Landscaping

Hello and thank you for those who may be able to offer me some advise. I live in a neighborhood that has three separate districts. Our neighborhood was built in 2007 and was acquired through a foreclosure last June (2011). The new owners had to take the "declarant" to court for him to give up his rights to remain the entity in charge of the HOA. Early in the neighborhood's history the landscaping fee was $133.00 per month for a postage stamp yard. One district was allowed to "self-maintain," then another district was allowed to "self-maintain, and we were granted the right to manage our lawns last year. We nine owners had superior lawns to any other lawns maintained by others. Now, we are being told that out of the three districts, we may have to go with their lawn care service and opt back in even though we have beautiful lawns that exceed the HOA's expectations. The company that does the other lawns provided substandard lawn care. Do we have to go back in to the lawn service or will we be able to remain opted out? Can they allow others districts to remain opted out and make us go back in. I have steadily taken lots of pictures that provide plenty of proof as to our lawn jobs vs. theirs. Thanks to anyone who might be able to help. The image shows my neighbor's flower bed under their landscaping service.

Alicia:

if they allowed you to opt out then you should not have to be required to opt back in without your consent. Tricky part will be how was the opting out down, were any documents changed or was it just a verbal. I think you all have a leg to stand on just remains to be seen how far the HOA wants to push it and how much you want to push back.

Thank you for the advise. There was no board meeting. We home owners had a meeting and the consensus was (with my showing over 50 pictures over a six month period) that we were not getting proper lawn care for our money. The new owners want us to opt back in because they feel like they can provide a quality lawn service to us. We disagree that a large company can out do people who really take great pride in their yard. This year, we have already applied weed and feed, pre emergent solution, fertilizer, pruned, and mowed and edged four times. They have with their properties, mowed once in February, once in March, no pre emergent solution, no fertilizer, no weed and feed, and but they did prune for the first time in a year. It just seems so unreasonable to ask those who are exceeding expectations to go back into lawn care that is substandard. Do we as a collective group have a leg to stand on?

Hi Alicia:

Per your questions:

Can they allow others districts to remain opted out and make us go back in?

First question would be is everyone under the same Declaration of CCR’s or is everyone separate when you talk about “districts”? If everyone is under the same CCR’s then everyone is suppose to be treated equally, so potentially everyone should either participate or choose not to participate.

Do we as a collective group have a leg to stand on?

Maybe not depending on your governing documents because if they state the HOA is to provide the service, then potentially it is the HOA’s responsibility to so provide. However, if HOA is to provide then you are potentially paying for a service via your association dues which you are opting not to receive. One thought is let them do their minor thing and the owners can supplement with other items to insure their property is doing well above and beyond.

The other option would be if majority of owners do not wish the HOA to provide the care then they potentially have the ability to Amend the documents and remove the provision.

John,

Thank you for helping. We are all governed under the same CC&R's. In our villa district, we have 6% ownership, as compared to the village district, which has 30% ownership. Their "percent of owner-occupied properties, as opposed to ours," is the reason given for their being able to "opt out," of landscaping. We are all under the same sprinkler system. The interesting thing is that the home owners who have opted out like me and my seven neighbors use as much water as necessary to make our lawns look great! Again, I am thankful for your input.

Hi Alicia:

We are all from different States … I would recommend checking with surrounding HOA’s in your local area and see who they might suggest.