New Roof assessment /failed

I live in small townhouse community with a new board , the prior board breached fiduciary duties for 15 years ( no $$ left in reserves , no insurance for the roofs). Hurricane came in 6 months ago and we are still covered in tarps.

We must have the roofs replaced because they are toast. We had a vote for new roof assessment and it failed by a huge margin, the owners don’t care if they lose the value of the home. I am ready to sell, but it’s illegal to rent a unit in this condition and I can’t sell either because buyers can’t get loans and a cash buyer is extremely rare in this area. I already paid my home off.

I thought the HOA had one job to protect value. We have zero amenities at our complex, so for them to get paid a pretty large HOA fee for zero amenities, no insurance and no money saved over 15 years.

I just want to get the assessment passed and sell and leave this dump low class community.

Thank you

Cindy,

Quick question, did you have your own hurricane insurance?

It appears that the board has another option if they are willing to do it.

718.1265 Association emergency powers.

per that act:

l) Regardless of any provision to the contrary and even if such authority does not specifically appear in the declaration of condominium, articles, or bylaws of the association, levy special assessments without a vote of the owners.

HOAs have a the same language: 720.316 Association emergency powers.

Time to start informing your board of the options they have.

Amazing how some people continue to vote against their own interests despite the folly if that decision slapping them in the face and kicking them in the behind. I imagine they're all focusing on the cost or figure the problem couldn't be that bad because the tarp is there. Or they know full well this won't be cheap, but simply don't have the money.

What were people saying when the special assessment was discussed. Did the board onside bringing in whoever inspected the roof go have him or her explain why the community can't put this off anymore? could there be implications with whatever city or county agency regulates the building code? perhaps someone from that agency can come to a meeting and tell the truth everyone is refusing to face.

In any case, you may have to bite the bullet and sell for whatever you can get and get out of here if your neighbors can't or refuse to see the light. On your other post you asked if you could sue your neighbors - as Tim noted, its one thing to sue, but another to win. And to be blunt, you're one sixth of this community, so as Melissa might say, you'd be suing yourself.

You don't say how old the community is or how long you've lived there, but be honest - were you of the mindset that assessments should be kept as low as possible? How much attention did you pay to spending the previous board and this one? Too many people move into HOA communities and set their minds on autom9, not paying attention to what's really going on until they have to. By then they find themselves knee deep in mess that takes lots of time and money to fix

This is yet another reason why I've never understood why any builder creates a HOA under 15 units. From what I've seen on this website, the smaller the community, the more drama because all it takes is one or two people to gum up the works.

It took us over a year to explain why we needed a dues increase. Meetings, mailings, spreadsheets. In our case it was a 40% increase. $50 to $70 per month. Our owners do not get to vote on it. The BOD can do it once a year, any amount they desire. We only had one of 112 that openly challenged us. He soon went away. Not that people liked it, but they accepted it.

Here's another thought - since it appears no one want to address this (because it also reflects how short sighted they were), maybe it's time to sell the buikding, dissolve the association, divide the money and everyone goes their separate ways.

If the roof is at bad as you say, you'll likely take a hit on the final proceeds after attorneys and other folks are paid to finalize the legal stuff, but you'll finally be out of there and these homeowners can go live somewhere else.

This is no small decision and everyone would have to be on board - but who knows, maybe this is what some really want but don't have the guts to speak up and say so. During the next board meeting, toss that grenade in the middle of the discussion and see what happens.

Just be sure you have all the facts you'll need to see how much this will cost, along with any tax implication before you do anything. you might also need to chat with your mortgage company because it may have to sign off on anything you do regarding your unit (after they get their money, you may not have any money.)

Good luck.

Same in my community - homeowners vote on assessments only if the upcoming year's assessments have to exceed a 5% increase (the maximum our documents allow) or a special assessment is proposed.

If Cindy's homeowners won't vote on a special assessment, the only thing I can suggest is for the board to increase assessments as high as their documents allow and keep doing that every year. Tell the homeowners this is necessary to raise money to repair or replace the roofs (replacement is probably the best option at this point) while paying routine assessments and funding reserves (properly this time). Sure, the current board may risk being voted out, but that also means the replacements will have to come up with something (good luck with that). Sometimes, you have to be the adult in the room and say this is how it's going to be because if we don't do something, EVERYONE will suffer.

Speaking of reserves, you said there was only $10K in yours so I imagine you're terribly underfunded. I don't know where the money will come from, but it's time for a reserve study so everyone will see where the association is at. You could even have the specialist attend a special meeting to give a presentation on the findings and people can ask questions.

This is considered an emergency the board needs to figure it out and get it done. OR rep[lace the board.. Do you have management? if not might be time to get them. After three leaks on one of our roofs. I got the BOD to replace the roof. For this reason. We had the funds no assessment. If the roof was in this condition and there are zero reserves what did the BOD spend the funds on? after all this thats what I would have an audit done. Possibly the Association needs to go after the BOD. Just some thoughts.

This is considered an emergency the board needs to figure it out and get it done. OR rep[lace the board.. Do you have management? if not might be time to get them. After three leaks on one of our roofs. I got the BOD to replace the roof. For this reason. We had the funds no assessment. If the roof was in this condition and there are zero reserves what did the BOD spend the funds on? after all this thats what I would have an audit done. Possibly the Association needs to go after the BOD. Just some thoughts.