obnoxious nuisance president reduces property value

Florida. We have an obnoxious controlling nuisance president and husband patrolling the area screaming at residents for anything that doesn't agree with their view of how things should be, always irrelevant and of no importance to any resident except them, e.g. a chair out of place, or someone placing an ashtray by an open window.
Our condo's have a 24% lower value than the hundreds of similar ones locally that have less facilities with inferior locations. This can only be due to the nuisance president making it a less desirable place to live. We cant vote her out due to her holding too many proxies of out of town owners.

Im considering suing holding them responsible for loss of value. Has anyone any experience please ?

David

David

I doubt your declining real estate values have anything directly to do with a few members of the BOD (be they fools or not) as no one knows anything about them until much later in the sales cycle and usually not until after the sale.

I think you have to look elsewhere for your declining real estate values.

John
Pls see my previous post. they make themselves known wherever possible to prospective buyers and even tenants.
the value is not declining, but in all cases lower than comparative properties locally.

MelissaP1,

While I agree with most of what you wrote in that the HOA/COA helps keep a property attractive, there is also a lot to be said for when a BoD (or BoD member) interprets the rules in such a way as to force the community into their own particular view of what they think the property should be. When these types of folks deviate from the original "intent" of what the developer wanted for the property is when people have issues.

In another post (the one talking about going straight to fines for example) you can have a situation where the the way the BoD enforces the rules to the point of deviating from the intent, then you can have a drop in property values because this type of behavior on the part of the BoD makes the whole neighborhood un-attractive to any potential buyer. This results in homes being listed for too long then the owner has to lower the price (thereby resulting in an overall lowering of everyone's values).

Let's be realistic, who would want to buy into an HOA where there are control freaks to the point of doing daily inspections, pulling out a ruler to measure the length of the grass or checking on whether a deck chair is positioned the way they deem correct on a deck or porch. That's a little too onerous without us having all the facts.

Yes, I agree, this is very hard to document until one actually sells and can't get a reasonable price for their property. Very hard to prove but it follows the same logic as someone who has a commercial vehicle, RV or trailer in the neighborhood. None of these (except a large commercial truck) is found in any real estate appraiser book as a factor in determining the value of the property.

So, if an HOA has an overzealous member who is trying to enforce their personal aesthetic on the property based on an incorrect interpretation of the rules, it can have a very real impact on property values.

If the rules this particular HOA has, are so onerous as to make the "peaceful use and enjoyment" of a property nearly impossible to achieve then the argument can be made that people are avoiding buying into the property because of a bad reputation regarding this BoD's level of action.

Yes, I think the OP has a valid concern. Does he have legal recourse? No! I agree with you that taking the HOA to court in this instance is not a wise course of action. And, as usual, it all boils down to what is in the documents. I agree 100% on that.

Here in Calif, the listing has to disclose if there are deed restrictions on a property and the prospective buyer has the right to request the governing documents for review (before close of escrow). The law also states that the seller has to provide the most recent 12 months worth of HOA newsletters. What's written in the newsletters can scare a prospective buyer away since things like violations and crime info are often listed in the newsletters. You can also get a feel for the HOA Board in the newsletters and minutes from the open meetings.

I certainly empathize with the OP as far as his concerns go. How peaceful is the HOA when you have to be constantly looking over your back for this person? I have lived in 3 HOA's here in Calif and certainly have learned lessons from each one regarding the good deeds done by many boards and the abuses I have witnessed by other boards. One really needs to do a due diligence in regards to HOA's. Some have good reps some have questionable (or even bad) reps. In my last purchase, I had learned to ask for the documents and the newsletters and make this a contingency on the offer.

I would advise any potential buyer to do the same due diligence. I don't mind the rules and happily follow them. What I do mind, is some pesky control freak on the Board trying to shove his/her personal aesthetic on me above and beyond what is written in the rules. I have personally chased the spouse of our past board president out of my backyard at 6:00AM one morning. The person was trespassing onto my parcel and inspecting for things that could not be seen from common areas. Sorry, that is against the law here and the "walkabout inspections" are to be done from common areas. If you can't see it then there is no violation. (I had no violations in any case but the point of the intrusion is what matters).

We have one home that is currently a rental and is vacant. Our board took it upon themselves to enter the dwelling (B & E) to look for violations. Yet there is nothing on the inside that even remotely pertains to the board's purview. They wrote the owner up for dry rot on the back of the house under the eves. Can't be seen from the street as this is in the backyard. These are single detached homes. The house backs up to a creek with no common areas behind the parcel. No reason for the Board to be there...

The board rightfully wrote them up for not mowing the front yard. I agree with that one. The legal owner lives out of state and has not set in place a plan for the maintenance of the home. The immediate neighbors volunteered to the owner to take turns mowing their lawn until a renter moves in. That is neighbors helping neighbors (the way it ought to be IMHO). I think the board was wrong to enter the home, which they admitted to in a monthly board meeting.

As you say an HOA is a sales tool in the end. Well, like most tools, they can be mis-used based on the user. In this case, the OP feels that the spouse of the Board President is mis-using their power to the detriment of all owners investment. In this situation, this issue is probably one very minor straw on the camels back compared to foreclosure sales, location, comps and the rest of items that determine the price for a property. However, if the community is suffering from depressed prices, I would think that all factors need to be examined as this would be in the best interest of all owners.

sorry for the lengthy response,

happy new year

If she is seen peeping into windows, call the cops it's against the law whether it is a sweet old woman or the neighborhood pervert.

I would assume she is elected not anointed so if a majority of the homeowners feel as you do, work to either recall her or remove her at the next election. Unless the HOA directly elects to a specific position (unlikely but I have heard of it) the rest of the Board could remove her as president and make her member at large with no powers.

contact all the out of towners, and ask for their proxies. all you have to do is more work than the nuisance guy, and you can vote him out easily.

David

check your documents as to restrictions on the number of unrestricted proxies any one person can cast votes for.

Here in Ct. it's capped at fifteen per cent of the votes in the Assoc. It works well here and curtails the activity of the overly zealous person trying to perpetuate themselves!