Poorly Managed HOA, Marietta, GA

Started by LisaK1 • 5 replies • 3148 views

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LisaK1 (Georgia)
Posts: 2

Posted:

I have owned a home in the Country Woods HOA in Marietta, GA for two years now. The HOA is in really bad shape. None of the covenants are enforced. County ordinances are broken left and right. Each time the county comes out to a home, things only get worse. The former treasurer stole $25k over a 2 year period. No one is minding the store. The currently seated board has no clue as to what they're doing.

I can't sell my home without taking a loss so I am considering suing my neighbors for not upkeeping their property. Their homes are in such bad condition and they are violent when you try to talk to them. Fear of retaliation is in the forefront of my mind. The situation even extends to termites, rodents, snakes, etc coming onto my property because of the poor upkeep of my neighbor's homes.

Can you direct me to websites showing case law regarding these issues?

thank you,

CharlesW1 (Georgia)
Posts: 826

Posted:

Posted By LisaK1 on 02/15/2007 2:23 PM

I have owned a home in the Country Woods HOA in Marietta, GA for two years now. The HOA is in really bad shape. None of the covenants are enforced. County ordinances are broken left and right. Each time the county comes out to a home, things only get worse. The former treasurer stole $25k over a 2 year period. No one is minding the store. The currently seated board has no clue as to what they're doing.

I can't sell my home without taking a loss so I am considering suing my neighbors for not upkeeping their property. Their homes are in such bad condition and they are violent when you try to talk to them. Fear of retaliation is in the forefront of my mind. The situation even extends to termites, rodents, snakes, etc coming onto my property because of the poor upkeep of my neighbor's homes.

Can you direct me to websites showing case law regarding these issues?

thank you,

LisaK1,

I sympathize with you. I would suggestion filing a complaint with the county. I live in Gwinnett Co. It is very time consuming, but you must be persistent.

This discussion forum is amazing. You should receive some very good advice.

Best of luck
Chuck W.

Charles E. Wafer Jr.

LanceT (Alabama)
Posts: 121

Posted:

Be EXTREMELY careful here on bringing in legal actions. You may find your going to be fighting an expensive losing battle that won't benefit anyone. If you do sue your HOA, realize you are NOT only suing your neighbors but yourself as well. You are part of the association and thus responsible for how it runs.
I think your coinciding your home value with how your HOA is run. Thus, having a bad running HOA, you automatically believe your home values are going to be bad. That's not necessarily true. Home values are based on ALOT of other factors. You don't even have to disclose the condition of your HOA to a potential buyer. You should just provide the buyer with the rules and how much the dues are. A buyer isn't a member of the HOA until they sign the dotted line and then is entitled to know the operation of the HOA through the HOA itself.
Stop and breath, and start seeing the forrest for the trees. You really don't want to take any legal steps if your really trying to sell your home. What if you sell your home during your legal case? You'd lose the case based on the fact your no longer a member/homeowner in the HOA, and would have no basis to sue.
If you don't like the way things are run, then get involved. It's your right to be involved. That's why it's called a "Homeowner's association". Don't wait on what actions OTHER people are going to take. Go take the PROPER steps and get on the board to do something. Board members are just VOLUNTEER from the community who want to participate in making changes and maintaining property values. There are no "They" or "Them" in a HOA, it's "You" and "I".

Recovering Ex-President of a HOA

JM2 (Oregon)
Posts: 439

Posted:

Hi Lisa:

Here is a recent decision out of New Jersey:
http://www.njlawblog.com/community-associations-condominium-maintenance-fees-must-be-sufficient-to-maintain-common-areas.html

It deals with their particular law.

If your county ordinances deal with some of the issues that your neighbor has (termites, snakes, etc.) then I would recommend that you use the county to do your legwork as far as those violations go.

Your association might want to hire a management company or a local HOA manager as a consultant for a while, to get the board trained and oriented toward their responsibility and how to proceed.

Right now, property values are decreasing in some areas...if the HOA hasn't gotten "worse" since you moved in, there may be some factors regarding the market itself that would influence your home's value, beyond what the HOA is/isn't doing.

Regarding disclosure when selling, I would hesitate to take Lance's advice (sorry, Lance). Check with your state law or a real estate agent regarding the required disclosure, and be sure to follow the law. That will avoid a lawsuit coming back on you for an inaccurate or incomplete disclosure. If the buyer wants to know stuff about the HOA, you would have to get the information for them in order to complete the deal. While you shouldn't lie, and need to disclose what is required by law, you don't have to volunteer information that isn't required or requested. On the other hand, you're the one who has to look at yourself in the mirror every morning, and you have to be as honest/ethical in the transaction as you can, so if volunteering information helps you sleep at night, do it.

If you are afraid of retaliation by neighbors, you could set up some discreet cameras, pointed at your own house and within your own Lot, that connect to your computer (monitor your own house) in order to gather evidence if such action occurs. "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that the whole world isn't against you."

Best of luck!

J. Patrick Moore, CMCA

JulieS (Georgia)
Posts: 412

Posted:

Is your house already up for sale or are you planning on putting on the market in the near future? With the past behavior of the board and a new board without experience, I would recommend a management company. They are a wealth of information and can help in getting the neighborhood cleaned up. If your house isn't on the market yet, get involved to make some changes.

Check the covenants for 'self-help' measures. Ours allow the ability to go onto someone's property to take care of things if the condition affects the neighborhood. I know some folks disagree with this but we have had to mow lawns and considered pressure washing a house that was covered in mold & mildew. The price of the service can be put on the owners account for reimbursement to the association.

Talk to the new board members and communicate to them that they have a fiduciary responsibility to the association and homeowners. The primary point of a HOA is to protect home values. Remind them that their own property values are suffering also.

Also, if you need a recomendation on a management company, let me know. I'm in east Cherokee and the company we use is in Alpharetta. They do a great job.

JulieS (Georgia)
Posts: 412

Posted:

Home prices in the Atlanta area are not going through what the rest of the country is experiencing. The Atlanta area still continues to grow, it's the fastest in the country I believe. The housing here was not overly priced in the first place so we are not seeing decreases in property values. Marietta should be a desirable location as it is closer to 'downtown' as the area continutes it's sprawl...not to mention the terrible traffic problems we have. The cost of living here is so cheap compared to many parts of the country.

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