HOA Dues inequity

Hello Everyone,

I live in a condo complex of 48 units. 8 of them are town homes (share one wall) and 40 of them are single homes. The floor plans and square footage for every unit is the same. In our annual budget, the 8 town homes pay more than double the monthly dues compared to the single family homes. I was told that this is because the 8 town homes have a higher landscaping and insurance cost than the single homes. But looking at the annual budget, the HOA has the costs doubled across the board. Town homes pay more than double for all administrative expenses and even pool maintenance which really makes no sense. Since the units are all the same with the exception of a common wall in the town home units...is it common practice to charge some home owners double or more than others? This would make sense to me if the town homes were larger or had bigger lots...but we don't. Is it even legal to charge some home owners more than others in the same complex for common areas? Just seems crazy to me. Any help or insight you all might have is appreciated.

Can you quote what your condominium's Declaration says about the assessment for each unit?

I think this is the key. The relative assessments should be defined here, and can't be changed without amending the CCRs.

You are looking at the wrong thing it is not the size of the unit it is the services they receive. Who is responsible for things like siding, roofing, insurance for the townhouses and the single family houses? What do the HOA documents say about cost allocation? If both get the same services I would be talking to my attorney and trying to organize the other 7 townhouses.

I think Augustin and Douglas are right, JohnL. The assessments the THs pay must be spelled out in your CC&Rs.

Now, we have a similar situation and some of it is spelled out in our CC&Rs, but, in it, Owners are understand to understand the rest by referring to the "budget." What that means is the original Budget required of the developer by the Dept. of Real Estate (DRE) to approve your HOA. Referring to that is the ONLY way we can understand how much to assess certain condos. Yes, it's a mess and our CC&Rs must be revised.

Anyway, JohnL your CC&Rs are your starting point. It's possible, but unlikely, the "dues splits" if any required by your documents could be in your bylaws.

Hello,

Thank you all for your responses. To answer some questions: All the units in the complex (singles and town homes) receive the same services from the HOA. In the budget, all assessments are broken down and the 8 town homes pay more than double each month across the board. For example, the 8 town homes pay $19 a month for pool maintenance, while the single homes pay $8 a month. This kind of cost difference applies to all fees in the budget from landscaping to administrative and even reserve account collections. I consulted the CCR document and it spells out the distribution of fees quite nicely: "Regular and Special assessments shall be levied against each lot equally, based on a fraction, the numerator of which is 1 and the denominator is the total number of lots in the project." There is an exception for town homes relating to landscaping and insurance, which makes sense, but there is no mention of the other assessments besides the equal weighting across the project line. This certainly sounds like all fees except insurance and landscaping should be levied equally right? I don't know how "across the entire project" could mean "more for town homes and less for single homes." I did send this to the HOA and they said they would "look into it with their accounting department." It has been this way for years.

I would want to see the Declaration's definition of "lot." I would want to see the pertinent sections of the CC&Rs quoted verbatim.

From what I understand, the association prepares the budget and the board signs off on it. There isn't a property management company apart from the association. Yes, there is only one pool yet the town home owners pay more than double for maintenance fees.

The "and maintenance" part has my attention. Now I need to see the sections of the Declaration dealing with maintenance responsibilities. By any chance is the HOA responsible for the roofs of the townhomes? The exterior walls? Plumbing before it crosses the boundary of the townhome?