Anyone ever had a developer pay for Study Reserve in an aging community??

I live in a community that was started in 2005, that through a rough economy took wayyyyyy longer to sell all the lots than planned. The developer was to turn over the community at the 10 year mark but they still have 35 lots to sell and if all goes as planned the HOA's income will finally cover our yearly expenses this year. We have zero dollars in reserves and a community that is now 10 years old.

The developer, the declarant, voted that they remain in control until the last lot is sold. I posted on here last week and got some great feedback on next steps we should take. We have started working with a lawyer on our options and it was unanimous that we should get a Reserve Study completed.

We have a rather large amenities package and I'm being told that a Reserve Study could cost $3-4,000 to complete. I doubt I could go house to house to get donations to do this reserve study for the benefit of the community. Anyone ever heard of a declarant paying for a Reserve Study to ensure they know they aren't leaving us with a community that will be bankrupt in a matter of months/years after they turn it over? With an aging two-story water slide, playground, full basketball court, 3 tennis courts and walking trails we have a lot of unknown repair/replacement costs possibly pending. I feel like it would benefit us all to get some clarity as to what to expect.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Developers do conduct reserves studies--ours did, but it may have been required by our state's Dept. of Real Estate as the study was sent to that Dept. along with many other docs when it approved our project.

Does NC have such a requirement?

Is your attorney specialize in HOA laws in NC? Whether or not, perhaps a letter form your attorney to your declarant requesting that a complete reserves study be completed may produce results. And the study should be done by a certified Reserves Specialist of the homeowners' choice.

I would not consider doing the study yourselves because you do, in fact, have a lot of amenities and maybe more that you didn't name.

I'm sorry to say, that the truth is your assessment will need to go up to start funding your reserves, so H/Os should start to think about and prepare for that.

another thing to consider is whether you night have any construction defects. Some believe that the statutes of limitation run for 10 years, but that's not always the case and some defects may have needed to be identified in a far shorter period of time. Or perhaps the statute clock doesn't start ticking till the developer turns the HOA over to H/Os? If you don't know, ask your attorney.