I do know that a neighboring HOA with 63 homes the cost is about $2,600 + misc. items such as postage. As a general rule if you divide this number by units it would equal roughly $41 per unit per year.