Water/Sewer Assessment

Started by MicheleS8 • 5 replies • 1469 views

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MicheleS8 (Ohio)
Posts: 1

Posted:

We are in the process of taking over our HOA from the building contractor. On three occasions homeowners have been asked to give money to cover ongoing legal fees for the establishment of the new HOA. We have all complied. Each building of 5 units has one water meter. It was the responsibility of the contractor/HOA manager to bill each unit for their share of the bill. We have asked repeatedly why we hadn't received bills in over a year and if the contractor was making the necessary payments. The homeowners are slated to take over the HOA on March 1. Just yesterday I was notified that I owed over $800 in water fees and that additional amounts would be assessed shortly. They have requested payment within one week. Do I have any grounds for requesting additional time to pay this bill?

Thanks for any input.

PitA
Posts: 1,416

Posted:

? What does your attorney say ?

? Did you actually believe you were getting free water ?

! Since you did not 'pay as you go' you now have to pay retroactive !

eg. Your electric supplier fails to bill for a few months ..... the error is discovered ..... you now owe a LARGE bill for goods actually received and used.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

I don't know why developers insist on building these places with one bloody meter - it's so much easier for everyone to be responsible for his/her own water bill. In your case, I can't help but think the developer was using the money to pay for something else (Ongoing legal fees? Sounds like doublespeak for all the subcontractors are suing the developer, who's now trying to shove as many bills onto the homeowners as possible before the caca hits the fan on March 1).

I wish I had an answer, but you and your fellow homeowners will probably need an attorney to start asking answers - some of which should have been given to you a year ago (when people start stonewalling, that's when you need to begin apply more pressure. Hopefully your attorney can talk to the water company about what's going on and make payment arrangements while all this is being worked out. It won't get fixed overnight, and you may have more big bills heading your way before it's over.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Shelia

One water meter for many/all units is quite common and often a topic of conversation on this chat.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,061

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MicheleS8 on 02/19/2016 11:11 AM

They have requested payment within one week. Do I have any grounds for requesting additional time to pay this bill?

If your asking if you can ask your Association for an extension, sure.
What their answer will be, I don't know.

Simply offer a payment plan along with the explanation that the earlier special assessments have tapped a lot of your ready cash. Along with the plan, I would provide some of those funds with the plan.

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

Michele, I'm not an attorney and as others have suggested you should consult one on this matter. From your description of the buildings, I'm guessing you are a condo in which case you would come under Section 5311 of the Ohio Revised Code. You could argue that the current Declarant Board is in violation of 5311.081.

5311.081 Powers and duties of board of directors.

(A) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration or bylaws, the unit owners association, through the board of directors, shall do both of the following:

(1) Adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves in an amount adequate to repair and replace major capital items in the normal course of operations without the necessity of special assessments, provided that the amount set aside annually for reserves shall not be less than ten per cent of the budget for that year unless the reserve requirement is waived annually by the unit owners exercising not less than a majority of the voting power of the unit owners association;

(2) Collect assessments for common expenses from unit owners.

Since they are in effect hitting you with a special assessment, unless they can show that a majority of owners (either homeowners or Declarant) waived the reserve requirement, you might have an argument. You will still need to pay the money but if you can show they are in violation, they might be more inclined to come up with a payment plan.

To see all of 5311 including the rest of 5311.081 go to: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5311

In addition, you and your fellow homeowners might contact your local Zoning Board to see if they are holding any performance bonds, which you might keep the ZB from releasing until turnover is complete and you have an engineering study done to make sure every thing is complete and built to code.

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