WHAT IF THEY HAD AN HOA AND NOBODY CAME

Unlikely to happen. The homeowners cannot refuse ownership. You agreed to the HOA membership when you bought. The builder will setup the HOA and hold an election date. If no one shows up, you have a HOA that you belong to that no one is running, no one is paying insurance, etc. So when something happens to that slope, you will all be sued individually as members of the HOA. This is why you want HOA insurance.



Yep. And its reflected in the price. If there was no HOA, it would be worth more.

Prior to the start of construction, the builder needed to get plans approved by your local zoning authority. The slope of your dirt slope and erosion prevention measures should have been part of the approval process. Often, the zoning authority requires the builder to put money in escrow to assure project completion according to plan. Those funds are not released until a final inspection.

So make sure that you meet with a zoning officer to discuss the issues of concern and follow up with a letter in writing to the zoning office. Near the end of construction when it's time to recover the escrow money, deaf builders often have their ears miraculously unclog.

Your concerns are valid to say the least, and yes, builders do and have and will leave a mess behind. Here is a link to a slope failure in MD, http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/05/fort-washington-homes-being-evacuated-due-to-slope-failure-102803.html
I believe the county was deemed responsible for the failure for the reasons NPS cited here.

Don't know about that about if there is a HOA deed restriction your in a HOA, Lots of builders has them and are not enforced till the builder records the transfer of it to the community. Some states apparently like this state. Like ours there's a HOA deed restriction in our community but no HOA, developer built 1 section and exited stage left and did not transfer anything to the Community and now doesn't own a single lot any longer and isn't able to enforce it. the Newest sections builder/developer did it the right way and all the newest sections are under but under a different HOA name and been trying over a decade to incorporate us into theirs.

Don't see how anyone can sue the entire Non activated HOA individual lot owners in a community they'd have to sue that other HOA that's activated instead due to like our situation, that new developer made a new entrance farther down the road and could of named it's development a new name instead they used our community name and by law with the city they have to maintain the entire community even us that's not in their HOA even. that's probably why they harass us every time they change property management companies.

Don't know why they even have a HOA even, they don't enforce any Restrictions except non payment of their Dues to it. There is no community center, no buildings no parks nothing just income to a Property management Corporation, The city loves HOA's if it was just a standard community the tax payers covers unused space area aka Common area's and lands along small streams, Now when a City gets a HOA, they save money and gains more income due to the HOA has to pay tax's on all that unused spaces aka Common Area's and street repairs and lighting repairs. Win win for the city's and HOA members paying double the tax's and some. Good lord kids playing in a Common area trips and gets paralyzed non HOA community the city pays for it, HOA's pays insurance but we all know insurance companies couple payouts and they cancel the insurance and that HOA members have to foot the bills if someone else comes along and gets injured on their Common area while looking for a new insurer.

Lord our section is well maintained, the HOA section is jumbled mess, small metal fencing on front yard for their small pets, recreational vehicles of all kinds and commercial vehicles parked out in the street, all types of fencing, all mail box's different, no conformity except suing non HOA payments. If a HOA has rules and not enforced, how they expect people to willing give them money and Join their sections and do nothing except collect and well who knows where all the dues are going too.

Larry, Glen (and agreed with by John26) gives excellent advice. Scroll to his post.

Your HOA neighbors cannot rely on any building or zoning or planning dept. inspections. Our twin towers passed all with flying colors--our developer's rep, who still has a seat on our board, assured the then boards repeatedly that the inspectors had done a sterling job. Yet we did have millions of dollars worth of construction defects and barely beat the statutes of limitation clock by the time we filed legal action. Inspectors generally are overworked and too often take the word of the developer as in James' 2nd post.

As Glen points out, you want to know about that slope while the devour still has control.