MaryE2 (South Carolina)
Posts: 1
Posts: 1
Posted:
My husband and I own a home in a townhome community in South Carolina that is not completely built out yet. Until the neighborhood is 80% complete the HOA will not be turned over to the homeowners to manage. It is currently run by one person (a declarant) who we assume the builder appointment to manage the HOA. Several months ago we applied for approval to fence in our backyard. We received approval from this person/the HOA to install a fence to match the existing fences by our home. We had to put the fence only on our property. It could not extend onto any common areas. We had our property line marked and had the fence installed matching the existing fences on the section of houses ours is connected to.
Two weeks ago we returned home from vacation to find that our fence had been painted a grey color without our knowledge or consent. The gate to the fence was locked so in order to even do this the contractor had to climb the fence to access the inside of the yard. All of our outdoor belongings were moved around in this process and we had paint on everything (deck box, outdoor patio furniture, the fence hinges and locks, etc.). We received absolutely NO notice that this was even being done let alone any notice to ask our permission to access our private property or paint our property.
We tried contacting the HOA person for four straight days after discovering this. We called him, left him voicemails and sent an email every day. He was completely unresponsive. Finally he sent an email late one night saying he gave authorization for the contractor to climb our fence and access our property to paint it. He stated in the email he agreed better notice should have been given (remember that NONE was given). He said after knocking on our door for three days with no luck he authorized this. We are unsure why nobody bothered to just pick up the phone and call us. Anyways, he said he would send the contractor back out to our house to fix the damages that were left. He also stated that he would send a further response to our issues. We have yet to receive anything further from him and that was now a week ago.
The contractor did come out and try to clean the paint left behind off of our belongings. While he made some improvements our property that was damaged is still not back to its original condition. The HOA person seems to refuse to respond to our phone calls and emails. We continue to try and reach him but he does not contact us back at all. We want resolution to why our fence was painted without our consent, let alone notification so we could have made arrangements to cover things and avoid having our property damaged.
Our CCR's state that the HOA cannot access a homeowner's property without reasonable notice unless it is due to an emergency. This was clearly not an emergency and we received no notification so he is in complete violation of the CCR's by accessing our property without our consent. We have consulted an attorney about this matter. The attorney also has informed us that the HOA did not have the authority to paint our fence, that we had approved by the HOA to install, and we paid for.
In addition to this we also have a gutter that is clogged and even in the lightest of rains it backs up and overflows. We have personally tried to fix this ourselves but do not have a ladder tall enough to reach it. This is a maintenance item that is the responsibility of the HOA to fix. We have asked for months now to have this fixed and to no avail. We have been reminding him of this issue as well as we are very concerned that the water will back up and cause damage to the roof or our house. Again, we get zero response from this man to try and fix this.
My husband and I are completely shocked that someone would just 100% be unresponsive and really don't know what to do at this point. We pay all of our dues on time and maintain our home. We are not careless homeowners. We are obviously concerned about the backed up gutter and the fact that this man thinks he has the right to access someone's private property without notice and cause damages. We do not really wish to get involved in a lawsuit but will take this matter to court if he continues to be unresponsive. We would like to possibly file a complaint somewhere. He is a broker in charge and we are considering filing a complaint against his license as well as with the BBB. If anyone has any experience with something like this or any suggestions as to how we can get resolution we wold certainly appreciate the feedback.
With someone that refuses to return any phone calls or emails what do you do? Help please!
Two weeks ago we returned home from vacation to find that our fence had been painted a grey color without our knowledge or consent. The gate to the fence was locked so in order to even do this the contractor had to climb the fence to access the inside of the yard. All of our outdoor belongings were moved around in this process and we had paint on everything (deck box, outdoor patio furniture, the fence hinges and locks, etc.). We received absolutely NO notice that this was even being done let alone any notice to ask our permission to access our private property or paint our property.
We tried contacting the HOA person for four straight days after discovering this. We called him, left him voicemails and sent an email every day. He was completely unresponsive. Finally he sent an email late one night saying he gave authorization for the contractor to climb our fence and access our property to paint it. He stated in the email he agreed better notice should have been given (remember that NONE was given). He said after knocking on our door for three days with no luck he authorized this. We are unsure why nobody bothered to just pick up the phone and call us. Anyways, he said he would send the contractor back out to our house to fix the damages that were left. He also stated that he would send a further response to our issues. We have yet to receive anything further from him and that was now a week ago.
The contractor did come out and try to clean the paint left behind off of our belongings. While he made some improvements our property that was damaged is still not back to its original condition. The HOA person seems to refuse to respond to our phone calls and emails. We continue to try and reach him but he does not contact us back at all. We want resolution to why our fence was painted without our consent, let alone notification so we could have made arrangements to cover things and avoid having our property damaged.
Our CCR's state that the HOA cannot access a homeowner's property without reasonable notice unless it is due to an emergency. This was clearly not an emergency and we received no notification so he is in complete violation of the CCR's by accessing our property without our consent. We have consulted an attorney about this matter. The attorney also has informed us that the HOA did not have the authority to paint our fence, that we had approved by the HOA to install, and we paid for.
In addition to this we also have a gutter that is clogged and even in the lightest of rains it backs up and overflows. We have personally tried to fix this ourselves but do not have a ladder tall enough to reach it. This is a maintenance item that is the responsibility of the HOA to fix. We have asked for months now to have this fixed and to no avail. We have been reminding him of this issue as well as we are very concerned that the water will back up and cause damage to the roof or our house. Again, we get zero response from this man to try and fix this.
My husband and I are completely shocked that someone would just 100% be unresponsive and really don't know what to do at this point. We pay all of our dues on time and maintain our home. We are not careless homeowners. We are obviously concerned about the backed up gutter and the fact that this man thinks he has the right to access someone's private property without notice and cause damages. We do not really wish to get involved in a lawsuit but will take this matter to court if he continues to be unresponsive. We would like to possibly file a complaint somewhere. He is a broker in charge and we are considering filing a complaint against his license as well as with the BBB. If anyone has any experience with something like this or any suggestions as to how we can get resolution we wold certainly appreciate the feedback.
With someone that refuses to return any phone calls or emails what do you do? Help please!