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DouglasM2 (Texas)
Posts: 4
Posted:
We live on a private road and years ago when the land in the subdivision was for sale the developer maintained the dirt roads by grading periodically. when all the tracts were sold the developer did not want to maintain roads at his expense any longer so he created a HOA for the property owners to take over that responsibility. Decisions on the road maintenance is voted upon by property owners at the HOA annual meeting. There are 87 5 acre tracts and each tract counts as one vote. One particular owner has 50 acres equivalent to 10 votes. The rule is that if you’re not up to date on your dues your are ineligible to vote and at our last meeting they carried 1/3 of the vote. This is not fair. This person's wife is the vice president of the HOA and her husband is the one responsible for grading the roads. Problem is that they are doing what they want and when they want to do it because they carry the majority of the votes. I spoke to her in-depth about this issue and told her that the only fair way to make sure everyone’s vote has meaning or purpose is to have one vote for one household no matter how much land you owned. She did not like that ideal she informed me that it is in the bylaws created by the developer and the rules must be voted on to change the rule but since they carry the majority of votes I feel they will control the outcome.
The current situation is bad she explained that they are allocated two
gradings per year and if you’ve ever been down a dirt road that just not enough based on the conditions of the road. They recently added speed bumps (she refers to them as water diversion burms to divert the rain water)I asked her whose idea was that and she mentioned her husband’s.

They have hand written signs in small print that are hard to read that say bump and I hit one of those bumps and almost lost control not to mention the front end alignment I had to have done. They have these bumps on every road but the road leading to their house which is well maintained. She says the reason her roads are good is that they put their own money in road base to improve the road leading to their house.

It is well known that they are constantly preaching about slowing down and this is a way for them to do that. The problem is the roads are in need of serious repair but they claim it is not in the budget.

QUESTION: Is there a legal loophole to change the bylaws so it’s fair for all who contribute to the HOA
Note: The HOA was created to maintain the roads but they are spending money on beautification note practicality.
BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535
Posted:
If the roads are private, there may not be much you can do.

However, one thing you might try is contacting the emergency services (fire, police, ambulance) that serve your area. Some frown on the use of speed bumps because it slows them down and damages their equipment (and could be dangerous to patients in an ambulance). In some cases, it might even be illegal (even on private roads that must be used by emergency vehicles).

Then, of course, there is the civil liability issue. Does your association's liability insurer know about the bumps? Would that affect the insurance premium? How about the insurance carried by the individuals who are maintaining the roads? If a person's home was destroyed by fire because the fire trucks couldn't get to the scene in a timely manner, or if a person died because an ambulance couldn't get to the person and back out in a timely manner because of the bumps, who would be liable? Something to think about.
MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836
Posted:
Here's a novel thought...Have you ever tried going to the city to discuss making your roads public? I'd discuss that option because the benefits may outweigh the situation you are in now. Our roads were private and then turned public in order for us to get public water services. The changes we saw were they put in their own street signs, maintained the roads, and police patrols increased.

Our only issue was that our HOA didn't allow signs and we had some areas that had to be dedicated to "No parking". The city only put in signs which we couldn't do. So we got a new city code that allowed us to paint our curbs instead with lettering "No parking". That way they could still enforce the law and so could we.

Think about it....By the way, it may not "free" to do...

Former HOA President
BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820
Posted:
there's no "loophole", but there are perfectly legal methods to change your by-laws and codes. Read your by-laws to see what the association must do to change their own rules. Typically, a super majority vote of all owners, etc..

You will find all the info in your regs about how to create change. good luck!
DouglasM2 (Texas)
Posts: 4
Posted:
Thats a good idea will look into it thanks Bruce
DouglasM2 (Texas)
Posts: 4
Posted:
The county wont even consider that unless the roads are brought up to county specs and with the total HOA collected
(approx 12,000 p/yr) it will take an eternity as we have 3 miles of road. Currently we are at grade and must be brought up
to 6" above grade @ 30' wide.

They recently put down some crushed concrete that stirs up a dust cloud 30' high and takes 10 mins to settle. I get a headache
evertime I drive over it even with the airconditioning on.
DouglasM2 (Texas)
Posts: 4
Posted:
Hi Brian Thanks for the advise. The rules were drawn up by the developer and given over to the property owners to elect a commitee The developer is long gone. I will look into the super majority vote issue.

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