SherrilH (Idaho)
Posts: 12
Posts: 12
Posted:
I’m coming to the board for advice and appreciate all input. I’m sorry this is so long but wanted you to be aware of all that is going on in my neighborhood:
I moved into a fairly new development in Sept. of 2014. At that time, the board was not run by the homeowners but by the developer. This newspaper link will explain why this neighborhood was designed and why I chose it.
http://www.cdapress.com/real_estate/article_35281c98-4b15-53ad-8616-1108f442f0f6.html
I purchased it for all of the amenities described. It was turned over to the homeowners in 2015. There have been numerous issues. I didn’t say much at first, as I knew the transition wasn’t easy and wanted the board to get settled in. However, as more things started happening, I felt the need to speak up. I followed the chain of command and sent my concerns/input to the property management company who in turn forwarded it to the board. These are some of the things that have been going on in our development:
1. Some of the owners were quite upset that walking gates were not installed by the developer. They were led to believe that they would be installed and sent around a petition. Many signed the petition and many did not. It’s not that I didn’t want the gates but I never was told that they would be installed and ethically did not think I should go back and try to have the developer install them. The developer did not install them and we voted on a special assessment of $200 each. I agreed to this and the gates were installed.
2. I watched for quite some time as our private street lights went on and off in our neighborhood as well as some lights in lots “outside” our development. I contacted the utility company about this matter really feeling the homeowners had also been paying for utilities we were not responsible for. At one time, the developer had owned our street as well as the outside lots, but then they became separate but it was appearing to me that the lights were still tied in together. Long story short, we were sent a check for $1,500 because indeed we were paying for utilities for over a year that were not part of our neighborhood. I bring this up because I want to show that although I am not on the board, I am trying to help where I can.
3. Many neighbors started planting all kinds of flowers, trees and shrubs in common areas in front of their homes that according to the CC&R’s were to be taken care of by the landscaping service and our HOA. I was concerned about this because I thought this could possibly increase our landscaping budget if at some point, the homeowner stopped maintaining it. What if the homeowner moved, would the new homeowner be expected to take care of it when it is technically “common area”? How does the landscaper know what was original and what was planted by the homeowner? This neighborhood was designed to be “maintenance” free. What if the homeowner hires someone to maintain this common area, who is responsible if someone gets hurt? Can the HOA be sued if it is common area, even though they are being hired by the homeowner?
4. I was approached by a neighbor, who was collecting $35 per house to have the common area, behind our driveway sprayed for weeds. I explained to her that it was not the small amount of money that was being requested but the principle. All common areas were suppose to be maintained by the HOA clearly stated in the CC&Rs. Money was being spent on other areas, why not here? How is the board deciding what to approve and what not to approve?
5. In December we were told our dues were going to be increased an additional $50 per month beginning in January of 2016. We were told, that after going over the budget and expenses, our current dues were not enough and how important it was to build our reserves. I completely understood this...we are on a private street which will need to be repaved at some point, the street lights and snow removal are part of our responsibilities as well as other expenses that other neighborhoods do not have to worry about. Soon, after receiving the newsletter stating the increase, we were informed that $150 was granted for holiday decorations for the neighborhood. In my opinion this was not a “need” and not something that should have been granted in light of being told how important it was to build our reserves when our dues had just substantially been raised. By the way, just yesterday at the board meeting I attended, I saw the expenses for last year and actually $592 was spent on Christmas decorations, not just $150. We were only told about $150.
6. We were told by the developer that another common area, behind our alleyway was to be “natural” and I was fine with that. Now, there is pressure being put on all of us to each beautify and maintain the common area right behind our driveway. Many are starting to do this, spending quite a bit of money. As the CC&R’s state all common areas are to be maintained by the HOA.
7. Although the CC&R’s state:
Section 5.22 c it reads, “The Association shall be responsible for maintaining landscaping on all of the Common Areas as well as all landscaping located within each Building Lot, to the extent such landscaping is not enclosed behind a fence or wall permitted to be constructed on such Building Lot as provided in this Declaration. Each Owner shall be responsible for maintaining landscaping, if any, enclosed behind any wall or fence on such Owner’s Building Lot that has been permitted to be constructed as provided in this Declaration.”
It has been conveyed to us, in the newsletter only, that we are now expected to maintain the 3’ perimeter around our home. According to the above, that is also not adhering to the CC&R’s, however, I have complied with this and am maintaining this area with the hopes this will save us landscaping dollars if everyone does it.
8. We received a ballot which clearly shows that the board wants to take away renting privileges to all homeowners, however they will grandfather in those homeowners whose homes are currently being rented. After getting some good advice from this board I reached out to them and offered them other possible solutions. Although to many, eliminating rentals may be seen as a positive, I was not wanting to close the door to this possibility as life can change in a moment. I asked them to please consider other options I provided (grandfathering in all current homeowners or making sure each home was owner occupied for 2+ years before becoming a rental, as was suggested to me by Tim, on this board).
9. Nearly a year ago, I brought to the attention of the President that our street lights were on much longer than they should be. They were also sometimes on all day long in the winter. She asked if I would look into this matter and report back to her. I did do this, providing the board with the information I obtained, who to call, possible reasons, etc. I said to please let me know if there was anything else I could do. Several months later, the president stepped down. The street light issue had not changed so I forwarded on, to the current president, my correspondence with the previous president and again said, please let me know if there was anything I could do to help with this issue. The new president, said he did recall this subject but felt there were more pressing issues and thanked me for the reminder. Still today this has not been taken care of and we have wasted 1,000s of hours with lights on when not necessary.
10. It was originally suggested that the homeowners have a work party and stain the new walking gates. It would also be necessary to restain the drive through gates to match. Through an e-mail, I said I would be happy to help with this project, if I was in town and to please let me know the date. The board eventually decided to go with a “professional”. What I learned though was that the professional came out, surveyed the project and gave a bid. The bid was accepted and he began the project. I then learned, that the project turned out to be more of an undertaking than he thought, so the board, on their own, decided to give him an extra $300. I didn’t feel this was right. The professional saw the project and the wood to be stained prior to starting. I’m sorry it turned out to be more of a project than he thought but unfortunately that is part of business.
11. Finally, after sending e-mails back and forth regarding my concern about changing the CC&R’s to reflect no rentals, I asked to attend and speak at the board meeting, which was held last week. I was asked to keep it to 10 minutes, which I said I would be happy to do. On a sidenote, we have never once been told about board meetings or made to feel we could attend. In fact, when I arrived, I asked to also stay for the remainder of the meeting after I spoke. They appeared to be surprised and not quite sure how to answer . I also said I understood if I was excused at some point, so they could discuss personal information that, as a non board member, I should not be privy to.
When the meeting started, I remained very calm. I pretty much read from the agenda I brought, so I wouldn’t forget anything. I kept it just under 10 minutes. I was then asked some questions and just as one board member said...”maybe you should consider being on the board” I started to reply.. “I thought this might come up......” and before I could finish my sentence, another board member said something like, “Let’s move on, I think we’ve discussed this enough, I don’t want to be here any longer than an hour.” The room sort of quieted down, I stopped talking and they started talking about board matters. Mind you, she was late to the meeting, I spoke 8 minutes and I don’t even think the questions from the board lasted 2 minutes at that point.
I sat quietly during the meeting and actually at one point was asked a question when the subject about snow removal was brought up. What was difficult was that I felt I was put on the defense when asked, “do you have any idea what snow removal costs?” I did speak up and let him know I felt I was being put on the defense a bit. I said that I had a rough idea but hadn’t seen any figures since the last budget was provided to us in January of 2015. He made it clear, that should we have an extremely harsh winter our money could be wiped out and there would be special assessments for all homeowners. It was his tone and a feeling that I was being shut down. The snow removal subject was going into detail about wanting homeowners to become more involved with shoveling their driveways to save the HOA money this upcoming winter. In the past, one homeowner said, “shoveling is good exercise”. I am not arguing that fact, but I moved here so that I didn’t have to do that any longer and would rather spend my time, hiking, skiing or playing tennis.
When the subject about the common area, behind our alleyway was brought up, somehow the subject of the $35 request I mentioned earlier came up. The board member, who abruptly stopped the questioning earlier, made a point, to say to me, in a cold tone...... “I paid for 1/2 of your $35” and all I could say was, “What is the reason you are telling me this?” I was pretty dumbfounded at this point. As calm as I stayed, I felt no matter what I said, or what concerns I had they were not going to be receptive to anything. There were 4 members present, the 2 that were not open are related to each other and the other 2 seemed to be more neutral and open and “heard” me. I was made to feel very unwelcome by 2 of the members in particular.
When I asked the president about homeowners now gardening in the common areas, he said “people like to garden” and I said, I understand that but then why move into a neighborhood that was clearly designed as a “maintenance free” neighborhood. He didn’t say much at that point, as he is one of the ones who enjoys gardening. I’m OK if people want to garden and the neighborhood shifts some but I’m not OK with feeling bullied and intimidated into doing what others have chosen to do.
I am unable to attend the annual meeting this year. I asked the board how should I submit my concerns to the homeowners in attendance. I was told I could submit a 2 minute note that would be read by the property manager. My concern is that 1/2, if not more of the homeowners will not be in attendance. I’m hesitant to send through regular mail my concerns, or go door to door as I am doing my best to not stir things up unnecessarily. All I want is to keep this neighorhood as close to how it was designed and not be made to feel guilty if I am not gardening or shoveling.
Can I be made to landscape the common area? Can plat maps be changed which currently show my lot, as well as the common areas? In fact, I even made an appt. with the engineer of the plat map and was given an enlarged copy of it. Can CC&R’s be amended saying that a homeowner is responsible for a common area they do not own?
I am not opposed to, at some point, becoming a board member, however, I want to be on a board that is not self serving and welcomes homeowner input. Currently, I am not in agreement with some of the choices they have made, on all our behalves and because I don’t agree and am speaking up, I feel I am being shunned and that the board does not like it when others do not see it their way. This has been a very frustrating place to be in and I appreciate your input. Thank you.
I moved into a fairly new development in Sept. of 2014. At that time, the board was not run by the homeowners but by the developer. This newspaper link will explain why this neighborhood was designed and why I chose it.
http://www.cdapress.com/real_estate/article_35281c98-4b15-53ad-8616-1108f442f0f6.html
I purchased it for all of the amenities described. It was turned over to the homeowners in 2015. There have been numerous issues. I didn’t say much at first, as I knew the transition wasn’t easy and wanted the board to get settled in. However, as more things started happening, I felt the need to speak up. I followed the chain of command and sent my concerns/input to the property management company who in turn forwarded it to the board. These are some of the things that have been going on in our development:
1. Some of the owners were quite upset that walking gates were not installed by the developer. They were led to believe that they would be installed and sent around a petition. Many signed the petition and many did not. It’s not that I didn’t want the gates but I never was told that they would be installed and ethically did not think I should go back and try to have the developer install them. The developer did not install them and we voted on a special assessment of $200 each. I agreed to this and the gates were installed.
2. I watched for quite some time as our private street lights went on and off in our neighborhood as well as some lights in lots “outside” our development. I contacted the utility company about this matter really feeling the homeowners had also been paying for utilities we were not responsible for. At one time, the developer had owned our street as well as the outside lots, but then they became separate but it was appearing to me that the lights were still tied in together. Long story short, we were sent a check for $1,500 because indeed we were paying for utilities for over a year that were not part of our neighborhood. I bring this up because I want to show that although I am not on the board, I am trying to help where I can.
3. Many neighbors started planting all kinds of flowers, trees and shrubs in common areas in front of their homes that according to the CC&R’s were to be taken care of by the landscaping service and our HOA. I was concerned about this because I thought this could possibly increase our landscaping budget if at some point, the homeowner stopped maintaining it. What if the homeowner moved, would the new homeowner be expected to take care of it when it is technically “common area”? How does the landscaper know what was original and what was planted by the homeowner? This neighborhood was designed to be “maintenance” free. What if the homeowner hires someone to maintain this common area, who is responsible if someone gets hurt? Can the HOA be sued if it is common area, even though they are being hired by the homeowner?
4. I was approached by a neighbor, who was collecting $35 per house to have the common area, behind our driveway sprayed for weeds. I explained to her that it was not the small amount of money that was being requested but the principle. All common areas were suppose to be maintained by the HOA clearly stated in the CC&Rs. Money was being spent on other areas, why not here? How is the board deciding what to approve and what not to approve?
5. In December we were told our dues were going to be increased an additional $50 per month beginning in January of 2016. We were told, that after going over the budget and expenses, our current dues were not enough and how important it was to build our reserves. I completely understood this...we are on a private street which will need to be repaved at some point, the street lights and snow removal are part of our responsibilities as well as other expenses that other neighborhoods do not have to worry about. Soon, after receiving the newsletter stating the increase, we were informed that $150 was granted for holiday decorations for the neighborhood. In my opinion this was not a “need” and not something that should have been granted in light of being told how important it was to build our reserves when our dues had just substantially been raised. By the way, just yesterday at the board meeting I attended, I saw the expenses for last year and actually $592 was spent on Christmas decorations, not just $150. We were only told about $150.
6. We were told by the developer that another common area, behind our alleyway was to be “natural” and I was fine with that. Now, there is pressure being put on all of us to each beautify and maintain the common area right behind our driveway. Many are starting to do this, spending quite a bit of money. As the CC&R’s state all common areas are to be maintained by the HOA.
7. Although the CC&R’s state:
Section 5.22 c it reads, “The Association shall be responsible for maintaining landscaping on all of the Common Areas as well as all landscaping located within each Building Lot, to the extent such landscaping is not enclosed behind a fence or wall permitted to be constructed on such Building Lot as provided in this Declaration. Each Owner shall be responsible for maintaining landscaping, if any, enclosed behind any wall or fence on such Owner’s Building Lot that has been permitted to be constructed as provided in this Declaration.”
It has been conveyed to us, in the newsletter only, that we are now expected to maintain the 3’ perimeter around our home. According to the above, that is also not adhering to the CC&R’s, however, I have complied with this and am maintaining this area with the hopes this will save us landscaping dollars if everyone does it.
8. We received a ballot which clearly shows that the board wants to take away renting privileges to all homeowners, however they will grandfather in those homeowners whose homes are currently being rented. After getting some good advice from this board I reached out to them and offered them other possible solutions. Although to many, eliminating rentals may be seen as a positive, I was not wanting to close the door to this possibility as life can change in a moment. I asked them to please consider other options I provided (grandfathering in all current homeowners or making sure each home was owner occupied for 2+ years before becoming a rental, as was suggested to me by Tim, on this board).
9. Nearly a year ago, I brought to the attention of the President that our street lights were on much longer than they should be. They were also sometimes on all day long in the winter. She asked if I would look into this matter and report back to her. I did do this, providing the board with the information I obtained, who to call, possible reasons, etc. I said to please let me know if there was anything else I could do. Several months later, the president stepped down. The street light issue had not changed so I forwarded on, to the current president, my correspondence with the previous president and again said, please let me know if there was anything I could do to help with this issue. The new president, said he did recall this subject but felt there were more pressing issues and thanked me for the reminder. Still today this has not been taken care of and we have wasted 1,000s of hours with lights on when not necessary.
10. It was originally suggested that the homeowners have a work party and stain the new walking gates. It would also be necessary to restain the drive through gates to match. Through an e-mail, I said I would be happy to help with this project, if I was in town and to please let me know the date. The board eventually decided to go with a “professional”. What I learned though was that the professional came out, surveyed the project and gave a bid. The bid was accepted and he began the project. I then learned, that the project turned out to be more of an undertaking than he thought, so the board, on their own, decided to give him an extra $300. I didn’t feel this was right. The professional saw the project and the wood to be stained prior to starting. I’m sorry it turned out to be more of a project than he thought but unfortunately that is part of business.
11. Finally, after sending e-mails back and forth regarding my concern about changing the CC&R’s to reflect no rentals, I asked to attend and speak at the board meeting, which was held last week. I was asked to keep it to 10 minutes, which I said I would be happy to do. On a sidenote, we have never once been told about board meetings or made to feel we could attend. In fact, when I arrived, I asked to also stay for the remainder of the meeting after I spoke. They appeared to be surprised and not quite sure how to answer . I also said I understood if I was excused at some point, so they could discuss personal information that, as a non board member, I should not be privy to.
When the meeting started, I remained very calm. I pretty much read from the agenda I brought, so I wouldn’t forget anything. I kept it just under 10 minutes. I was then asked some questions and just as one board member said...”maybe you should consider being on the board” I started to reply.. “I thought this might come up......” and before I could finish my sentence, another board member said something like, “Let’s move on, I think we’ve discussed this enough, I don’t want to be here any longer than an hour.” The room sort of quieted down, I stopped talking and they started talking about board matters. Mind you, she was late to the meeting, I spoke 8 minutes and I don’t even think the questions from the board lasted 2 minutes at that point.
I sat quietly during the meeting and actually at one point was asked a question when the subject about snow removal was brought up. What was difficult was that I felt I was put on the defense when asked, “do you have any idea what snow removal costs?” I did speak up and let him know I felt I was being put on the defense a bit. I said that I had a rough idea but hadn’t seen any figures since the last budget was provided to us in January of 2015. He made it clear, that should we have an extremely harsh winter our money could be wiped out and there would be special assessments for all homeowners. It was his tone and a feeling that I was being shut down. The snow removal subject was going into detail about wanting homeowners to become more involved with shoveling their driveways to save the HOA money this upcoming winter. In the past, one homeowner said, “shoveling is good exercise”. I am not arguing that fact, but I moved here so that I didn’t have to do that any longer and would rather spend my time, hiking, skiing or playing tennis.
When the subject about the common area, behind our alleyway was brought up, somehow the subject of the $35 request I mentioned earlier came up. The board member, who abruptly stopped the questioning earlier, made a point, to say to me, in a cold tone...... “I paid for 1/2 of your $35” and all I could say was, “What is the reason you are telling me this?” I was pretty dumbfounded at this point. As calm as I stayed, I felt no matter what I said, or what concerns I had they were not going to be receptive to anything. There were 4 members present, the 2 that were not open are related to each other and the other 2 seemed to be more neutral and open and “heard” me. I was made to feel very unwelcome by 2 of the members in particular.
When I asked the president about homeowners now gardening in the common areas, he said “people like to garden” and I said, I understand that but then why move into a neighborhood that was clearly designed as a “maintenance free” neighborhood. He didn’t say much at that point, as he is one of the ones who enjoys gardening. I’m OK if people want to garden and the neighborhood shifts some but I’m not OK with feeling bullied and intimidated into doing what others have chosen to do.
I am unable to attend the annual meeting this year. I asked the board how should I submit my concerns to the homeowners in attendance. I was told I could submit a 2 minute note that would be read by the property manager. My concern is that 1/2, if not more of the homeowners will not be in attendance. I’m hesitant to send through regular mail my concerns, or go door to door as I am doing my best to not stir things up unnecessarily. All I want is to keep this neighorhood as close to how it was designed and not be made to feel guilty if I am not gardening or shoveling.
Can I be made to landscape the common area? Can plat maps be changed which currently show my lot, as well as the common areas? In fact, I even made an appt. with the engineer of the plat map and was given an enlarged copy of it. Can CC&R’s be amended saying that a homeowner is responsible for a common area they do not own?
I am not opposed to, at some point, becoming a board member, however, I want to be on a board that is not self serving and welcomes homeowner input. Currently, I am not in agreement with some of the choices they have made, on all our behalves and because I don’t agree and am speaking up, I feel I am being shunned and that the board does not like it when others do not see it their way. This has been a very frustrating place to be in and I appreciate your input. Thank you.