Hillside easement maintenance by HOA

Started by MichaelW35 • 5 replies • 442 views

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MichaelW35 (California)
Posts: 2

Posted:

I live in a community of 21 houses, 10 of which have a wrought iron fence that runs along the back of our properties which acts as a backyard fence. All of the properties are separated from one another by cinderblock walls. Behind the wrought iron fence is a (HOA maintained) hillside/easement that stretches across all 10 properties. At the top of the hillside is a cinderblock wall that also runs the length of the 10 houses mentioned previously. Imagine looking out your back patio screen door and seeing the beautiful backyard you put in for many thousands of dollars, then looking through a wrought iron fence and seeing a barren hillside that looks like hell. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I have lived in the community for 2 years, the community has been in existence 3 years. When we moved in the hillside "landscaping" consisted of dead grasses, that's it. I'm talking dead. We liked the place and were assured by the builder that it would be lush and green soon. Of course that never happened. Since we had some pretty heavy rains a couple years back, the foundation of the cinderblock wall at the top of the hill has been exposed (it looks like it's going to fall over), all of the irrigation pipes (white PVC) have been exposed, and several large wattles have been "installed" across the hillside in order to prevent mudslides and water from getting into our backyards (there should have been a V ditch installed, but that's another story). It looks worse than when we moved in, with the caveat that the HOA did plant some plants months ago, but still, at least 75% of the hillside is still dirt and will be mud tonight when it rains. This hillside is "maintained" by the HOA if you want to call it that. The subject is brought up at every HOA meeting (virtual as of late) and they always say they are working on it. I brought the subject up at the latest meeting and the HOA rep had the audacity to say he thought it was dramatically improved. Needless to say all 10 of us homeowners who have skin in this game had to laugh.

This hillside should have been green when we moved in but we let it slide. In the meantime, a realtor I know took a look and said the asking price, should we choose to sell would probably have to come down 25-50K because of the unsightly hillside behind our house. To everyone in the neighborhood it looks totally ghetto.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but I'm trying to get all the details in. I'm really just trying to find out if we are at the mercy of the HOA mgmt. company, or do we have any options short of legal action? Thanks!

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062

Posted:

Talk directly to the Board, not the management company.

Contact local epa or storm water management division.

Do some homework, contact a local landscaper or county office (some offer services to test the soil) to find out why the hillside isn't growing grass like you expect (may cost you some money).

Keep in mind that this is not an overnight fix, could take a few years.

ND (PA)
Posts: 792

Posted:

Your HOA sounds pretty new . . . has it transitioned to owner-controlled at this point, or is Declarant still involved? Is anyone from the 10 impacted properties on the HOA Board? If so, what are their thoughts/input? If not, then you or someone directly impacted needs to get involved with the Board. You mentioned an "HOA rep" . . . is this person a Board Member, a neighbor, a Management Company rep? Do you know? You mentioned an HOA Management Company . . . are you positive you have one? It's a small HOA for a MC, but you are in CA where having a MC is more normal I think.

I'm assuming that you are owner-controlled and have a small Board of volunteer owners/neighbors running the show. Maybe you have a management company helping . . . I can't tell for certain. Keep in mind that your HOA is you and all of the other 20 property owners. The HOA is not some sort of external, unknown entity. The concept of "we told the HOA", and "HOA-maintained", and "the HOA did X" to me indicate that you're expecting the small group of HOA neighbors/volunteers to do all of the work and heavy-lifting while you just point out all the issues that impact you and need fixing.

That is certainly one approach, but one not likely to get you the results you want in a quick or complete manner. Also sounds like you have issues (this V ditch) that need even more attention from the developer if not built out properly. If still very new and things were not done properly, then you all need to get attention on that ASAP . . . use Tim's advice to contact EPA, local municipality, codes enforcement, etc.

Regarding the landscaping topic though . . . my input is that there's nobody better to try and help solve the problem than you and the other 9 owners who are directly impacted. You all need to come together and develop a proposal/plan. Instead of the you vs. them confrontational approach that is occurring (you vs. "the HOA", Board, Management Company), see how the entire HOA (you and your 20 neighbors) can team up and solve the problem together.

After all, developer sold you all (even the 11 owners not directly impacted) on a well-landscaped/manicured HOA hillside. The entire HOA is impacted by an unsightly and potentially hazardous hillside. If your individual property values decline because of poor aesthetics and even worse, possible mudslides or structural issues with land and/or homes, then all properties in your HOA will likely realize declined value.

Figure out how you all can help come up with a realistic plan that will get after achieving what the developer initially proposed and at a cost that is workable for your HOA.

MichaelW35 (California)
Posts: 2

Posted:

ND, wow, thank you sooo much for taking the time to respond, I greatly appreciate it. Following are answers (to the best of my ability) to the questions you posed:

It is my understanding (from attending HOA mtgs and reading the minutes) that the further maintenance is up to the HOA and the builder has turned it over. I will confirm this next HOA mtg. I don't think any of the ten homeowners affected are on the board but I will check. I have spoken to all of them and they are all in agreeance that the lack of care to the hillside is egregious. In fact, after a rain, one homeowner was so concerned the hill was going to come down that they had to hire their own geologic survey (several thousand dollars) to see if it was stable. they tried to get (for months) the original survey done by the builder who would not share the info. (not sure why) so they had to get their own.

The HOA rep is an employee of A large management company and he is a member of the Board of Directors. Sorry I didn't explain the situation well since I wanted to talk only about my neighborhood. There are eight neighborhoods in the entire community. None of the neighborhoods are connected, they are all gated and are separated (usually by open space) but they are all part of the larger community which falls under the aegis of an HOA which is managed by a HOA management company. I think there are 150+ houses in the entire community. The houses in the community sell for anywhere from 2M-4M. They are not cheap houses, and everyone in the neighborhood has spent (usually) several hundred thousand dollars on the landscaping for their individual houses, plus a fairly high HOA monthly fee (somewhere around $500/mo.). The affected homeowners feel this is unsatisfactory (I have spoken to all of them). Sorry, I didn't explain myself well on the HOA issue (bad lingo), I do know that we the homeowners are the HOA, it's the HOA management company we (at least ten homeowners) have issues with. I'm new to the discussion, many of my neighbors have been trying to deal with the HOA management co. on this issue for several years now to little avail so I thought I'd jump in and see if I could help.

As for the age of the property, it's an unusual situation. My house was built 2-1/2 years ago, but the hillside/lot construction/bulldozing of the entire neighborhood could have been done 5-15 years ago, I just don't know. The community was owned by Lehman Brothers and they built 1 or 2 complete neighborhoods and started construction on others when (as you probably know) they declared bankruptcy in '08. In 2015 the partially built community was purchased and construction continued.

I hope that helps to explain the situation better, but I think you answered my questions, I am indebted big time. I do agree with the non-confrontational approach and will continue to stay on top of the issue (in a nice way) with the mgmt. co and see it I can be of any help in improving the situation, y'know, be proactive. Also, I need to get together with the neighbors and come up with a plan/proposal to remedy the situation. I think the approach has been a bit fragmented in the past. Solidarity!

Also I must thank Tim. I will find out what the neighbors know about the v ditch, for they were the ones who originally mentioned it to me. I think it's a pressing issue, but as I said, my neighbors have been at this much longer than I so they will have great insight.

Once again, I can't thank you enough for the great advice and I'll let you know what happens. Great forum!

ND (PA)
Posts: 792

Posted:

MichaelW35,

Thanks for the additional details/info on your HOA. Your situation actually sounds a bit more complex than I first assumed, so I would probably change some of what I said.

But I think my overall/general input would be the same . . . you (and your other directly-impacted neighbors) need to be part of the solution as much as possible to ensure the most desirable outcome for you all. If you all can take the lead (with HOA Board and MC knowledge and agreement) on coming up with the solution to the situation, several workable/realistic courses of action, and associated pricing . . . then that will significantly help everyone.

Rather that pointing out the problem and hoping that less-interested people work hard to develop the solution (one that you still may not be satisfied with), perhaps your small group can do much of the legwork that will provide both the problem as well as the solution for what may be an easier decision by your Board. But again, first get Board agreement on this idea to ensure that your time is spent wisely and they are interested and accepting of your help and solution.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Michael

There seems to be a lot of control from the MC when in a owner run association, the MC works for the BOD. This leads me to believe you are still under developer/declarant control Am I wrong? If I am, disregard the MC and work directly with the BOD. Get the 10 of you with the problem and start a legal war chest if necessary.

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