Problems with my HOA, who do I turn to?

Started by LennetteM • 7 replies • 1601 views

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LennetteM (Florida)
Posts: 4

Posted:

The maintenance in my condominium complex has not been kept up with. There are possums and rats in the overgrown trees, which sometimes come onto my balcony. I have been stuck outside for literally 20 min waiting on someone to come with a broom to scare one off so I can get into my house. I have been contacting the HOA management company and board of directors for months who always promise to get in fixed "within the next couple of weeks" but never do. They claim they are getting estimates and they cant just have someone come to cut the trees near my home, that it all has to be done at once. If a possum bites a resident ora visitor, Im sure that can cause legal trouble for all of the homeowners, as we cna be sued. So technically, this is a safety issue as well.

How long do they have to respond to a valid request?

Who can I turn to if they arent getting me an answer or keep giving me "the runaround" without ever fixing the problem?

Also, I have recently found termites, twice, in the same spot near my home. Does the building insurance that we pay for through our HOA cover that? My homeowners insurance will not cover anything "structure-related".

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Hi Lenette,

Typically Board members are volunteers. As Volunteers, they might not have enough available time to go through the bid process quickly. Rather than just asking for the problem to be addressed, perhaps you can approach your Board by asking what you can do to assist them in addressing this issue (meet with contractors to get bids, check references, etc.).

To determine what your Associations building insurance will cover or won't cover, you will need to look at the Associations policy.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Quote:

If a possum bites a resident ora visitor, Im sure that can cause legal trouble for all of the homeowners, as we cna be sued.

Property owners are not liable for acts of wild animals. They can sue the possum if they want. (wink)

LennetteM (Florida)
Posts: 4

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TimB4 on 05/07/2013 5:45 PM
Hi Lenette,

Typically Board members are volunteers. As Volunteers, they might not have enough available time to go through the bid process quickly. Rather than just asking for the problem to be addressed, perhaps you can approach your Board by asking what you can do to assist them in addressing this issue (meet with contractors to get bids, check references, etc.).

To determine what your Associations building insurance will cover or won't cover, you will need to look at the Associations policy.

I have offered to do that, what I am told is that we have a management company that takes care of it. I'm assuming the management company works with who they choose. This doesn't resolve my problem and its become a nuisance. I can't even sit on my porch! Isn't there rules or laws about how they must maintain the property? If I don't pay by my monthly fee, I have a problem. How can they not have a problem for fixing something which they are responsible for?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

" How can they not have a problem for fixing something which they are responsible for?

In this case, the problem would be with the membership and the solution would be for the members to recall and replace or not re-elect the existing board members.

To address you specific issue, if your willing to spend the funds or do the work yourself, you might want to ask permission from the Board for you to trim that one tree. This might be the quickest way to address your issue.

The issue of the Board not authorizing the work (or not making the Management Company do the work authorized) will need to be addressed by the entire membership using one of the solutions offered earlier.

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

Lennette not living there, I cannot tell just how bad the problem is but the delay may be more than just the Board dragging its feet. First and fore most, the HOA may just not have the funds to trim all of the trees, either from a lack of planning on their part or unusually high delinquencies causing a cash flow crunch.

It may be the wrong time of the year to trim the trees, ideally you want to do it when the tree is dormant. And hardest of all to deal with, as much as you want the tree gone and the animals controlled, I guarantee you that at least a small group of your neighbors want exactly the opposite.

We are constantly fighting with homeowners that want to feed the "cute little animals" and yes some people consider rats as cute. My son has a couple of brown rats that he and his significant other consider the cutest things ever. They just give me the creeps.

When our community was built the developer planted firs and blue spruces next to the buildings, when they were seven feet tall they looked great but they grew and had to go. No brainer right? Wrong, the unfeeling was rampant that the BOD was ruining the community, we even had one woman who was out there weeping as the blue spruce in front of her unit was taken down. Oh I should mention the tree in question was mostly dead from insect infestation but to her we were the cads for taking it down.

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have problems with fractions

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

Oops: the feeling was rampant not unfeeling.

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have problems with fractions

LennetteM (Florida)
Posts: 4

Posted:

Thank you for your input. I guess I will have no choice but to deal with it for now :/

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