VenaN (Georgia)
Posts: 1
Posts: 1
Posted:
Hi.
I’m a newbie. Our neighborhood is located in metro Atlanta. 8 years old. We currently have about 120 homes. There are another 80-100 lots waiting to be built on. It’s a beautiful neighborhood and everyone is glad they live here…that is until they’re here for a while.
We were all stupid. We all wanted to live in this neighborhood so bad, we all signed the HOA agreement at closing, not reading all the fine print. We assumed it was your typical HOA contract we’ve seen many times at closings. I’ll try to provide background and context.
Turns out the HOA is one person – the developer - until EVERY lot is sold. (he will probably just hang on to one lot to maintain control) He is not transparent about where our dues are being spent, using vague terms like “attorney’s fees”, “landscaping”, etc. We have no breakdown of what we are actually paying for. Just what is in the landscaper’s contract? We have no idea, we just know they’re lousy for the amount we’re paying.
We’ve asked to see more detailed records and contracts, but got nowhere. Is there any way we can get a copy of all the contracts the HOA has made?
Our neighborhood common areas need maintenance and an infusion of cash. We have a neighborhood sprinkler system that he doesn’t turn on and our landscape dies. (Good luck getting the landscape crew to come by and replace it.)
Last year we were told we all needed to repaint our houses BUT we could only use HIS approved painter.
He decides if we can have a community wide event, even though he allocated 10k in our annual budget for them.
He never returns phone calls and only communicates with us by certified mail, FOR EVERYTHING, when often a simple email would do….paid for out of our dues. He is very, VERY, litigious and it is my understanding that if he’s suing anyone in the neighborhood THOSE attorney’s fees are also taken out of OUR dues. He puts liens on houses any chance he can get. All in all, he’s unresponsive, uncooperative and seems to be suffering from Napoleon syndrome.
It’s all very shady, not to mention depressing. Many suspect he is lining his own pockets with OUR dues. (By the way, he raised dues 40% this year!)
The builder is no longer working with him because he’s being so unreasonable. He nearly doubled the price of lots and told him he had to buy 10 at a time. All building here has stopped.
There has been talk of taking legal action, but we can’t use any of OUR dues to hire an attorney, but he can use them to pay for HIS! Even if we could, we couldn’t afford attorney’s like the one’s he has on retainer. Other developments have tried, refusing to pay their dues. He put a lien on their houses. Others took him to court and ended up sued, some financially ruined.
Enough of my sad story. Is there ANYTHING, any recourse we can take? Should we go to the media? (He’d probably sue us.) Politicians? Any other route? We have lemon laws for cars. Is there anything like that for a developer run HOA’s that is out of control? If not, there should be!
We are reasonable people trying to work with a greedy, litigious S.O.B. Has anyone else ever found themselves in this situation? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I’m a newbie. Our neighborhood is located in metro Atlanta. 8 years old. We currently have about 120 homes. There are another 80-100 lots waiting to be built on. It’s a beautiful neighborhood and everyone is glad they live here…that is until they’re here for a while.
We were all stupid. We all wanted to live in this neighborhood so bad, we all signed the HOA agreement at closing, not reading all the fine print. We assumed it was your typical HOA contract we’ve seen many times at closings. I’ll try to provide background and context.
Turns out the HOA is one person – the developer - until EVERY lot is sold. (he will probably just hang on to one lot to maintain control) He is not transparent about where our dues are being spent, using vague terms like “attorney’s fees”, “landscaping”, etc. We have no breakdown of what we are actually paying for. Just what is in the landscaper’s contract? We have no idea, we just know they’re lousy for the amount we’re paying.
We’ve asked to see more detailed records and contracts, but got nowhere. Is there any way we can get a copy of all the contracts the HOA has made?
Our neighborhood common areas need maintenance and an infusion of cash. We have a neighborhood sprinkler system that he doesn’t turn on and our landscape dies. (Good luck getting the landscape crew to come by and replace it.)
Last year we were told we all needed to repaint our houses BUT we could only use HIS approved painter.
He decides if we can have a community wide event, even though he allocated 10k in our annual budget for them.
He never returns phone calls and only communicates with us by certified mail, FOR EVERYTHING, when often a simple email would do….paid for out of our dues. He is very, VERY, litigious and it is my understanding that if he’s suing anyone in the neighborhood THOSE attorney’s fees are also taken out of OUR dues. He puts liens on houses any chance he can get. All in all, he’s unresponsive, uncooperative and seems to be suffering from Napoleon syndrome.
It’s all very shady, not to mention depressing. Many suspect he is lining his own pockets with OUR dues. (By the way, he raised dues 40% this year!)
The builder is no longer working with him because he’s being so unreasonable. He nearly doubled the price of lots and told him he had to buy 10 at a time. All building here has stopped.
There has been talk of taking legal action, but we can’t use any of OUR dues to hire an attorney, but he can use them to pay for HIS! Even if we could, we couldn’t afford attorney’s like the one’s he has on retainer. Other developments have tried, refusing to pay their dues. He put a lien on their houses. Others took him to court and ended up sued, some financially ruined.
Enough of my sad story. Is there ANYTHING, any recourse we can take? Should we go to the media? (He’d probably sue us.) Politicians? Any other route? We have lemon laws for cars. Is there anything like that for a developer run HOA’s that is out of control? If not, there should be!
We are reasonable people trying to work with a greedy, litigious S.O.B. Has anyone else ever found themselves in this situation? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!