Stuck between an absent builder and an HoA who still reports to that builder

Hello,

I would be interested to hear of anyone who has a similar situation in their neighborhood. Our HoA collects our dues every 3 months but we have no idea where those dues are going. There is no accountability. The neighborhood is still under the builder's control but the builder has reneged on all their duties and has, for all intents and purposes, disappeared. Through our own efforst, we have involved the county who is now taking over with regard to getting streets paved, lighting put in etc. We have 2 members on the board but every time we ask the HoA what the situation is with our dues (i.e. where they are going and if we ask for past balance sheets), they refer us to the builder, who never returns calls.

The county supervisor has told us that they have no power to intervene when it comes to HoA matters. Can anyone advise us how we can gain a happy outcome here for all whereby we take control of the community from the negligent and absent builder and continue to work alongside the HoA, who would then report to us? Hopefully we could build a great relationship for all.

Thanks very much.

Pamela
Community volunteer

I'd be having a face to face and toe to toe with these "two board members" who act like they don't know a thing.
Are there meetings? Are they attending?

Time to get the Members together and demand some answers from your "board".

Believe me, we've tried. The last meeting we had with the builder was a joke. The VP himself pretended he knew nothing of all the problems the neighborhood was having due to their negligence, even though he had been kept abreast of all problems as they cropped up. (There is correspondence to prove it.) The HoA just sat there saying nothing. They insist that they still defer to the builder, which they may do, but we'd really like to see a balance sheet and nothing has been forthcoming.

I just wondered if there were any other communities out there who had experienced a similar situation and whether going to a lawyer worked for them? We'd prefer to not have to involve legal fees but it may be our only recourse.

Pam

Yes - the builder can always claim ignnorance about what others thought needed to be done.

Get a like-minded friend on the board. Then submit motions for what you want done. The minutes of the meeting should show that the motions were made - and vote taken - showing that the motion did not pass. THEN you have some kind of proof that the builder is using his power to NOT perform certain tasks.

Our neighborhood is in a similar situation. Our builder (declarant)forclosed on the remaining 17 lots in our neighborhood. The lots went back to the bank(s) in July, 2008. He does not return any phone calls from homeowners. Our management company spent our dues before the year was over. They could not provide itemized record of what they spent it on. We had to pay out of pocket for lawn maintenence of common areas (including empty lots) for the past 6 months. They have kept our gates functioning but have not enforced any other covenants. We asked the builder to relinquish the HOA to us, the homeowners, but he was not willing. Now, the remaining lots have been purchased from the bank by a large builder who plans on building small starter homes (from $290K)in our vintage Craftsman Style gated community of homes which we puchased from 500-600K. The forclosed builder (still the declarant) nor HOA managmement company informed the homeowners that the lots had been purchased and home plans approved. We found out through an online add promoting an "open house" in our neighborhood! We called a meeting with the new company and expressed our disgust at the level of home they plan on building in our neighborhood and the lack of communication we had received. We want to protect our investments but feel that we have no control. My questions are 1. can we sue to take over the HOA? 2. Can the builder still be the declarant and make decisions on our behalf when he owns NO property in our neighborhood? 3. Can we start our own seperate HOA? We want control of the architechture, more specifically the elevations of these new homes to be built. We are so incredibly frustrated. Any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated.

Dana
Alpharetta, GA