HOA Dues increase issues....

Help. We are a 6 year old community which has two story and one story townhomes. The one story townhomes(villas) are more expensive by approx $100K, on larger lots, more landscaping, roof coverage and larger fences.

When the development was being sold by the builder, the builder set up a stairstep HOA dues program. Smaller townhomes, paid less dues, increasing accordingly to size of unit. We have some that are 1300sq feet, and go up to 2700 sq feet.

The board has been made up of only 1 story owners, and last year they determined they would like everyone to pay the same amount. This year I have joined the board, a 2 story owner. The board members are looking at again this year raising the two story owners, and not one story owners...saying everything should be uniform.

How can you really justify asking very small units, with much less landscaping, yard, trees, roof, fence, sprinkler heads, paint area etc pay the same as the large units? Some of the larger units have 7 trees, 3 times the landscape and yard, twice the roof coverage etc. We are putting new fences beginning next month. The one story fences run $285 more than a two story fence. This is for a 6 year replacement. Also, the insurance in the subdivision is made up from estimated value of the homes etc. Again another cost. To maintain the landscape is more expensive too.

My concern is that we have board members looking out for themselves. They do not even see it just to be raised the cost of living index.

IF all owners came in the same amount is one thing. We purchased our homes taking into account the HOA dues (understanding and expecting increases) and decided on size of homes with this in mind. Not to purchase a small unit willing to pay the highest due.

Please give me any feedback if you know of any HOAs which charge differently or how you feel about this issue. There is a 31.00 difference from bottom to top of dues. Is it realistic to think your dues won't increase? I don't think so, so why should the one story not increase at all?

Virginia
Plano TX

thank you for replying, I know there are HOAs which charge all HO the same amount...but this is usually done from the very beginning, not after 5 years when the board is made up of only 1 story owners.

Seems precedent was set when we started this community on stairstep dues.

Why can't you have a special meeting to discuss the issue and make changes to the rules to better fit your needs? There's no reason why your HOA can't ammend the rules to eliminate the stair stepping setup. It's in your documents on how to make these changes. That may be the best solution.

Give this a vote to the entire membership. See what the majority wants. Do they prefer the stairstep approach or agree it would be easier to charge the same amount to everybody. It's much more easier to manage if everyone pays the same.

Your HOA may also find some other areas to correct. If your builder/developer has already left, you may want to change any references to them in your documenation as well. The HOA is allowed to create the rules it wants to live by as long as they don't violate state, federal, or local laws.

It's not going to be easy to change the rules. I do recommend every 5 years or so to do a complete review. Laws regarding satellite dishes have changed significantly in the last 10 years alone. Satellite dishes are usually mentioned in the rules. So it's good to keep the documents updated to the law changes.

I would hire a lawyer that know contractual or corporate law to make your changes. It will cost the entire HOA money to do this. It cost us about $2K for our changes and 2 years of work. It was well worth the effort if you have anyone willing to spearhead the project. I think this should fix your issue if your HOA is willing to adapt to new rules for the benefit of all.

Virginia, without knowing what your governing documents specify, I would assume that your board can only raise assessments based on a formula in the governing documents. And not alter the structure of the assessments without a majority of all owners. What your board is proposing is in fact (IMHO) a restructuring of your deed with regard to how homes/units in your community are classified. That to me would seem to imply that there is the need to amend the doc's, and also (potentially) re-file with local municipality to address the community change.

I would also suggest that to avoid situations like this in the future that language be placed in your community's documents which protect the different "class" of units from conflicts such as what you have now (majority of board is made up of one "class" of unit owners, imposing their will upon another).

Also, what was not clear in your post... are the higher dues paying folks suggesting to raise the lower dues paying folks to everyone paying equal amounts.. OR.. suggesting that an increase for some, would result in decreases for others...?

If you increase the dues to equal funding by raising the lower amounts, all you do is create "surplus" because the higher dues folks are still paying the same amounts.

thank you for your input. Some have landscaping in front of the home/bay windows which is much more than the person that has a hedge. Some homes have 1/2 a tree because they share it with the person next door, and others have up to 7 trees. Last year we experienced a very rough drought requiring gator bags. In this one issue it was slanted the number and cost involved in the large units and number of trees requiring extra attention. We are allowed to add to the landscape beds upon approval, and the landscape company maintains.

So...we do have full access up to the property line for our own "land" which is several feet away from the beds, therefore they are in the homeowners land.

The thought is to bring the smaller units up to paying what the large units pay. We now have a tier structure: $126, 132, 142, 157, 163. They would like all to be paying the 163. The person who put this plan together...pays 163 now.

MicheleD - When it comes to maintenance and replacement of the common elements all owners maintenance fees should be tapped for the same amount. If the community elected Board members that so happened to be 1 story owners, how can anyone claim prejudice?

... from the posts, I am reading;

a. ALL assessments for common areas/elements must be equal.

b. Assessments which are tiered are specialized to the unit type.

This may be an audit/accounting headache, but if the general assessments for common areas are segregated (just for accounting purposes, not deposit/expenditure), it would make more sense to the community.

Also establishing the same for the different type of units (more landscaping, roof types, etc) would be beneficial to the community as well.

In mix use communities (single family, townhouse, condo's type units) there is often segregation of unit's responsibilities as defined by assessments. While you do not need to create a separate account for one-two story homes, it may prevail better in educating owners of the differences and how the funds/assessments are spent.

I believe that a change in assessment policy would require a vote of all homeowners, NOT simply the board. It would involve an amendment to the CC&R's. Check your governing documents to determine what what would constitute a majority vote in such a case: simple majority, 2/3's, or 75%.