Was never alerted to presence of Homeowners Association

My wife and I bought a house over a year ago. It was a foreclosure and had been empty for nearly two years. The real estate agent specifically told us there was no HOA, and there was nothing about an HOA in all of the documents I signed the day I purchased the house.

About 2 months after I moved in, I got a letter addressed to "homeowner" that was billing me for 3 years of HOA dues as well as the next year of HOA dues. Granted at the time, the dues were only 60/year. I protested with the board and got the previous 3 years dropped.

I still haven't received any documentation for bylaws, I never signed anything about being in the HOA, and they still don't even know I exist, as far as my proper name is concerned.

3 days ago, I was presented a bill for HOA dues to the tune of $185. Our HOA does absolutely nothing... We have one entry sign which is crumbling and surrounded by tall grass, we have streetlights, none of which have working lights, and we are a dead end neighborhood surrounded by a canal, so they have no need to do anything related to traffic.

We have never been alerted to any meetings, no excuse why the dues went up, no copy of bylaws, nothing on file even shows me living in the property, let alone having agreed to be a part of the HOA.

I want to stress that I'm not against HOA's by and large. They can do great things for home values, however I was entered in without my knowledge to a HOA that does nothing but collect dues to pay the board, and I have been given no records of board meetings, and excuse for the sharp increase in HOA dues, no bylaws.... Nothing

Do I have recourse, or is this business as usual?

Trever,

Your title company should have done a title search and informed you of deed restrictions on the property. It's those deed restrictions (also known as the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions or CC&Rs) that establish an Association. These deed restrictions, which should be on file at your local courthouse or property records office, would establish if you are or are not part of an Association. If your closing documents give no indication of deed restrictions, stop by the court house and check the records there.

State laws vary on disclosure requirements. From what I could find, Louisiana does not have a disclosure act (which would have ensured you had a copy of the governing documents). Have you contacted the Association and asked for a copy? Those governing documents would indicate what services and obligations the Association has.

Once you are positive that there are or are not deed restrictions attached to your property (again, need to check with the courthouse), additional advice can be provided.

you could seek legal redress against the agent (assuming he/she was a buyers agent)

correct ~ no rule to inform

however

when a realtor influnces a decision by statement, that statement really should be factual - they are licensed and have certain responsibilities under law

the realtor (as per the OP) stated 'there is no hoa'

once the mouth was opened ............ ?

as a practical matter, because of the low low low assessment ... pay up and move on

In my area years ago when a developer built a subdivision it was common practice for them to put up some sort of permanent sign with the subdivision name on it. During the 1950's and 60's when this seems to have occurred, HOA's were virtually unknown for single family homes. In my area, a sign would not equate to an HOA.

The OP wrote, "We have one entry sign which is crumbling and surrounded by tall grass, we have streetlights, none of which have working lights." Crumbling sign, tall grass, and non-functional street lights would not lead me to conclude that there is an HOA. In fact, I would come to the opposite conclusion.

The point is, the land the sign is on, the roads, the streetlights, etc, is owned by someone. Its impossible for it to be owned by nobody.

Trevor - your post states the following...... "I protested with the board and got the previous 3 years dropped." So, you know there is a board. Ask for the documents, and a budget, and what common property is owned by the association.

Yes yet another poor soul being abused by their HOA.

You buy a foreclosure at more than likely quite a reasonable price, fial to do your due deligence and then want to know what recourse you have.

Well how about what most others do? Pay your share of the charges? Rather than trying to explain you views that the HOA serves no purpose when in fact you know little if anything about what they do or what cost is bared by the property.

And afer some time rather than seeking grounds for legal action why not simply walk over to a neighbor or Board member and ask them for some explanations.

In waiving those charges seems to me like the HOA is more than willing to work with Trevor rather than being the evil useles, unnecessary entity Trevor would have us all believe it is.

I just have to wonder what is it Trevor thought might now be possible?
Special exemption from the HOA because he says so?????

Pay the fee and let it go.

Trevor,

One issue that I do not believe has been addressed is your statement, "I never signed anything about being in the HOA."

If there are recorded covenants on your property, you did not have to sign anything. Your purchase of the property is subject to the recorded covenants and by purchasing you accepted those covenants.

The issue of whether you signed an agreement is not relevant. What matters is whether there were recorded deed restrictions requiring membership in an HOA.

This is still something that REALLY annoys me if you are working with a realtor/closing company/DISCLOSURE statement etc. please explain why it is the buyers responsibility to run down these details seems to me these things should be presented TO the BUYER after all the buyer is paying for these services.

There is normally at least one other party involved: the title company. As part of insuring the title, they normally research and report all encumberances and claims against the property. In this case, the title company apparently found no recorded covenants nor did it find the HOA's lien for the three years of unpaid dues. The bank foreclosure would normally wipe out the prior liens, but from what the OP has written the title company had no record of any unpaid assessments.

I have the paperwork from the purchase of this home there is no mention of an HOA there is one but not legal yes that's right not legal according to attorneys the recorded doc.s never should have been recorded someone was filling in the day they were recorded.

My HUD-1 form mentions my HOA eight times. There are about four different lines spelling out dues, there is a transfer fee and a month of my dues went into escrow at closing.

I just don't understand how anyone could purchase a house in an HOA and not realize it. We have signs at all of our entrances with the management company's info. And, I have no idea how it wouldn't come up in a title search. That seems very odd to me.

Now to be fair, my HOA transfer fee is payable to the management company and not the actual HOA, so that might not be clear. But if you didn't know who that person was, wouldn't you ask before you just paid it?

I suspect that a lot of people don't read anything when they buy a house. It's starting to look that way with the housing crisis and such.

Interesting. I was told the HUD-1 is a settlement form the buyer and seller sign at closing. My brother had one for his bank mortgage that was not FHA and you had to have one to get the home buyer tax credit a few years ago. But my mortgage was FHA.

Even if you paid cash I would think you would want a sales contract to spell everything out.

The HUD form is one of those things that most purchasers never see or know about. That is because the HOA is responsible for filling it out and signing it. I had to go to a few closings and sign off on this document after filling it out. It usually if filled out prior to the purchase and given to the mortgage company doing the closing. Keep in mind that NOT all mortgage companies require this form. It may be something that once filled out once and filed, they can access it. No need in contacting the HOA if the form is on record and recently filled out.

I was unaware of this entire process until I became President. It opened my eyes up a bit. Takes a bit of time to grasp it too. That is also why I often preach that HOA's can't restrict rentals but MORTGAGE companies can. The mortgage company often decide their loan rates or denial of loans based on the data on this form. They see a high rental rate, multiple liens filed, litigation issues, or that the income of the HOA is NOt entirely "healthy" they will charge more, offer a different loan package, or deny new owners. So it is important to keep the health of your HOA in check so that it allows more purchasers to buy. Ironically, it also does some kind of reverse benefit. It does mean that any new buyers would have to have the credit level of the Gods to purchase. Kind of like having a used car lot that "No Credit/No Problem" versus an Used car lot "Good Credit come on in"...