Forming an new HOA in an established neighborhood

Started by JacquelineH • 9 replies • 5995 views

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JacquelineH (Texas)
Posts: 3

Posted:

I have just moved into a neighborhood that has a voluntary civic club, which, needless to say, has a almost no members.

I want to help revitalize the neighborhood, and I feel the only way to do this would be by forming a mandatory HOA.

Is this possible in a neighborhood that never had one to begin with? (I think that even if we were to make a public announcement, less than 70% of the neighborhood residents would attend the first meeting, or for that matter, vote.) If so, could we make the HOA fees mandatory for ALL homeowners in the neighborhood even if they purchased their home before the HOA was formed & did participate by voting even if the meeting was made public?

Finally, are their any restrictions on the number of homeowners that must attend the first meeting or that must vote for board members for the HOA to exist?

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

What would the overall benefits of having a HOA get you? In other words, what is the money raised going to benefit the owners? A HOA budget works just like a "kitty" in poker. All the players (members) kick into the "pot" an equal agreed upon amount of money to support the "winnings/shares".
I see HUGE trouble with making a mandatory HOA. If it's never been mandatory before and always volunteer, then keep it that way. No way are you ever going to get every homeowner to agree to "pitch-in" to cover items they may or may never use. Focus on collecting money/dues from the people who want to share the resources.
If your serious about this, you can go to an office supply store. They do have some forms available for some areas of a HOA. Look for them in the "Sale your own home" form section. Some of the documents there have CD's with them as well. The forms are usually under $20 per package.
IMO: The concept of what a HOA is not easily understood by everyone. It stands for HOMEOWNER's ASSOCIATION. Many people treat it like another entity or a "they/them" situation. It's basically ALL the homeowners in the community agreeing to work together to make their own rules and apply their own money to make/maintain their property values to everyone's agreed upon standards. If you can get this point across to EVERY owner, then you have a shot of forming your mandatory HOA.

Former HOA President

DJ1 (Ontario)
Posts: 798

Posted:

"If so, could we make the HOA fees mandatory for ALL homeowners in the neighborhood even if they purchased their home before the HOA was formed & did participate by voting even if the meeting was made public?"

1. No.

2. Are you nuts? Sorry couldn't resist, cause if you can't even get 70% to attend a first meeting your never going to get your all your neighbours to agree to have CCR's registered on their properties with the typical powers of a HOA. My lawyer would be the first to sue you.

PaulM (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 1,347

Posted:

Let's actually brainstorm the purpose of your post...to revitalize the neighborhood. Why do you think that forming a HOA is the ONLY way to go?
IMO, you are wanting to open a 'can of worms' and looking for lots of trouble...

JoeW1 (New York)
Posts: 728

Posted:

JacquelineH - Not for nothing but a minority group of owners, thinking of imposing deed restrictions upon owners is extremely nervy. Voluntary HOA is one thing. But it would be an intrusion on non-HOA owner's rights if it became something imposed upon them. If you want to see your community's property value decrease rapidly, keep on pursuing your notions of a mandatory HOA. You'll see the "revitalization" become deterioration.

CareyB (Texas)
Posts: 10

Posted:

I would strongly suggest that you be careful what you wish for. Joining or creating an HOA puts you at great risk for being the BAD GUY!!! Additionally, unless you have a 100% homeowner request to develop an HOA, you will be fighting a losing battle. You can not convert a voluntary HOA into a mandatory HOA.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Jacqueline, if you have a Declaration of CC&Rs without manditory assessments it may be extremely difficult, but not impossible, to create a mandatory association. This will depend on the requirements to amend your Declaration. First you will need to establish if there is sufficient support to try. Then you will need considerable help from professionals. Having a vote of 70% of the owners at a public meeting does not achieve (not even close) conversion to manditory assessments.

You could begin by starting (or reinstigating) a voluntary HOA and elect Board members. The process has previously been discussed - use the search tab above.

JM2 (Oregon)
Posts: 439

Posted:

Hi Jacqueline:

Revitalizing the voluntary HOA would probably be the best first step toward revitalizing the community.

That said, I was previously involved in the formation of a non-profit corporation, Christmas In April/Washington County (Oregon). They would get volunteers lined up along with as much donated materials as possible, along with materials purchased from monetary donations, and fix up the homes of elderly/disabled/poor people who would otherwise not be able to stay in their homes. The nationwide experience with the Christmas In April organization was that fixing up those homes had a direct effect on those neighborhoods - when they did the work on one home, the neighbors began to work on theirs.

My suggestion would be to get the voluntary civic club members to work on their homes - paint if necessary, do roof maintenance as necessary, and work on their yards, upgrading landscape as necessary, to set a better "standard" for the rest of the neighbors. Work at the same time to revitalize the the voluntary civic club - get more people interested in it; organize socials (for members and/or for the whole neighborhood; a July 4th barbeque/street party might be a great event; Memorial Day weekend would be as well; it could be BYO for food and refreshments). See what could be done without imposing a mandatory HOA. Don't let the civic association evolve into a clique, but instead make sure that the members reach out in a friendly manner and make it so interesting and vital that people will want to join.

My mom worked with a guy who would buy the worst house on a block, fix it up over two years and then sell it. Wherever he moved, his neighbors loved him, because he brought up their property values (as well as making a killing on real estate himself). Do you have any friends that you would like to suggest that they buy in your neighborhood?

Best of luck!

J. Patrick Moore, CMCA

JacquelineH (Texas)
Posts: 3

Posted:

Thank you very much for your suggestions. As a new homeowner I feel desperate to do something, but don't even know where to start. We have many people that rent within our neighborhood & these people are really depreciating the value of the homes in the area by leaving trash on their front lawns & refusing to even mow their lawns.

The only reason we even moved into the neighborhood, was because my husband & I are newly weds & he owns this house, therefore we wouldn't have to worry about making mortgage payments.

Now, though, I'm beginning to wonder whether it's even worth staying in the home if it is futile for the civic club to unite most of the homeowners in the area. I'm very torn about whether to stay or leave. We want to better the area, but maybe we would just be fighting a losing battle. We still haven't decided whether to stay or leave, still I greatly appreciate your helpful suggestions.

I think, more than anything, we have a language barrier that we need to get past. Yesterday I passed out flyers to most of the people in our area & came to find that many of them were actually concerned citizens, but didn't speak english. I think that we will have to start sending out flyers in both english & spanish, maybe then we'll get a better response.

JacquelineH (Texas)
Posts: 3

Posted:

Even though you were rude, thank you for replying anyway. I'm simply trying to find a way to better our neighborhood. I don't want to be the bad guy I was simply hoping for some helpful suggestions. As a concerned citizen I wanted to find a way to revitalize our neighborhood, but didn't know where to start.

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