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Combined Parcels in HOA

Started by MaureenW3 • 20 replies • 714 views

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MaureenW3 (Alabama)
Posts: 2
Posted:
An owner in the HOA went to the county and had his 2 land parcels combined. He is now asking for the HOA to consider his properties one lot for the purpose of assessments in the properties community center. Our CCR's state that this can be done with the written consent of the Developer. The HOA is now the developer. It states the consolidated lots approved by the Developer shall be considered one (1) lot for purposes of payment of dues and assessments to the association. Can this be voted on by the BOD alone?
ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By MaureenW3 on 02/28/2024 10:01 AM
An owner in the HOA went to the county and had his 2 land parcels combined. He is now asking for the HOA to consider his properties one lot for the purpose of assessments in the properties community center. Our CCR's state that this can be done with the written consent of the Developer. The HOA is now the developer.
Not so.

Unless the CC&Rs or Al statutes say more on this, then the board should deny the owner's request.
LetA (Nevada)
Posts: 2,679
Posted:
None of us here are lawyers, but the developer is the one who built the community, the HOA is not in my eyes the developer.
That lot owner should have asked the builder "declarant" for that waiver.

Now you are tasked with two options, A you grant his waiver with the caveat that the board now must recalculate everyone's
assessments to make up for the combination of lots. Let's say you have 100 lots and you grant the combination of lots, now
you have 99 lots, but your assessments are $100.00 per quarter, and now you're collecting $9,900, you need to raise everyone's
assessments by $1.02 to make up for that shortfall. It is not fair that everyone else has to pay the assessments of the combined
lot owner, I would emphatically tell the lot owner to go pound salt and pay the assessments for two lots.
KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550
Posted:
Please cite the wording in the CC&Rs about combining lots. Perhaps it's saying that lots may combined, as my CC&Rs also say for our condo building. But simply permitting combinations, with board approval, is not the same thing as saying the owner of the combined lots no longer need to pay two sets of dues. They also, by the way, get two votes.

Several of our condo owners have combined two condos (lots) and still pay assessments for each.

LetA's point also is important.
JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265
Posted:
I say teo lots, two assessments, 2 votes.
TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062
Posted:
My initial reaction is to not consider it one lot.

However, I moved from Virginia to TN and this appears to be common in our Association.

Add to this that your governing documents do allow it.

To answer your question:

1) Yes, this would be a vote by the Board (not the membership).

My suggestion is to follow past precedence. If it was done in the past for others, then - in my opinion - it should be done again.

You might need to do some research with the County records to determine what lots were combined.
Look at the initial PLAT and then a current PLAT.
DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By MaureenW3 on 02/28/2024 10:01 AM
The HOA is now the developer.

I agree with ElleN that the HOA is not the developer. The developer is gone and my take is that there is no longer any authority to combine lots for association purposes. My take is also that the two original lots should not only both pay assessments, but that they also get two votes in elections and other member votes.
Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.
TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062
Posted:
Developer rights may or may not have been assigned/transferred to the Association.

They were in my development.
One would have to check the county records to be sure.
LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009
Posted:
Did the owner file a new plat with the county in order to get the parcels combined? In most cases, the HOA files plats with the declaration and other initial HOA incorporation documents. If the plat was not changed from the original, then the number of lots in the HOA has not changed. Even if, for tax purposes and for building permits, the county combined the lots, they don't have the power to change the HOA documents.
KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550
Posted:
What DO the CC&Rs say on this topic, Maureen? Again, even if they allow combining lots, that doesn't mean the CC&Rs also sate that there only would be one assessment for the two lots.

At the moment, It looks to me like we don't have enough information from Maureen.

By the way, I think you're wanting say, that the developer no longer controls the HOA, the owners do. So you have a Board composed of owners. But the word"developer" will stay in your CC&Rs until you amend them. Some states permit amending the CC&Rs to remove the "developer language" without a vote of the owners. Don't know about TN.
KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550
Posted:
What DO the CC&Rs say on this topic, Maureen? Again, even if they allow combining lots, that doesn't mean the CC&Rs also sate that there only would be one assessment for the two lots.

At the moment, It looks to me like we don't have enough information from Maureen.

By the way, I think you're wanting say, that the developer no longer controls the HOA, the owners do. So you have a Board composed of owners. But the word"developer" will stay in your CC&Rs until you amend them. Some states permit amending the CC&Rs to remove the "developer language" without a vote of the owners. Don't know about TN.
MaureenW3 (Alabama)
Posts: 2
Posted:
Here is what the CCRs say
Section 3.16 Parcels. No Residential Lot shall be subdivided, or its boundary lines changed, except with the written consent of the Developer. However, the Developer hereby expressly reserves ot itself, its successors or assigns, the right to replat any lot and to take such other steps as are reasonably necessary ot make such replatted lot suitable and fit as a building site including, but not limited to, the relocation of the lot or easements, walkways, rights-of- way, private roads, bridges, parks and recreational facilities. The provisions of this Section shall not prohibit the combining of two (2) or more contiguous lots into one (1) larger lot. Following the combining of two (2) or more lots into one (1) larger lot, only the exterior boundary lines of hte resulting larger lot shal be considered ni the interpretation of these General Covenants. Consolidation of lots, as described above, must be approved by the Developer, said approval to be granted ni the Developer's sole discretion upon such terms and conditions as may be established by the Developer from time to time, including specific provisions for the payment of assessments. Consolidated lots approved by the Developer shall be considered one (1) lot for purposes of payment of dues and assessments to the Association.
The developer is no longer, so the property owners association inc. is on the deed to the association. I have sent the question to our attorney so I can let you know once I hear back how this will work out
The owner has filed with the county to combined the lots and it shows on the new deed only one parcel through the county.
KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550
Posted:
Thanks for the citation, Maureen. "Consolidated lots approved by the Developer shall be considered one (1) lot for purposes of payment of dues and assessments to the Association." So it does appear to my non-legally-trained eyes that the owner would only pay one assessment & have one vote.

BUT, the lots' owner did NOT do the following; they are in violation of your CC&Rs. Remember, we're substituting "asssociaton" for developer. "Consolidation of lots, as described above, must be approved by the Developer, said approval to be granted in the Developer's sole discretion upon such terms and conditions as may be established by the Developer from time to time, including specific provisions for the payment of assessments."

The owner did not get the board's (Association's) approval, so now what? It's great your Board is seeking the HOA attorney's advice. Even if the owner has d followed he CC&Rs, there seems be a contradiction in them where on on had, the owner'd now just pay one assessment to, on the other, the Association may establish "provisions" for paying assessments. The meaning of the latter isn't clear to me, but perhaps to others. More important, your attorney will advise.
ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By MaureenW3 on 02/28/2024 3:35 PM
the Developer hereby expressly reserves ot itself, its successors or assigns
The HOA is not automatically the successor or assign of the developer. The developer has to take additional legal steps to make the HOA its successor or assign. From time to time this has been discussed here.

Regardless, if you feel otherwise, just say no.
DeanJ
Posts: 1,786
Posted:
In the section you quote, I see no authority of the HOA to prohibit the combining of 2 lots into 1 by a homeowner after the development period or the right of the HOA to charge 2 assessments.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062
Posted:
It would not be a bad idea to obtain a legal opinion on this.

Our Association was once told that, per the governing documents, the only authority the Association had was to collect assessments.

The board at the time did this early enough that they were able to correct this by amendments and becoming an assign of the declarant (which required the filing of a legal document).
MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836
Posted:
This really messes with the HOA dynamics. They should have went to the HOA first before going to the county. Not sure they are saving much money. It could be if they do NOT develop that lot, then they do not pay dues. That does happen in some HOA's that one only pays dues on developed lots. This is best to ask a Real Estate attorney.
Former HOA President
TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By MelissaP1 on 02/29/2024 4:51 AM
They should have went to the HOA first before going to the county.

They likely saved on property taxes.
CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299
Posted:
How are homeowners assessed? Is it a flat rate (everyone pays the same amount) or something different?

Does lot size affect the assessment in any way (some people pay more, others less)?

What does the assessment pay for? Does it cover anything that the owner of a huge lot would receive more of (sidewalks, fencing owned by the HOA, utility pipes) or does it only cover items that are essentially charged by owner usage (clubhouse, pool, walking trails, landscaping at the community entrance)?

If your CC&Rs define the community plat, then IMHO the county had no authority to combine two lots into one. The combination would have required an amendment to the CC&Rs and may even have needed unanimous approval from the membership.

I agree with Tim that this needs a legal opinion. You'll need to consult with the HOA attorney anyway if you plan to amend the CC&Rs.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550
Posted:
Again, the CC&Rs say "Consolidation of lots, as described above, must be approved by the Developer..." This owner is in violation of the CC&Rs. But what to do about it?? As I noted above, it's good that you've already decided to insult with an attorney.

Even if the attorney opines that the consolidated lot pays only 1 assessment, the membership can vote to amend the CC&Rs to state that when lots are consolidated, assessments remain for each lot and each lot gets one vote (attorney wording, of course).

Another reason to amend the CC&Rs is there may be other lots that become consolidated in the future so you want them to still pay assessment for each.
SusanL16 (Wisconsin)
Posts: 2
Posted:
We may have the sample issue. But our Covenants all say "lots".... Lots 1-25 as documented in the Subdivision Plat. The new Parcel definition for the owners who combined their lot still says "Parcel xxx, consisting of Lot 4 and Lot 5 of Subdivision XXX. "

So combining lots into one parcel (which was done so the city would allow a shed on the second lot) would not change the fact they still own two lots.

And if it did, the rest of us dual lot owners could do the same thing and markedly reduce our part of assessments coming down the road. I would sure hope the developer did not set the hoa up for this type of issue.

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