Newbie here in need of legal advice about unresponsive HOA

Hello,

I am a first time home buyer and now stuck with a really really bad HOA. I will cut to the chase...

My HOA is all ran by 1 person. She only has one way of contacting her which is over a house phone that she never answers or calls back. I have been living here for about 16 months and I have yet to meet or see this lady. Having her provide paperwork while purchasing this condo was very difficult. I should have realized then that a red flag was flying very high. But I had to learn it the hard way. As of today, I am going through a refi and again I needed her to provide documents and signatures. She was unresponsive for the duration of about 2-3 weeks. When she finally got tired of my phone calls, knocking on the door, letters taped onto her car, she finally provided the paperwork and at the same time slapped me with HOA dues and late charges.

I must admit I have not paid my HOA fees since the second month in. ONLY because the first check was never cashed and she never responded to my letter questioning about the unprocessed check. So instead, my wife and I played the waiting game and didn't pay the HOA until now, 16 months later, when she is finally taking action. Basically FIRST notice of delinquent HOA payments came to me 16 months later written by hand with no signature or contact information. Talk about not being on top of things. I have put money aside just for this occasion but I feel that something needs to be done and she needs to be kicked out of running this association. I have no problems paying my monthly dues, but at the same time I want to know what documentations should be provided to the home owners to ensure the association is running properly. Do documents like the cc&r and by-laws expire? All the documents we have are from the 80's.

If she cannot prove to me that the HOA is running properly and I refuse to pay my HOA dues, what legal action can she take against me? I have checked on www.sos.ca.gov and it states that my HOA is SOS/FTB SUSPENDED. Does this mean that we do not have a legitimate HOA? Is it necessary for all HOA to file their state?

All the home owners are extremely frustrated with her lack of professionalism, communication, and organization. There are other home owners that feel the same and would like a change. We need guidance on how to remove her from the board since there has not been any meetings held in years. Can we start a new association without her?

I greatly appreciate the responses and I please refrain from criticizing my stupidity on not doing my homework on the HOA before the purchase, I'm learning my lesson and am paying for it dearly.

Thank you in advance
Lyndon

She has no duty to prove anything to you. You have a duty to pay. Not paying can result in foreclosure by the association.


If I remember correctly, all California corporations are required to file an annual report with the Secretary of State and a tax return with the Franchise Tax Board. It appears that one or more reports and returns have not been filed so the corporation has been suspended. Assuming this is the same as administratively dissolved, the incorporated association would have no lawful authority to conduct business. My interpretation of this is that the association would have no legal authority to levy and collect assessments that became due after it was suspended.

Keep in mind that this is essentially a defense against any action taken by the association. It does not stop the association from filing lawsuits.


For whatever reason the homeowners are not frustrated enough to take action. Re-starting your current HOA is fairly easy. Since you have had neither annual meetings nor elections in a long time, circulate a petition to hold a special meeting to elect a new board. The new board will need to straighten out the unfiled corporate reports and returns, among other issues.

For a lot more guidance and direction see the Davis-Sterling website at http://www.davis-stirling.com

Sorry about your problems, Lyndon. You are aware that none of us are attorneys, right?

An excellent site to visit is davisstirling.com. Its named after CA legislation that mainly protects Owners in HOAs. It's compiled by CA HOA attorneys. Go to the Main Index and scroll down to, for example, Inspection of Records. Go there and you'll see that you have the right inspect the bank accounts, etc. You must ask in writing, and she has xx days to give them to you and can charge you for copies.

Go to "elections, or "Recalls" and you'll see ways to get rid of her.

Cruise around and you probably can find out how to reinstate your HOA.

No real estate law. For crying out loud for the 100th time.... A HOA does NOT deal with Real Estate! It is a corporation!!! A non-profit most of the time. So you need to go to a lawyer with corporate or contractual experience.

Now that is done... Pay your dues and see if anyone else feels like you do... Then either run for President or support another candidate for it.

Saying that you have the money set aside and having the money set aside are two different things.

The least you should do is open an escrow account at a bank. Put all the money you owe into that account. As each new payment comes due, pay into the escrow account.

At least that way you can demonstrate that you actually intend to pay and have the capability to pay. Doing this could get you some leverage.

But what you are doing is going deeper and deeper into default - which gives you zero leverage and puts you at a tremendous disadvantage.

Thank you for everyone's response. I do realize that everyone here are not attorneys but because of the nature of this site, I was able to get some insight as to what I should maybe do and what to maybe expect.

I looks as though I will ask her for some HOA documents that she is suppose to supply to us home owners like the annual financial reports, and also why the association appears to be "suspended". Like I said, I do have the cash set aside and can prove that it is there waiting at a moments notice and can be pulled out for payment. I want to be clear that I have no intensions to NOT by paying my monthly dues, I just have my suspicions about her keeping the money. In fact, I did pay my fist months HOA but the check was never cashed. I wrote to her inquiring about it but she did not respond. That's how all the no payment thing started. I hope I'm not coming across as the dead beat neighbor.

I am already drafting up a memo for the association to meet and discuss about her. At that time I will bring up our options and see if everyone is on board to throw her out of being in control of the HOA. Until now, I truly believe that she is robbing us blind, not 100% of our contributions, but a sizable amount.

If anyone here is in the San Gabriel Valley, is an an attorney that specializes in such instances, and willing to give a consultation, with potential of being our representative, please leave your contact. I am very interested in taking action because I cannot continue to pay into my HOA knowing that the funds aren't being allocated appropriately.

Thanks everyone again for their input.

Lyndon,

There is likely a reason why the HOA is being ran by one person - a lack of volunteers.

It takes a lot of time to run an Association properly. That time can be lessened by having more people to share in the duties.

Perhaps, you can make a friend and gain some insight into the situation by using the following approach:

"I just found out that you are trying to run this Association on your own. That has to be tough. I'm willing to assist and help out. What would you like me to take care of - Secretary duties, Treasurer duties, etc.?"