Stupid is as stupid does...

Started by MelissaP1 • 16 replies • 337 views

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MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

So... My new HOA is still developer owned. We have 2 developers but 1 owns the HOA. That means we have a Management company. We had one of the worst account managers ever seen assigned to our account. She even got fired from another HOA because of how bad she was. Well recently she FINALLY quit. They have not officially announced whom has taken over our account yet. That is the background.

Yesterday I see a post on our social page asking "Do we have a HOA?". Apparently this person or persons in my neighborhood believes that now the Manager has quit we don't have a "HOA". I wish it was just one person who thinks this but sadly it's not. I responded basically "Yes Virginia there is an HOA, it is managed by a property management company the developer hired. "X" was just the manager of our account".

What got me is I got a response of "Well X quit"... Am I surrounded by idiots? It's just so painful to have to keep explaining what a HOA is to these people...

Vent over...

Former HOA President

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

And these are your business partners...

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062

Posted:

I'm glad you said the association was under control of the developer.

In that case, it's highly possible that the association is managed by the MC.

In reality, the association should be managed by the Board with assistance from the MC

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Gurl... You are telling me. Same people who want to turn our retention ponds into full time ponds... Plus want to build a clubhouse and pool on land we do not have. Think nothing of assessing everyone thousands of dollars to make all that happen...

Former HOA President

DeanJ
Posts: 1,786

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MelissaP1 on 01/10/2024 4:45 AM
So... My new HOA is still developer owned. We have 2 developers but 1 owns the HOA. That means we have a Management company. We had one of the worst account managers ever seen assigned to our account. She even got fired from another HOA because of how bad she was. Well recently she FINALLY quit. They have not officially announced whom has taken over our account yet. That is the background.

Yesterday I see a post on our social page asking "Do we have a HOA?". Apparently this person or persons in my neighborhood believes that now the Manager has quit we don't have a "HOA". I wish it was just one person who thinks this but sadly it's not. I responded basically "Yes Virginia there is an HOA, it is managed by a property management company the developer hired. "X" was just the manager of our account".

What got me is I got a response of "Well X quit"... Am I surrounded by idiots? It's just so painful to have to keep explaining what a HOA is to these people...

Vent over...

Clueless homeowners are the norm in my parts.

MarkM19 (Texas)
Posts: 1,459

Posted:

Melissa,
This is exactly why I have never been on social media. You find the dumbest people go there to share information. I have a few board members who are on FB and every once in a while, they send me clips as a reminder of what I am missing.

One of the classic ones is "I hate my HOA" this makes me SMH every time I see it. They hate themselves and do not understand every HOA consists of 3 or 4 components. Owners are 1 component; PMs are another and the board is the third. If you still are under declarant control, they are the fourth. They need to Pick the one they actually are having the problem with and deal with that.

I also find it amazing that when you see someone ranting on those sites. I always look up the owner in our database and every single time they have just received a violation letter for an infraction they feel they are being singled out for doing. The other thing that you always see is about half of the commenters agree and the other half poke at the posters to get them angry. What a lovely way to spend your evenings.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Well right now the FB page is only way to communicate with the neighbors. It can be cringy at times. I have the additional issue that one of the admins is also an admin to another group I am in. He is terrible and the one who believes we can afford a clubhouse.

We sometimes get a flare up mostly over pets. It just the pain of how most of these people never lived in a HOA does not help. Plus having a bad MC is recipe for disaster.

Former HOA President

MarkM19 (Texas)
Posts: 1,459

Posted:

The year we made the decision to fire our declarant PMC in 2019. They went through 5 managers in a single year. None of these were fired by the board. They were removed for nearly every reason available. A few quit and others were fired for unknown reasons. The problem is the pool is full of both poorly trained, low paid and inexperienced workers who hope they can get away with the day-to-day tasks they are required to do. The facts are in many cases they can because of the boards are not aware of the tasks they assign. In those cases, all you have to do to keep your job is be slightly smarter than the board.

Luckily, we made the change in 2020 to a new non developer PMC and we have had great success. In my opinion the PMC always needs to be changed after turnover.

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MelissaP1 on 01/10/2024 4:45 AM
It's just so painful to have to keep explaining what a HOA is to these people...

You have had explained to you many times certain basic points of HOA law. And you still keep posting the mistakes. Karma, kid.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Sorry can you respond from a Google search of the laws since you do it so well?

I do not quote laws on purpose. I am not licensed in law. I just layman term it.

Former HOA President

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MelissaP1 on 01/10/2024 10:42 AM
Sorry can you respond from a Google search of the laws since you do it so well?

I do not quote laws on purpose. I am not licensed in law. I just layman term it.

You have asserted such-and-such is the law more than once, and then had it pointed out to you, via direct quoting of statutes, that you were wrong.

You never admit you are wrong. That's a failing on your part AFAIC. Lack of character. Lack of integrity.

The facts are you have been proven to be wrong many times. Your egregious mistakes are so persistent that at this point, most times I find it not worthwhile responding.

Complain all you want about your neighbors' gross and obvious errors. It's laughable coming from you.

LetA (Nevada)
Posts: 2,679

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DeanJ on 01/10/2024 5:39 AM

Clueless homeowners are the norm in my parts.

Clueless homeowners that think the HOA is a corporation with deep pockets that will spend money
nilly willy and don't realize they are the HOA.

LetA (Nevada)
Posts: 2,679

Posted:

Melissa, This is why I won't buy a home under declarant control again
nor will I buy a home in an HOA again..... One and DONE.

LayaS (Nebraska)
Posts: 249

Posted:

I bought a new home in a developer-controlled neighborhood in 2022. So far so good. One should take a pause before purchasing property in an owner-controlled HOA and a developer owned HOA. I give a lot of credit to this website as it gave me a good education in HOA laws and particulars. Without this education, I may have repeated what I did in my previous home. Getting sued by the HOA was also an education. HA! I just bought a property without knowing some of the ins and outs of a common interest community. It was not the best experience and I also declared I would never purchase property in a common interest community again. But I did because it has no amenities, the roads, and utilities are all owned or completely controlled by the City. The dues are very low and are collected yearly. The dues are only to maintain the entrance to the community. I recollect that in 2023 they were only $50 for the entire year. One of the drawbacks is the constant noise and trucks coming in and out of the neighborhood as new homes are constantly being built. Construction also stirs up a lot of dirt and Nebraska is windy so a lot of it ends up blowing into the house.

Time will tell how fast the neighborhood will be completely built out. There are still many unsold lots but I am surprised at how quickly it is growing with the housing market having a limited supply which raised prices and the interest rates being as high as they are. No community is perfect but education is the key.

I was also looking at a town home community with many amenities to be built but you regular posters gave some great opinions on the drawbacks of purchasing that particular property. I am just saying the information I got here was very helpful.

I tend to agree with ElleN's post regarding Mellisa's posts. Enough said about that.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By LetA on 01/10/2024 11:05 AM

nor will I buy a home in an HOA again..... One and DONE.

I thought that too.

My wife liked the HOA for keeping the derelict vehicles out of yards, etc.

Like Laya, we found what we wanted in a similar HOA. Only common elements - entrance signs.
zero amenities. zero services. roads owned by the county. $50 per year assessment.

The one thing I will caution Laya about is when the Association is turned over to the Association, the board may want to do things they shouldn't.
Nice things like buying flowers if there was a death in a members family, etc.
Pay attention.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

My old HOA took it a step farther... They forgave that months dues if the person died. Talk about an accounting nightmare... It does not help anyone.

Former HOA President

LayaS (Nebraska)
Posts: 249

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TimB4 on 01/11/2024 7:03 AM

Posted By LetA on 01/10/2024 11:05 AM

nor will I buy a home in an HOA again..... One and DONE.

Thanks for the cautionary advice, Tim. I don't foresee turnover to the owners for at least 3 to 4 years and maybe longer.

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