builder and bankruptcy

With regards to HOA dues we need more information:

Are you still under Developer control or has the developer sold the majority of homes/lots in the HOA?

How many lots do others own and how many do the developer own?

What is the HOA responsible for paying (i.e., irrigation water, common area property such as parks, roads, etc.)?

If you purchased your lot then the lot is yours (as long as you paid cash or make your mortgage payments) ... the HOA is a separate entity most likely registered as a Non-Profit Corporation. That corporation has CCR's (Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) attached to the property titles of the lot owners with in essence rules and regulations to be followed. After you answer the above questions we can better clarify.

I do apologize i just lost my GF to cancer. i wasn't thinking right and to top it off i got a real estate agent that didn't know there ass for there elbow!!! i do own the land i don't know why she told me different. i have filed a complaint with her boss and told them that she needs to be retrained or terminated. i admit i just wanted to get into a house quick i didn't want to putz around with having two dogs with me as well

I’m not surprised that the realtor didn’t give you a lot of information – sadly, there are some (many?) who really don’t know about homeowner associations and what living in one will mean to the buyer. It may be she didn’t have the information either to give you or was more interested in the sale commission, perhaps both.

You also admitted you wanted to get into a house quick – in hindsight, you may have moved too fast, especially in light of what was happening with your girlfriend (sorry about your loss). That being said, this is your home now and you signed the papers, so it’s important to move forward and find out exactly what kind of community you’re living in.

After reading your post on the satellite dish, it may be your attorney is correct that this isn’t a HOA, but I hope you two do more digging into whatever papers you got at closing. It sounds like your community is still being run by the developer, meaning it can make whatever rules suit them (with a few exceptions like the OTARD rule on TV dishes). Since you’re paying $50 in assessments or something, start with following the money – where are these checks going and what does the fee pay for? Call whoever’s cashing them and find out. If you can get a budget that breaks down the costs, get a copy of that as well, and make sure you get one every year.

You probably have a valid concern about $50 a year being enough to run the community. As Tim said, builders often set fees artificially low to attract buyers. When they turn the community over to the homeowners, the homeowners usually find out that isn’t enough, especially if you’re in a small community (the smaller the community, the higher the cost per homeowner because there aren’t enough to spread out the costs). That means the new HOA board (made up of homeowners) may have to increase the fee.

As for special assessments, you’re probably aware they may be necessary if the community needs a major repair or replacement (e.g. street repaving) and there isn’t enough money in the HOA budget to pay for it (that’s why you need to review the budget). Special assessments should RARE – it’s one thing if the community was torn apart by a hurricane or major disaster, but too often it means the homeowners weren’t paying enough attention to the true costs of maintaining the community because they didn’t want to pay more than $50 a year, and besides they’d be gone by the time those repairs were necessary.

As you learn more about your community, you may find you want to get involved in running it, such as volunteering to be on the HOA board of directors. If there is a board, start attending meetings and ask questions. Good luck!