New Roofs Assesment

Hello.
After 13 years it looks like we may have to re-do all the community roofs. The last time this was done , there was an outcry by homeowners with much smaller homes (1300 sq. feet) which required less materials, etc,compared with the majority of homes which are 2500 to 3000 Sq.Feet) yet, everyone was charged the same amount ($25000 per home, regardless of the size.) There were several residents who threatened a Class action lawsuit, and the HOA lowered the assessment for the smaller homes for the roof replacement costs after they obtained bids on the replacement costs, and determined that each of the smaller homes would pay $ 13.000, VS $25000+.

The present board wants everyone, to pay the same amount divided by the 182 community homes regardless of size.
From my understanding, The BY-Laws do not specifically address the roofing expenses as "Common". (See Below) The residents are again livid that the smaller homes have to pay the same.

One section of our by- laws state that: "Assessments for common expenses are to be shared EQUALLY by each homeowner by dividing the total expense by the number of properties in the community. "
Another segment says :"The HOA shall maintain and replace when required ALL Building Exteriors, including roofs", Yet there is no clear mention of the roof replacement being a Common expense.

Before this gets into a class action suit by residents, and opinion would be appreciated.
Thanks

The regular quarterly assesment is the same for all homes.
This is a Florida HOA. Not a Condo.

Thanks for your input. It is appreciated.
Here's a possible problem.
1: Homeowners have not always received copies of the covemants for several years since they changed management several years back.
2:A resident attorney mentioned that since a precedent was established back in 2008 (not 2017) by not equally assessing all homes, the residents have a good case for a class action suit.

Hi John.
The large homes are standalone homes. The smaller homes are not. some are attached town homes.

I have asked the board to hire a roof evaluation company to determine if they are in need of replacement. All agree.

Agree with John. It's a bit unusual for HOAs to replace roofs on stand-alone housing - usually that's a condo thing because the roofs are common elements (not part of individual units) but I remember seeing exceptions here.

There should be something in your CC&Rs that describes the physical property, what's owned by individual owners, and what's owned by the HOA (common elements). There should also be language describing owner responsibilities and HOA responsibility. If there's nothing in the CC&Rs, look at plat maps and deeds to get an idea of ownership.

It's too late for this go-around, but if roofs truly are an HOA responsibility, then this should be reflected in your reserve studies. If it were, then homeowners would have been paying higher assessments all along to fund the reserves. You wouldn't be looking at a special assessment and listening to howls from people who don't think it's fair.

(I actually agree with the complaining owners - it makes no sense for people with larger homes to pay the same for roof replacement as those with smaller ones. Usually equal assessments happen in communities where common expenses pay for things that benefit all owners equally - eg. roads and clubhouse. This clearly isn't happening with roofs.)

Read those CC&Rs!

Fred

Look at the standalone homes pay for own their roof, whatever the cost and the attached townhomes divide the roofing cost by the number of units in their building. How could this be any fairer?

Good point. I believe The square footage of the roof on the large homes may be larger than in the attached 2 or three home condos. I do think the cost of the 2, or 3 home condos ought to be divided by each of the owners. Interestingly, due to all the heavy rains we've had in Florida, my roof is leaking badly after attempts to repair the leaks in the past by HOA-Management.

Kathy, thank you for your response.
There is nothing in the CCR's describing the physical property,the footage, etc.
As far as common elements,( Common areas) while mentioning that its the HOA's responsibility, there is no description in the CC&R Documents. (It obviously is described in the land records)

There is no assesment.(There is over 400,000 in the HOA reserves, slated for emergencies, and repaving our 3 streets. ). Actually each homeowner is to be billed for the roof replacement equally.

Be well.

Sorry if I missed it, Fred. Are you on the Board?

In some places it seems the Board agrees with the president's and in others (your 9:12 reply) some directors disagree with the prez. What does a Board vote reveal? Or does the president dictate everything?

We have la egal opinion on a similar matter (one group in our HOA was not paying their fair share for certain reserve components AND operating expenses). Our HOA attorneys wrote: that if we found one group was treated unfairly by being charged too much, the Board should correct the inequity. They termed this a matter of equitable legal principals.

Given your covenants' apparent silence of this topic, I totally agree with Cathy & other who suggest you get legal advice.

Fred,

Unfortunately, the previous boards punted this issue down the field. There should be a line item in the Reserves for roof replacement with everyone paying an equal share. If they had done this, there would likely be no need for a roof special assessment.

Without seeing all of your documents I can't say. However, based on what you posted, I would think that the costs should be shared equally. I don't think it's fair, but that appears to be what everyone agreed to (based on your posting).

I would suggest you take all your documents to a local attorney versed in contract law and obtain an opinion from them. This should be minimal in the costs of any legal action.

Fred,

The attachment didn't take.

I wouldn't expect there to be something that said the board should have reserves for a,b,c... I've never seen a document that said what is and isn't a reserve item (except for a reserve study).

Your posting that the Association is responsible for roof replacement would be enough for any board to say a line item in the reserves should be created to replace/repair roofs.

Even Kerry should be able to tell you that's ain't true.

In California, developers are required to submit a Form RE623 (Budget Worksheet).

https://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/forms/re623.pdf

Are you on the board, Fred? I think I already asked this.

Why would the president, Fred, dictate who pays how much for what? Doesn't the whole Board vote on such matters?

You mention "reserves." Is it really reserves? Fred wrote: "There is over 400,000 in the HOA reserves, slated for emergencies, and repaving our 3 streets." Reserves should only be for components with predictable useful lives. So a real reserves analyst or specialists will not specify an "Emergency" line item in the reserve study. But are you saying you have no reserve study? If not what is this "account?" And why aren't roofs on it?

I'm feeling like we're getting incomplete or inaccurate info.

Now, if you did (and your HOA should!) have a reserve study done, the first one would be a Level 1 study, where the analyst comes on site and examines all of your common area items ("components") that have a estimated predictable life span and replacements cost. The analyst learns some of these things based on their experience in similar HOAs in your area, their own research of materials provided by manufacturers and suppliers, their interview with the property manager and maintenance or engineering staff if available.

In this Level 1 study, the certified reserve specialist or analyst reads the CC&Rs to see who is responsible for what. This task is in the contract our HOA has with our analyst. If the CC&Rs define an item as common area, it is a component for which the HOA should "reserve" funds for replacement & repair.

If CC&Rs have items in them that say they are owners' responsibility, the items do not go into the reserve study. Some CC&Rs like our soon-to-be restated one a has a nice Maintenance Matrix, which our analyst also recommended long ago.It lists various components and who is responsibile. It's much cleaner that the CC&Rs verbiage, which essentially says the same thing usually in an CC&R Article about Maintenance.

(In CA, projects need to send an estimate of what items will be in reserves to the DRE as a required part of their budget estimate for Reserve analysts may review that when an assn. is quite new, but I can't imagine any would bother with it years later. This has zero to do with Fred.)

Best of luck to you & your HOA, Fred. With others and as stated earlier, your Board needs the advice of an HOA or contracts attorney.

(I'm not & haven't been in any legal field.)