HOA Dues and Developer

Hi,
I just moved into a neighborhood that has a HOA. The developer is demanding that everyone make the HOA dues out to his construction company as opposed to the HOA's name. To me that just smacks of fraud. Further, we have a covenants & restrictions document and it says we have a homeowners association, but we had a association meeting and the developer said he has not created a HOA and he is not going to create a HOA. What do I do? Do I pay him or tell him tough and still write the check to the HOA even though he says it doesn't exist but it says it does in the C&R? Love to hear some feedback.

Bart,

Developers are jerks. He should have incorporated the association before the first lot was ever sold. His CC&R's said there was an incorporated association, you relied on those statements, and now he is telling you that there never has been an association and he has no plans to incorporate one. You did not get what you bargained for.

Instead of paying the developer, pay a lawyer for some much-needed advice.

BTW, developers all live off of what they call "OPM" - Other People's Money. Developers typically have million dollar-dreams but never have two dimes to rub together. They get construction loans that cover all their costs except one. I have never heard of getting a loan for legal advice and lawyers always want to be paid up front, so developers often do not seek out input from an attorney before doing something stupid. I have worked for a few people who called themselves developers and found that they truly believe the law does not apply to them anyway because they are creating wealth and creating jobs.