New to all this - where to start?

Hello Everyone!

I am relatively new to HOA's. I have lived in my community for 3 years but for the first year the builder had taken care of HOA dues. The second year and now going on the third has been a mess.

The first year the homes were still being built and the community was in the process of being finished. The second year the common areas and front entrance was put in and looked nice. As I said the homeowners started paying dues the second year. In the middle of the second year we started noticing plants dying, streets weren't being swept, as well as overgrowth of the landscape. I contacted the HOA to complain and the response was that the builder had not released our subdivision to the development yet. They said that the builder had not met the standards of the development (spot lights for trees, gate installed for emergency access and flood control) and therefore the builder was still responsible for the upkeep. The homeowners were still paying dues though! I asked the HOA what they were doing with the HOA dues that homeowners were paying being that the money was obviously not being used for the subdivision. They said that the funds were being put into an account and would be reimbursed to the homeowners at the end of the year.

I am a little skeptical of this HOA. I did not get a response regarding the HOA dues after many e-mails and I only got an answer when I called the owner of the company. Now, the subdivision has supposedly been released to the HOA and I have e-mailed the HOA in regards to the reimbursement of funds but I am being ignored.

My subdivision is a mess. There is overgrowth of plants that line the streets (HOA says that they are homeowners responsibility but these plants are by the mailboxes??!!) The street cleaner hasn't been in our subdivision in 9 months and about half of the homes are cluttered with plant debri and overgrowth that seeems to never get addressed. This has been going on for the past 2 years.

I am sorry that this is so long but I would just like to know where to start? What are my rights? How can I fight the HOA if they go back and say we are not getting reimbursed?

I just want what we paid for...no more, no less.

Any help please???

M

Thanks Robert!

I will do that.

The President/Owner of the management company was the one that told me that the funds for HOA dues are being put into an account.

Monika

Momika,
I hate to tell you this but you are probably in a bigger mess than you realize. The PM telling you that the money is being set aside is either the most honest Developer Paid PM or it business as usual. If they can do it they will get all they can from the homeowners during transition, fold up their tent and leave. But something tells me this developer (business) could stand a little scrutiny. I am not suggesting any wrong doing. But Neveda has been hit pretty hard with their over building of units they can't sell, so they say.

It is important that you and the rest know what the developer is doing in your community. Don't make this a personal vendetta but make it a community wide concern. Ask for a town meeting with developer and PM and get as many owners as you can to attend, whatever their relatiopship is to the HOA, it is their communityh. Learn all you can and if you can find another owner or two, make a written plan of what you want to ask. If he does not grant an open meeting something is awry. As you go you will learn what fights you want to get into, but hold your focus on what you and the owners want. His business is little concern to you, that his problem, but snope around on the internet and especially county records. There is a wealth of information there (power).
I hope he turns out right as rain and makes me look foolish. As all posts on this site IMHO, not saying I am right.

Thanks for your words of wisdom and suggestions!

The things that I am mostly upset with are:

1) Paying for months to the Management company (HOA) - from January to August of this year - for the upkeep of our community when they have done no upkeep.

2) We are still paying $150.00 per month (all residents collectively) for streetsweeping that we haven't seen but once all year.

Doesn't this come under some sort of consumer law? We are paying for a service that isn't being provided.

These are the things I would like to change and actually I would just let everything else go if they would just clean up the neighborhood.

Any other suggestions?

M.

Barbara and Monika,

Don't shoot for less that the whole pie Monika. You do not want to get what you can live with and then bail out of the Game.

Barbara, the BBB is a good place to go, see what they suggest.

Right now, the problem rests with Monika, he fellow co-ownersm her board and likely the developer and Property manager.

You need to get a financial accounting of how your money is being spent, all of it. The BBB can maybe help, but I suspect they will say the developer has control. Monika, read the posts here about new HOA's. Go to discussion topics page and use search feature upp right hand corner.

Another thing you desparately need is some homeowner support and how you association is structured right now and when the property will be turned over. You will need to put all this together in some kind of order. Don't you have any CC&R's or have we been through that? No quick fixes here, just plain hard thankless work, but someone HAS to do it. Get together and make plans, don't worry about the sweeping, you have bigger fish to fry. That will come in time, get help from your neighbors. Copy some of the information you dig up on this site, start a class 101 on HOA management and owners responsibilities. Keep us posted and ask question that come up. We cab help but not nearly as much as you and your neighbors.