HELP!!! New HOA

I have some concerns regarding our community management company. I am the President of the HOA and our community has been around for almost 2 years yet our board wasn't established until March or April of this year. Our townhome community has around 50 units and we pay $400 yearly. The bond has not yet been released on the property therefore we cannot number our parking spaces (which parking is starting to get out of hand), we can't bring in a landscaper to take care of yards and we cannot enforce parking (Private Property). The board has asked the community manager to contact the developer to see if he would allow us to bring in a landscaper to atleast beautify the property. After weeks of questioning, the manager tells us the builder will not allow it. We are also having problems with the community manager not inspecting the property on the weekly basis as they stated they would. This in turn allows most tenants here to become lazy regarding yard maintenance. Another problem we have is the CM does not know exactly who in the neighborhood are renters or owners. This is something they have not kept up with since the neighborhood was developed and is now starting to be a huge problem when it comes to sending violation letters and getting HO to show up for hearings. The last 2 hearings we had no one showed up and our next hearing is coming up in a few weeks and our CM has just informed me that if we wish to have a representative their from their office, they will charge us $50.00 for each visit. This was never agreed up by the board, but our CM stated it was agreed with the developer (who was the board at the time) and the CM. As you may tell I'm a little more than frustrated and I am in desperate need of some info regarding this. Can anyone please help!!!

Is there nothing we can do as an HOA regarding the parking, landscaping etc. if the bond has not been release?

Get a copy of all your legal documents, rules, regs, bylaws, and restrictions and get an attorney now!!!!! Don't wait your responsibility is to the homeowners and an attorney will get a lot more done with the builder and management company, until you get a contract.

Good Luck

David, you haven't completely made things clear. Has the Developer turned control over to the HO's? If this has been done, then you, as President and the BOD's are in control of the Management Company but until control is turned over to you, the Developer has the control. Once the Developer has turned control over to the HO's, the very first thing you should do is, "GET A NEW MANAGEMENT COMPANY". I the developer still has control then it is up to the HO's to make sure that everything that was promised before purshase has or is being done. Like the landscaping you mentioned, warrenties on the roofs, construction warrenties, etc. So until everything is right do not take over the community. I just went through this. I hate to say this but HO's have no knowledge of how the transition works or the slightest idea what to do. PLEASE, read and learn about transition now. If you want to except this responsibility then you need to read everything you can about HOA's and know your Covenants, Rules and Regulations inside out. Our TH community just went through this. We learned the hard way, out Developer left us w/3' high weeds around out Lake, the stone columns crumbling, most of the sprinklers not working proberly, one of our two fountains had broken and was never replaced and then the other broke right after we excepted the property. Don't let this happen to you. The next thing you need to do is get copies of financial statements from the Management Company, fine out exactly how much money the HOA has. Perhaps there is no money for landscaping. The parking must be addressed in your Convenants or Rules and Regulations....If you are indeed the President and the HO's are in control then my man, you are the "BOSS". You tell the Management Company what to do, they don't tell you. Lots of LUCK.

Who controls the money? If the management company signs the checks, collects the assessments, deposits them in a bank of their choice, then the developer is probably still in control. If the transitional meeting has been held, officialy turning control of the association over to the owners (forget the bond for a moment), then find out which bank the money is in, go find out what is needed to change signatures and then make the change. When you control the funds, everything else will get easier. (Please people, don't disabuse him of this so early) Then tell the management company that unless they can show you a contract, you'll be paying a new company.

If you are not really in control of the association, go back through the documents and state law to determine what else is needed to get the transition done.

Also check your state laws to see if they talk about contracts. In some states, contracts signed by the developer, in his role as association proesident, can be terminated by the new, owner controlled board, regardless of the terms in the contract.

It appears that your management company doesn't really care about keeping the contract once the owners are in control. Some are like that, they just like to handle developer accounts. Find one that likes to manage associations.

Roger covered the rest.

Joe