Management attempting to remove HOA

Started by DawnH • 11 replies • 2019 views

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DawnH (California)
Posts: 6

Posted:

We have been a HOA since 2001, under the Secretary of the State. We have new managers since 2005. The managers have been undermining the HOA and want to remove our status to have our own HOA. He wants to completely have control of our Mobile home and not allow us to run the Park as we have been for numerous years. The Manager has petitions for people to sign when they come into the office to pay rent. The officers have been threatened with a $100,000.00 law suit. He came into our meeting, unannounced and dropped more letters of accusations which are slanderous and which are lie,onto our table.
I posted the truth and the wife of the manager ripped it apart and I called the Sheriff's dept. for help. I was told it was a civil case and they could not help us. The officers of the HOA, met with two atty's yesterday and were told that we don't have a case, even with evidence of letters from other home owners of this Park.
We were once under the control of the city of Sun City's "Core". However, we had all of our own facilities and did not need to pay the yearly dues that homes and condos do each year. We opted out of the "Core" and was given our own number registering us a HOA under Sun City Mobile Home Estates. (I believe there are two others involved. monitarially but we, the mobile home owners have not been notified of the change. Our owner, **********, who inherited the Park from his father, passed away fairly recently and since then, we have had a major problems with Management here, *************. I was told that we have no power as a HOA. Need help on this issue, please. Best Regards, Dawn , President of SCMHOA, Sun City, CA.

BradD2 (Florida)
Posts: 418

Posted:

I can't help you but you should have read the forum rules. The problem is that you used names and now the whole thread may go away.

DawnH (California)
Posts: 6

Posted:

I guess I am one who tells the whole truth, not leaving out the details so that the situation is understood. To me that is a lie,if I didn't, not to show the correct and exact problem we are facing. I will have another person write to you and then you may be able to help us. Dawn Hutchison, President of HOA.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Dawn, I do not understand your statement "The managers have been undermining the HOA and want to remove our status to have our own HOA." It is the owner's HOA not the managers. The management can be changed by the owners if they feel their best interests are not being served.

You state "our owner inherited the Park from his father". If that is correct you are not an owner, only a renter, and would have no voice in the HOA unless you have been elected to the Board of Directors. Some associations do not require Board member to be owners. If there is only one owner they would be in control of selecting (electing) Board members and would be the only member voting.

If you want to form a social group not related to the HOA go ahead. Just realize it is not related in any way to the HOA.

RobertR1 (South Carolina)
Posts: 5,164

Posted:

Dawn,
If you are a separate HOA, do you have your own Documenmts; Declarations, Incorporation papers, Master Deed and By-laws? If you don't have these papers that create your existance, you probably fall into a larger HOA there. How did you get elected? Are there other board members? Who do you pay your dues to? I, like the rest am at loss to give any advice. Do you have copies of your HOA past meetings, might find a clue there. Maybe some of the oldtimers could give you directions. I really suspect this situation is just something that evolved over the years and is not complying to any recognized Documents.

One thing for sure, it will never be clarified if the approach for solution is to begin by calling people liars. Put that aside and look at the issues and understand them first. Maybe a legal aid County office could offer help to start.
Good luck and keep your powder dry.

DawnH (California)
Posts: 6

Posted:

We were elected by the Home Owners who attented the meeting on election day. Last year's officers were ready to give up and I came to their meeting and offered to keep the HOA alive. Two others were nominated and voted for, a Secretary/Vice President and a Treasurer and myself. Yes, we do have a Board and they handle the events and social activities. We have By-laws, and use them as they were written. We do not ask for dues as we are a Senior Park and most are on Social Security and limited incomes. We have approximately 400 homes in our Park, some are vacant and several are up for sale.
We have regular meetings and keep records through minutes which are kept and read at each meeting,once a month. We have an agenda we follow and ask for those from the floor to speak and we vote on proposals. We usually have money come in from our events that many of us participate in, singing, and other entertainment, dinners, etc. We have a Historian who keeps records of the activities via photos and albums in our library or on our activity board.
We were given our own number from the Secretary of the State of California, also in 2001. We have a record of that paperwork.
We are being slandered and lied about as officers by our manager, told that we have no power, they have petitions at their office to remove the HOA entirely so they may run the Park as they wish, no votes, no meetings, just brute force and fear tactics. Yes, we have gone to other agencies who sent us to other groups. We will hope to have a meeting with two other groups (I will not mention the names of the groups in CA. as the the last message said I could not use names.) Thank you, Dawn Hutchison

DawnH (California)
Posts: 6

Posted:

Thank you for writing. Perhaps I confused the issue as your group may be only for those in condos? We are in a large area once owned by a well known man who continues to build groups of residence for those 55 and older and we are considered a "Five Star Park." The cities or areas usually have a, "Core" which runs the community of regular housing. We opted out of the "Core" as we not only had to pay rent for the land we lived on (rented land space for our Mobile Home with utilities that we pay, patially for) and we had all of the facilities that the "Core" had, i.e., pools, gyms, library,large room for meetings, and entertaining. (The kitchen area has been shut down and we do not have that ammenity any longer,) etc. At that time, was when our group (400 spaces of couples or singles) formed their own HOA, separate from the managers but worked with them cooperatively; if problems came up or we could vote if signs were to go up in our Park, or not. The new managers want to run it all, no votes, just accept what they want. How is that fair? We were given the privilege, complete with backing and an assigned number from the Secretary of the state of California back in 2001. If you are not the people who can assist us, please let us know then, we could meet for answers and help. We have By-laws, copies of minutes and a banking account.
Thank you for listening. We are not giving up our rights. We are threatened continually that we may be put under the category of sub housing? Rent will go up as what is now free to us will be added to our rental fees (once promised utilities we did not have to pay.) How can this happen all due to an inhumane owner believing he has a great manager? The very elderly are fearful of losing their homes, also. Dawn

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Dawn, People on this board have responded to all types of homeowners. I think you are indicating that your association consists of renters. Is that correct? If so, it has no control over the owner who owns the land. It seems your group of homeowners chose to incorporate as a voluntary group of renters with their own board of directors. If so, what power do you think you have beyond the influence a group has compared to a single renter?

RobertR1 (South Carolina)
Posts: 5,164

Posted:

Dawn,
I believe all posting on this site have great concern about our seniors, I happen to be one of long standing. So, any comments I make are simply my opinion based on the information provided and remarks make by folks that have a large knowledge base to draw on. I would suggest that you all that are talking together about this, form a grass roots effort to confront your issues. Get an organization formed by all or as many as you can get to sign a petition that you or someone else in your group could present to your city or county council. Ask them for assistance and guidence, contact any senior organization that meet locally. If you are being pushed around by anyone or threatening in writing or publicaly by anyone, make a record of it, show your councilmen. Get another organization on your side, it could be church groups or city groups, anyone that deals with senior problems. Don't hesitate to meet with your elected representatives in the government. Keep at good Diary and be ready to go to local papers with it. And of course don't forget the children of these seniors, they will be interested and some may want to man an oar. Be organized and take it one step at a time. With 400 homes it would not take a lot of money to get a lawyer to put some kind of restraining order on whoever, if action is taken. Don't do it behind doors, be open and clear what your concerns are. Now that is what I would do.

DawnH (California)
Posts: 6

Posted:

Thank you, Robt. It gives us hope that we may have some sort of help, other than we know about and can use Representatives and Newspapers, etc., as you mentioned. I also work as a caregiver and help the seniors, I am getting up there but still I am able to help people in our area who are ill or need my help. It is close to home with this issue, if I don't report abuse, I am just as guilty. I work through a company in the area who represents me for the Seniors to call and set up schedules to help them. I also help with Hospice, as a volunteer in my spare time -I say that lightly as retirement is even busier than my over 40 years of fulltime work was.
Much appreciation, I copied your thoughts out and will work on what you have suggested, will see where we go from here. Thank you again...Dawn

DawnH (California)
Posts: 6

Posted:

Thanks for reponding: My answer to your question, a single rentor compared to a group of rentors who own their own Mobile Home is greater than a person who would be renting an apartment or another facility they do not own. We pay taxes and fees to keep our mobile home, we are licensed with the state of California. We only rent the land on which our MH's are setting and we pay for the utilities.
There are laws within the Park which were set up for the protection of the owner of the land, such as keeping your home in good condition, as well as the property, keeping plants we put in watered, grass cut we plant on the property, should we decide to have it. No clutter or unsightly vehicles or items that are not appropriate for a home, considering it an "eyesore." We cannot park on the streets only in driveways or outside of the large complex and walk to our homes. Some ignore it and do as they please, I adhere to the rules. We have signs on every street, No Parking, and many other signs the manager had put in, our by-laws say they should have been voted in by the Association (the Association is any member of the Park who owns a Mobile Home.) Our manager was given a Mobile Home to live in as part of his conract. However, after hours, he does not help us with flooding, or other problems, the word is, "Call 911."
I believe there are rights for our type of living community and they are being ignored by the owner. He said to me while I was in a conference with him, his managers one day, "They do have a right to have an Association." You see the problem? The managers want total control and the owner is standing up for us as he admitted? Dawn

CharleneW (Maryland)
Posts: 3

Posted:

Hi Dawn. I think we have a similar situation on the east coast. I live in Maryland in a mobile home park and the owners of the park do NOTHING. Just sit around and collect almost $70,000 a month in ground rent. We pay $585 a month for very small lots which our homes barely fit on. The roads are in desperate need of repair, street lights are out, no where for the children to play, no sidewalks, man hole covers missing (and the list goes on). We have recently formed an association because we have found that the owners are more than likely to listen to a majority of the homeowners, than just one or two. The roads, lights and man hole covers are just a few examples of repairs that need to be made that our lease state the owners are responsible, but do nothing. Since we have joined together, the man holes have been covered, some lights repaired and they "say" the roads are starting yesterday, but haven't yet. The owners are trying to enforce "Rules & Regulations" that state a lot of unreasonable rules (such as the children are not allowed to walk, stand, or play in the roads). I understand that this can be dangerous, but we live in a PRIVATE park, with PRIVATE roads, and there are NO SIDEWALKS. Where are the kids supposed to walk, stand or ride their bikes? We also do not have a playarea for them. We are just trying to have a voice for our rights that the owners have ignored for so long.

I had a question for you. Although you are in California and I am in Maryland, did you get incorporated? Do you hold D&O insurance? Our dues are only $15 per year, and do not have enough members / money to incorporate. I personally do not feel it is necessary because it is a voluntary association and anyone who does join is agreeing to allow the board to represent their interests. Also, anything that is done by the board is by a majority vote of the members, so we don't just take it upon our selves to do anything. All members have a say. I was going to have Articles of Association with the Bylaws incorporated into them and have an indemnification clause. All potential members would receive a copy and have to agree that they have read them and understand themn to join.

I understand you are not an attorney, just trying to get other opinions that are in the same situation as us.

Thanks for any help!

Char
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