FarmM (Colorado)
Posts: 1
Posts: 1
Posted:
Hello, I'm new here. I've been reading a lot, but thought some direct questions might be in order as you guys seem to know your stuff!
Ten years ago, I bought a property in Larimer County Colorado. Like you've heard a thousand times, we were told at closing that the HOA was not active, no dues were necessary, etc. The 'community' consisted of 19 tracts of land. We don't live out there, just own a piece of land there. I'm quite positive that we did sign covenant documents when we closed, and I somewhat behaved thereafter as though the association still existed, by getting permission to build a barn and paying dues when requested. The association didn't do much for the first few years, but later sent out dues requests to property owners, so I paid.
But then as elected board members moved away or otherwise didn't continue to perform association tasks, I began to see my dues checks return to my account after sitting stale for 90 days. So we would go back and forth a bit from nobody at the wheel, to then getting dues requests all over again.
Eventually the association just fell apart as there was virtually no elected board members anymore as most all of them had sold and moved away without getting replaced. The treasurer was still an owner, but wasn't depositing my dues checks at all, and the post office gate the PO Box to someone else due to nonpayment.
Most recently, within the last 18 months or so, I heard that the HOA dissolved itself. I received a letter from the association, where the letter stated that the association wasn't functioning well, that very few property owners were paying dues, that it had become a burden to those who were in positions on the board, etc. The letter stated that they simply held a quick vote and dissolve the association. There were some concerns about the roads that are supposedly easements along or through these properties, and the concerts were that if the HOA is dissolved, then the easements no longer exist and a property owner could then fence off a road and such. Well those concerns didn't last because the concerned owners sold and moved away.
Now we get to the most recent development; a flood washed out a few of these roads this past summer. This of course caused property owners to ask, "Who is going to rebuild these roads?". So a few of the owners joined together and declared that they've now created a 'Road Association', that will only handle the road maintenance, but will otherwise stay the heck out of everyone's business and let them do as they wish.
So in December I received an email from this new Road Association, asking for dues that are 150% higher than the dues assessed under the former HOA. This pushed me to start looking around to see if this is legit, because I know I never signed any covenant agreement with this new road association.
It appears that in Colorado, the association can't be dissolved by a simple vote like this, but I can't be sure. Please advise.
I'm finding no termination agreement recorded with our county.
The former association is listed as 'delinquent' with the Colorado SOS.
I don't find any newly recorded covenants with the county, or the new association listed with the SOS.
Right now, the new Road Association board is simply moving forward with business to repair the damaged roads and collect these dues. I just don't know if they terminated the former association correctly or created this new road association correctly.
So what's my next step?
Ten years ago, I bought a property in Larimer County Colorado. Like you've heard a thousand times, we were told at closing that the HOA was not active, no dues were necessary, etc. The 'community' consisted of 19 tracts of land. We don't live out there, just own a piece of land there. I'm quite positive that we did sign covenant documents when we closed, and I somewhat behaved thereafter as though the association still existed, by getting permission to build a barn and paying dues when requested. The association didn't do much for the first few years, but later sent out dues requests to property owners, so I paid.
But then as elected board members moved away or otherwise didn't continue to perform association tasks, I began to see my dues checks return to my account after sitting stale for 90 days. So we would go back and forth a bit from nobody at the wheel, to then getting dues requests all over again.
Eventually the association just fell apart as there was virtually no elected board members anymore as most all of them had sold and moved away without getting replaced. The treasurer was still an owner, but wasn't depositing my dues checks at all, and the post office gate the PO Box to someone else due to nonpayment.
Most recently, within the last 18 months or so, I heard that the HOA dissolved itself. I received a letter from the association, where the letter stated that the association wasn't functioning well, that very few property owners were paying dues, that it had become a burden to those who were in positions on the board, etc. The letter stated that they simply held a quick vote and dissolve the association. There were some concerns about the roads that are supposedly easements along or through these properties, and the concerts were that if the HOA is dissolved, then the easements no longer exist and a property owner could then fence off a road and such. Well those concerns didn't last because the concerned owners sold and moved away.
Now we get to the most recent development; a flood washed out a few of these roads this past summer. This of course caused property owners to ask, "Who is going to rebuild these roads?". So a few of the owners joined together and declared that they've now created a 'Road Association', that will only handle the road maintenance, but will otherwise stay the heck out of everyone's business and let them do as they wish.
So in December I received an email from this new Road Association, asking for dues that are 150% higher than the dues assessed under the former HOA. This pushed me to start looking around to see if this is legit, because I know I never signed any covenant agreement with this new road association.
It appears that in Colorado, the association can't be dissolved by a simple vote like this, but I can't be sure. Please advise.
I'm finding no termination agreement recorded with our county.
The former association is listed as 'delinquent' with the Colorado SOS.
I don't find any newly recorded covenants with the county, or the new association listed with the SOS.
Right now, the new Road Association board is simply moving forward with business to repair the damaged roads and collect these dues. I just don't know if they terminated the former association correctly or created this new road association correctly.
So what's my next step?