HOA is not doing anything!

Hello all! I live in Austin Texas. I have been in my home for 7 years and was involved with the board back in the day. It is clearly laid out in our HOA handbook what people must do to keep their house "in line". It is also laid in the HOA handbook that homeowners can be fined. I have had it with people not taking care of their homes, and I spoke with the president of the HOA to see what they are going to do to fix the problem. She told me, even thought there is a "fee structure" it has never been enforced so they cannot start now. Is this true? I am thinking about taking legal action to make the HOA enforce fees. What can I do? What do we need to do to get the "fees" going? Many thanks!

Allen:

You would also need to check out Texas Planned Community Act and follow the process for fines in your state. In NC after sending the appropriate notices, a Hearing is held in front of the executive board and a decision is made by the board. A Notice of their decision is then sent to the Owner with the max., fines of up to $100.00 per day, per violation for us here in NC.

Thank you for your input everyone! I have written my final letter to the HOA, trying to educate them about the exact wording of the HOA handbook. The president came over to my house the other night- I think to feel me out about how serious I was about a lawsuit to enforce the rules. While I do not want to sue, I still will if need be. Anyway, I showed her the Property Code under Texas Law. I showed her the Texas Laws as the pertain to HOA bylaws and the legality of them. I also explained that the HOA board must (again under Texas Law) enforce the HOA rules or they themselves can be sued. All home owners signed off on the CC&R's when they moved in. I also let her know that I was really bothered by the fact that the only time they enforce rules, is when they go after someone that does not pay their dues.

Allen, you may find in either your Bylaws or CC&R's a section that says that the Association or Homeoweners may have the right to enforce the declaration. Which means that you can sue the HOA to enforce them.

Very few people read the papers much less expect it to be enforced. Rather they look around and think they can keep their house up as good as this neighbor or that one. That is the primary reason that overtime if not enforced a community goes downhill. People think I am not worse (or much worse) than him!

And Allen be prepared to have a target painted on your back, and your home and property anonymously vandalized. Seven years of non-enforcement is going to be hard to tackle. Boards need to enforce from the beginning so that people who don't want to comply will get the message and hopefully move or find it expensive to live there. Your existing board might be afraid of repercussions too, so maybe you should first work toward voting in a new board that has the stomach for it and agrees with you. Good luck. Harold

What State Tammy? Many states have specific guidelines for these sort of things and your governing documents have the rest.

Tammy, if your HOA is incorporated you can refer to the state requirements fro corporations. There is probably something requiring an annual meeting and possibly what to do if a quorum can not be achieved to hold the first called annual meeting. I think all corporations are required to hold an annual meeting.

Allen, if you lived in my development, I would appoint you as chairman of the ACC and shake your hand.

Now it's not always necessary to "fine" people, a polite letter the first time, a stronger letter the second time, and a letter from the HOA attorney should put most people in line. Actually, our HOA has no provision for "fines", but when they get the letter from the attorney they have to pay the attorny for the cost of the letter. We can't view this as a revenue source but it is an effective enforcement tool.

Isn't it surprising how some people will buy a home knowing that there are covenants and restrictions and yet just ignore them? Are they "special" somehow?

Yes Brad I am quite aware of that. Perhaps you are not aware that we provide these to our clients every year.

I didn't see Tammy's post on law suits. I was responding to her comment "Members of our Board have been in position so long as we never seem to have an Annual Meeting a quorem, and I have found some of the decisons to be selective."

Allen - what are these gas lights? Do they burn all the time or need to be turned on and off each night? Sounds like they were installed by the builder in front of each home, but the residents are responsible for turning them on? What happens when you're out of town? Late getting home? Is burning them actually required in your CC&Rs?
If the builder wanted the effect of these gas lights he should have made them an "amenity" paid by the HOA as a budgeted part of the assessment. That way the responsiblity would be for the HOA to turn
them on and off but more importantly know they would all be burning. I don't think I've ever come across this type of owner requirement. Harold

They lamps are supplied by natural gas. They stay lit all the time- they cost approx $11 a month to run. The HOA handbook states- "each Owner shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining a contract with local natural gas service to supply natural gas for the Latern located on such Owner's lot. Each owner shall be responsible for the maintenance of the light fixture and the replacement of mantles, as needed. declarent, any owner and the association may enforce the terms of this section 4.13. In addition, the association shall have the right to enter upon any Lot for the purpose of (i) replacing the mantles or (ii) repairing the Latern or gas lines servicing the Latern. If such action is necessary, the Association may charge the Owner for such costs and may place a lien upon the applicable Lot, in the same manner as set for section VIII below, to secure such payment"

I have not looked into lawsuits but I have been educated on the rules somewhat. My frustration comes from 5 community members who, because of the rest of the community not participating or whatever the reason, have reamined on the board for in some cases over 9 years. Now that there are new people who want a chance at change, they don't want to give up the seats, and in turn, are trying to do what they can to discredit the new members. All in all it is a big soap opera.

Then you know it is fairly easy to remove a board. I would start with getting petitions and proxy's from those you know who also have problems with it and then approach the strangers next.

Once you have enough petitions you can call a community meeting to remove them. Be aware that when you remove the board someone will need to take their place. If there are no volunteers then the state can assign someone for a price.

Thanks for the explanation! I've led a sheltered life and never been exposed to gas lights so had no idea how they worked. Seems kind of wasteful tho burning them day and night. I still think it would have been better to keep control of those lights within the HOA, instead of with the members. It certainly would have eliminated one compliance issue you now have.
However, I'm not sure you have an issue. I've read that section several times and Ron is right: No where does it say they must keep it lit - just maintained. And if it isn't lit, would the mantle even need replaced? How are you going to enforce this covenant? Good luck. Harold

Well, you can turn them off and on, every gas appliance has a valve somewhere. The problem is, to turn them back on you have to light them again. It can't be done automatically. The one at my former residence had a fixed "gas lamp" charge on the gas bill, the gas didn't run through the meter so turning it off would not save anything.

Our Covenants say the Owner must immediately make corrects, no longer than seven days. In 2004, the Florida Statutes were changed that give them 14 days. Go with 14 days.

Allen -

Time frames may or may not be specified in your CC&Rs or Bylaws. In general though it probably won't be a fast process. Our general procedure is:
1) "Friendly Reminder" letter is sent to the non-complaint homeowner to notify them of the problem and ask them to correct it.
2) No less than 14 days later (and in some cases more like 30 days later) a stronger letter is sent insisting that the problem be corrected within 14 days.
3) 14 days after letter 2 an attorney is contacted and asked to send a demand letter. Attorney fees are charged to the homeowner.

If the problem still doesn't get corrected after the attorney letter, we have the option of taking the homeowner to court to enforce compliance. We haven't had to go that far. The vast majority of people correct the problem after 1), and so far the rest have corrected after 2). At any point in this process the homeowner can request to come in to address the Board about the problem. Nobody has done so yet, but if they did request a meeting that would probably stop the clock on the process until after the meeting.

I realize that in the meantime the other homeowners are putting up with the problem, and to them it looks like the HOA is not doing anything, but by following the process it keeps the HOA from immediatly coming down hard on somebody who may not have even realized that there was a problem.

Thanks Roger. That clears it up. I understand things take time, and owners should have time. I just feel 6 to 8 weeks is crazy- seeing as it is the same homes over and over again. It also does not help that things got that bad that quick. When I spoke with the VP of the management company yesterday he told me that right now there are 616 outstanding violations!!!! There are only 355 homes!!! It is almost comical. Now tell me- who has the world's worst HOA Board and management company?!I nominate ********** and *********** {names removed by moderator}

It's not something the developer invented or built, these are certified by the appropriate agency and installed to gas company and building code standards. Since they are in the open air, any unburned gas dissapates into the atmosphere. Before electric lights were common (a long time ago) city streets were lit by gas lamps. Ever hear the song "The Old Lamplighter" ?

As far as enforcement, you can't very well enforce one covenant and not the others. Who chooses?

Funny, I don't recall suggesting being selective.

I just don't feel he has much to stand on regarding the lamps. If he feels that strongly about it, he can request a special meeting where they could vote to put that verbage IN the documents, specifically stating "the lamps must remain lit".

Don't assume just because they 'turn off' the lamp one day, they'll have cars parked on their front lawns the next, etc. Why not instead ask them why they "turn it off". Maybe they have a justified reason or concern. The meeting would be a good place for them to air it and make a decision. Then move forward.

Is he working towards developing a community or a prison? He is one homeowner among many. Unless enough others share his concern, little will change. Draw them with honey, not vinegar.

"Anyways, they told me the other night that they voted and decided that people ould turn them off! No notice was sent out to anyone! We were just supposed to know."

Yes, it sounds like communication is an issue among your board.

"Since lamps have been turned off, now people figure- screw it, he turned his light off, I am not going to mow."

Not sure if that is what they are actually thinking, but if they don't mow and it begins looking bad, they should receive a notice with a timeframe to correct it. If after that timeframe it has not been corrected (inspect what you expect), then they should follow through with whatever violation policy they have in place (fines, liens, etc).

Keep in mind, you may not even know whether that homeowner received a notice or a fine, etc, even if you ask them. They may not tell you if they don't want you in their business. I've seen past board members assume nothing was happening, when in fact, that person did receive notices and ultimately had a lien placed on their house. But the old boardmember was told by that homeowner that they received nothing (probably to take the weight of her glare off their shoulders).

"As of today, I have 55 homes that want the lamps on! I have not gone door to door (plan to this weekend) but I know for a fact I can get the majority of homes to sign a sheet demanding that the lamps be turned on. I will also have on the sheet, that we want to HOA CC&R's to spell out "lamps lit and gas burning."

Now you are moving in the right direction. Unless there is a planned upcoming HOA meeting, I hope you have requested a special meeting to be held. In many cases, any 2 homeowners (including board members) can call a special meeting. The President is the only one that can call a meeting on his own. Check your bylaws/CC&Rs on what the advance notice must be.

Also, if you plan to conduct voting at the meeting, you may want to notify the homeowners of the agenda and what will be voted on in advance; perhaps even providing an absentee ballot with a place for them to record their vote on each item ahead of time. You may want to verify with an attorney on what kind of documents would hold up in court just in case (sometimes a petition is not enough, especially if it doesn't spell out certain specific items or doesn't list enough of the homeowners' information, etc.)

Most likely, you will need 2/3 vote to make any changes to your HOA documents, so do whatever you can to accept absentee ballots.

"The reason the board members said that people could turn them off was for money reasons."

I'm confused, I thought they cannot be turned off, the gas is still on, so wouldn't they still have an $11 gas bill??

It's important to know the following if you want to make changes:
1) What decisions / policies are at the board's discretion (not requiring a vote of the members)??
2) What decisions require a vote of the members and what percentage is needed to make a change?
3) What decisions can neither the board nor the homeowners make, because they belong to the city, etc?

If the decision you do not agree with belongs in category #1, then that probably tells you not to vote on those board members at the next annual meeting (or whenever that vote takes place). If the choices are soo bad they warrant immediate attention, request a special meeting. Depending on yoru bylaws/CC&Rs you may be able to vote on a new board at that meeting.

If if belongs in category #2 and they didn't get the members involved, then yes, you probably should raise hell and gather up your neighbors for a special meeting to vote on any immediate changes. Follow the HOA bylaws, etc.

If it belongs to Category #3, go to the city (or whoever the responsible party is) and let them know what is going on. Find out what your options are to make changes.

If you are willing to do this, then you should probably be on the board.
Question: Do you have a management company? If so, where are they on all of this??

It doesn't really matter why they violate the covenants, unless there was an extreme event such as a fire or hurricane. There is no "justification".

"Community or prison"? The covenants were in place when the homeowners bought the property. They agreed to abide by the covenants when they signed the papers. Why would it be considered a "prison" if they were expected to honor the agreement they signed?

They are all adults. Why should the HOA be expected to "kiss butt" to get homeowners to abide by the covenants?

Kevin, I'm not saying you can't be nice the first time you explain it but "rules are rules". After you've made sure they understand and they continue to violate the CC&Rs there's no need to play games with them. The Federal Government expects people to know to pay their income taxes, it's the law. You are expected to comply or face the consequences. Same with the CC%Rs. In this case, maintaining the gas lights in operating condition seems pretty easy to understand.

Well, the Board screwed us. The put out a flier the other day to let everyone know that now you can turn off your gas lamp asa long as you keep your outside lights ons! Problem with this is really simple- two of the HOA Board members have not had their lamps on for approx two years. They got tried of people complaining about their lamps- so they just changed the rule! Crazy. Looks as if court is the only way to fix this HOA.