does hoa have to have a signed aggrement

Started by JohnT17 • 8 replies • 1909 views

💬 Join us to post & get advice from 50,000 HOA & Condo leaders.

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in

JohnT17 (Texas)
Posts: 3

Posted:

i bought my home in 2006. the hoa says they didnt start till 2007. when i bought my home there were only 2 families in the nieghborhood. it was a brand new comunity. i was told nothing of an hoa. now they say i owe back dues. i asked for a signed aggrement and they do not have one. do i still have to pay or was i grandfathered in since i was there a year before and they have no documents that i signed aggreeing to the hoa.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Check your deed for restrictions (HOA) You may already be part of an HOA and they didnt re-start until 2007. Or..... its a voluntary HOA and you don't have to join if you don't want to. Get the facts first. Check your current deed and previous owners deeds, go back 75 years.

JohnT17 (Texas)
Posts: 3

Posted:

when i bought my home the nieghborhood was just being built. i was the third person to move in and the rest of the place was still under construction. the hoa stated they did not start till a year after i bought my home. my house is only 4 years old. shouldn't there be some kind of agreement with my signiture on it that they can provide me with.

JohnB26 (South Carolina)
Posts: 1,569

Posted:

not necessarilly .... check your deed @ 'The Registrar of Deeds' for your county

if there are recorded covenants and restrictions 'attached' ... does the community have any 'common elements'?

as i personally discovered .... one can join an HOA merely by the act of purchasing a property w/o doing 'due dilligence' by checking the deed (including the platt for the developement very very carefully

welcome to the club

[bold]CAVEAT EMPTOR[/bold]

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Quote:

shouldn't there be some kind of agreement with my signiture on it that they can provide me with.

Yep, its called your deed. Get a copy, read it, research all the other stuff on it.

JohnT17 (Texas)
Posts: 3

Posted:

what are common elements? if you mean perks are poolos. stuff like that.. there are none

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

John,

Sorry, but your agreement is not required for you to be an automatic member of an HOA and subject to mandatory assessments. Your deed would only state whether there are deed restrictions on your property. The CCRs should state if there are mandatory assessments or not. If there are, then you are obligated to pay them. The fact that you did not recieve an invoice is not cause for nonpayment. However, since the HOA was not established at the time you purchased your home you certainly should have been informed once it was. Once you have ascertained that there are mandatory assessments I suggest you become current as soon as possible.

SteveB13 (Utah)
Posts: 10

Posted:

John, to organize an HOA, the owners must be served notice of a meeting to vote and approve the HOA. Following owner approval, which is generally 2/3 - 3/4 approval depending on state code, the requisite association documentation must be recorded. After recording all new owners will have "constuctive notice" they are part of the HOA, and shall be obliged to follow the CC&R's and any other administrative rules set by the HOA.

From Wiki: Constructive notice is a legal fiction used in the law of both common law and civil law systems to signify that a person or entity is legally presumed to have knowledge of something, even if they have no actual knowledge of it.

In short this means you know or should have known you were a member of the HOA when you bought your property because your deed will identify the CC&R's and shown your property is restricted by them.

If the HOA was formed AFTER you purchased, (and you were not informed, served notice) your argument would be the member owners were not informed and not allowed to participate in approval/rejection of the hoa. If this is the case you should start a paper trail by informing the HOA of the same, then search state code for what the HOA should have done to organize and what they failed to do (if in fact they failed to do anything).

SteveB13 (Utah)
Posts: 10

Posted:

John, one other point. The CC&R's generally authorize members to inspect the records; find the cc&r's and find your rights re record inspection. Follow the rules (generally written request to inspect) then look over the organizational documents held by the HOA looking specifically how they served notice to owners and how they attained the majority vote.

Often new developments allow the developer to hold super shares (i.e. 4 votes for every lot held) giving them majority for x number of years.

🎯 You've read this entire discussion

Join the conversation with 50,000 HOA & Condo Leaders:

✓ Ask follow-up questions
✓ Share your experience
✓ Get expert advice
✓ Access 350,000 discussions

Create Free Account →

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in here