Transition Responsibilities

Hey folks, sorry that I have not been on here as much in the past 3-4months - new job, more HOA stuff; same headaches....

Quick question - developers, while still on bond; who is responsible for the upkeep of things like landscaping, maintenance? The developer transitioned the community to the owner board, with bare necessities; the board has moved to work beyond what the developer had in place for three years of developer board officers. Example there are multiple trees in the community which are dead, dying or in poor health, because the developer and developer board failed to have an irrigation system/watering mechanism, and a (some kind of beetle) prevention program to monitor the health of the trees. Generally the same issues are present for the regular bushes, and plants they put down - bad soil (back-fill), no watering. Now the developer did water during the warranty period that the vendor provided to them; but did not provide any information on the requirements to the owner board.

I have members who believe the developer must replace everything inorder to come off bond; others feel that the community should just eat the costs, and correct ourselves the mistakes. I am inclined to find some middle ground where the developer - since the bond will not be released until they do so - allows the board to work with them to provide the necessary upgrades (beyong what is code, is paid by the community, the regular code requirements are paid by developer) so that the installs are of better quality, and will last longer, be healthier and not cost the owner board more money.

My logic...

The developer is still required to provide the community with replacements until off bond.

If the developer, and developer board did not develop a water/sprinkler, or otherwise program prior to transition; and the conditions are the same, then the developer is the responsible party for any dead/dying/diseased treatments in the community.

Any thoughts.....?

Jadedone4 - Your Board should check with your local municipal clerk to the mayor/top official. They can advise the Board what bond money has and has not been released to the Developer. At the very least, and long story short your Board should at the very least document the deficiencies and provide the list to the Developer seeking financial contribution to sustain the association that it developed. After all, if it's a reputable Developer it's name is on the line so there is something at stake for leaving a community high and dry with unrealistic budgets and deficiencies. If it's found the Developer did not build according to code the Developer must either perform the fix or the funds necessary for the Association to fix the defect. How you accomplish this negotiation with the Developer is up to you, mine chose to do it methodically, and officially.

Like your Association, our Developer did not provide irrigation for 2,160 plantings in front walkway courtyard like areas for over 80 of our townhouses. These areas are in close proximity to foundations and I believe the Developer's concern was primarily cost, and the possibility of the sprinklers breaking during the Developer warranty period provided to the Association and owners. The Association Board would need to permit the owners to install their own in-ground irrigation. However each owner has a sprinkler hookup in their front garage and therefore access to for front landscape watering.

Interesting is that the Developer's agreement (of which it posted bond with our borough) promised a mere 494 Association plantings throughout the entire complex, but actually installed 2,923 plantings. We also got the Developer to provide at it's cost an additional 70 shade trees for the townhouses to soften the hard scape and provide some human scale. While it's good we have an abundance of landscaping, we also have an abundance of additional cost that was never reflected in the bond the Developer posted nor in the original budgets. Fortunately for us the Developer did install irrigation in all the other common spaces and the shade tree enhancement was designed by me to situate the trees so they got coverage by the sprinklers.

Like I said, how your Association accomplishes Developer contribution is up to your Association Board. However, here's a little story perhaps it will assist you:

The way it worked in my COA (condo) & HOA (condo & single-family) from the time the Developer retained 2 seats (1 on each Association Board): Owner controlled* Board and Management interviewed Transition Engineering Firms after reviewing their proposals - We developed a Scope of Work for the Engineering Firm and chose one to perform our Capital Reserve Replacement Analysis (CCRA), & a Study of Deficiencies (SD) of all elements the Association is responsible to maintain and replace - Boards sought volunteers and formed a Transition Committee of owners and Board liaison to the Committee - Committee met with the borough Mayor, borough engineer, provided bond release concerns, got the Developer to offer an extended maintenance warranty on all roadways, Committee surveyed the community and developed a questionnaire to all owners, Committee then developed and provided a comprehensive Reports & Findings binder of 8 sections to the Boards, the Boards' attorney, and the Transition Engineering Project Manager ( I bankrolled the binders and all duplication costs) - The Engineering Firm provided the CCRA & SD findings and recommendations to the Boards - The Boards increased the transfer to Reserve accounts, and reworked the budgets to reflect more realistic funding for the community.

*Even though owners controlled the majority of seats on the Board, the Developer could have vetoed any action Boards took that would not be in the Developer's interests until last home closed and Developer's seats went to election by owners.

Jadedone,
Glad you are back, we can use your kind of wisdom.

I think what you have fotten so far seems to be on point and instructive. I would ask why you are concerned about what you are going to ask the developer to provide. All things being equal, the process will end in a compromise, so I can't see but asking for all that you can tag on the developer. Certainly with your reserve study you could even add a section that defines all the dead and dying plants. I would also put the developer on notice that you are having this study done and he can expect to hear more in the future about the matter.

Don't let him sneak out in the middle of the night, make sure the county will notify you if he requests to get his bond back. I also would be concerned as to why he hasn't picked up his bond. There may be some business going on with his business that could cause you all a problem collecting. Maybe you could nose around the court records and see if he is in any litigation.

Jadedone4: Another thought for you to check out your State's regulations for Community Associations. The state can be very specific on what the developer must provide at turnover. Possibly he is required to provide an engineering study to you. Not to say you wouldn't want to fund one yourself from a 'non-biased' engineering firm, but it would be a good comparison.

I would also suggest to make an appointment with your local officials and take
another Board member with you. Speak to them of your concerns, ask what projects are still unapproved and for the developer to redo. They have an investment also for all to be done according to codes and standards. You and other residents are taxpayers in this municipality and you want to ensure you start off on the right foot with everything as it should be and as it was agreed upon. Write a letter with copy to the developer outlining your conversation with the locals and list your concerns. This way all are informed in writing. The local officials will be glad to work with you. We found our code enforcement and land development people to be exceptional. Not to worry, just take it slow and through the proper channels, and all will be done to your satisfaction!

GeraldT4: It is well that you had a very reputable developer who made 'good' on his construction even though his "on-site reps" proved insufficient in their inspections. That's the upside of working with a developer who is known in the area and who has his reputation to uphold.

For Jadedone, at this point the local municipality officials will be crucial in his effort to have all completed and in good condition according to the agreement the developer made with them. And the officials do get involved with the plantings as well, since 'greening' is also part of the plan submitted at the onset.

We, as community association residents, often forget about them as a resource for us and one who will work with a Board to get things done right. It is well for a Board to introduce themselves at the beginning since there will, no doubt, be situations occurring which will require their assistance with architectural changes and code restrictions. Let's get Something for our tax dollars!!!

GloriaM & PaulM - Documentation and interaction with the local municipality absolutely yes, but in what form, based upon what, reviewed by whom for substantiation, etc. Prior to our documentation and interaction with our Borough Mayor, Engineer, and Building Code Dept., we were a committee formed, with site analysis in hand, meetings and discussions with the Board and Board attorney. My concern for Jadedone is the dollar total of the landscape deficiencies and how it compares to other dollar totals for other deficiencies and an initial and maybe premature interaction with the Developer. Our attorney advised us to document everything but focus on the big ticket items. Discussions with the Developer at Jadedone's stage in the game are negotiations and those can be tricky.

PaulM - Where do you see that Jadedone has developed a punch list of all association items that are deficient? She's talking about landscape deficiencies caused by lack of sprinklers for irrigation, and does not provide info on the cost to repair/replace that. Jadedone is in the process of getting the transition study done. Please read or re-read my posts to Jadedone regarding transition and the necessity of developing a dialog with the Borough. Regarding personal discussions with the developer on owner's structural concerns, not sure why you've posted to that fact? I was posting about the concerns of elements the association is to repair/replace not individual concerns. Now that you've mentioned it though, our HOA (single-family homes) provided a deficiency questionnaire to all the SF owners so they could get together and compare notes for trends in construction of their homes. Other than that the SF owners were to take it from there.

GeraldT4: Why do you seem to be argumentative? We are both on the same page here and in the same person's corner. For Jadedone, his original posting cited dead foliage and the replacement of same at whose expense? I was posting from our personal experience as you posted yours.

GeraldT4: To quote from my post..."the issue of contact with the local municipality officials. They have already developed a 'punch list' of items..." This is referring to the officials, not Jadedone.

All,

Thanks for the response. There are some folks here from VA who can attest to what I am about state here (despite how "odd" it seems).

County bonds cannot be "held" up by a third-party (of which the HOA would be, as the relationship is Builder/Developer to County).

County will just require what was coded via the plans - which is not a huge issue for me; that is fair and really up the HOA to effectively negotiate for the "other" stuff.

Developer (according to legal counsel) will be the responsible party for replacing the defective plantings. How soon they will do so, is another story (why NOT wait until last minute under bond relase to replace, so said the developer, it saves them money in they long run - so they will play the odds).

I agree that the major/big ticket items are more important, and should be documented and addressed. In my mind there should be two lists - one of what the developer is REQUIRED to do, and the other what we can ask for (fingers crossed here).

It is my position to work with the developer on those REQUIRED items to assure that we get what was promised, and also to see what we (the HOA) could possibly move to make better, thru coordination. However, we are (as one poster duly noted) cognizant that the developer will want to adhere to the site plan requirements, so that their bond release is not exposed.

Transition study soon to come....

Thanks to all for your help, it added clarity in my thoughts and provided sound logical forward course of action.