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rujasu posted:It doesn't look like you ever got to any of these, but I for one would like to hear any/all of these stories Hah, thanks forgot about those. About 99% of board talk (in our case) is drainage issues. Who to point the finger, is it the city or the county or us? Of course everyone else points the finger to someone else. It gets ridiculous and there are feuds. I know it isn't exciting but I can talk about drainage poo poo, fences, etc. and how it is approached. With that said I'll talk about the chronic masturbater. Don't know a helluva lot as this was around in my first couple months, but someone lived here who got caught a few times. Then left, then moved back in with his GF. We had his rap sheet, 7 counts or whatever and is not considered a sex offender in the court of law. In short, can't do much but basically tell the life guards to deny entry to the pools which is about all we have power to do. Actually thank you for reminding me, I'll have to ask about that fiasco again.
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Feb 23, 2020 21:11
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C-Bangin' it 
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Welp, now voted in again with a 3 year term. Yeehaw I guess, that's how it goes.
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Mar 5, 2020 15:25
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Colostomy Bag posted:Holy hell that is interesting and quite a mess. The affordable units were written into the HOA from the get go. Yes quite a mess! Yeah it was a wild ride. The (stupid) people with the affordable unit got ratted out to the affordable housing coalition and were forced to sell. HOA put a lien on the house like the next business day after being notified of the complaint. There is no wiggle room at all, no discussions or negotiations, I was quite astonished at how quickly it all took place. The problem owner of the affordable unit spent $4500 within 2 weeks to come back into compliance, we released the lien, he sold the property and we got a very reasonable rational new owner. BUT... This experience made the HOA board quite worried and we proceeded to have the developer come through and audit the properties to inspect them and see if other homeowners had modified their properties in exception of the covenants. Turned out myself and another neighbor were found to have modified the grade/drainage and were forced to return our properties to compliance. No lien or anything. Humorous part is that the board had me write the demand letter to myself and the other owner. Can’t wait until the other problem finally gets settled, it’s even much more stupid, at this point it is headed for jury trial. (Our insurance company is doing the litigating on behalf of the HOA).
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Mar 26, 2020 05:07
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FilthyImp posted:That sucks, because now you have to spend Association Money to respond with the Association's Attorney and it won't come cheap. Yeah, it wasn’t too bad cost wise, but still a hassle, required time from the board, aggravation. Lots o meetings. The fences and property lines are all laid out on the master plan for the community and the covenants have language that specifies that the fences remain where they are. Since the houses are 10’ apart, having a fence down the middle of the property line would really impact “your” side yard. Your south side yard is technically half your south side neighbors, but they don’t have ready access. just last month the question was asked about costs on replacing fences, turns out the covenant says it’s 50/50 split between the adjacent property owners.
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Mar 26, 2020 05:21
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Hey how much. Do your HOAs typically charge for transfer/doc fees etc when a property is sold/bought? Trying to get my HOA to charge more because it’s just dumb not to. We charging $100, just increased to $150... this is on a $899,000 sale.
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Apr 10, 2020 01:12
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Um ours doesn't charge. How much work is for the HOA. We just email the rules and update owner info.
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Apr 10, 2020 01:21
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Yeah, the "key fee" is like $100 and mostly covers the cost of prepping a stack of copies of the bylaws and the time our managing agent will spend listening to questions from the new tenant. Your bylaws tend to have that information codified so you can't just go "oh, Abed Foreignlastname... that's like $750 in processing fees yeah". I think you need to amend them to make a substantial change.
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Apr 10, 2020 08:50
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Ours is actually loosey goosey regarding fees @ transfer. we can charge what we like, except copying is 15 cents a page. When We get a request for transfer papers they always ask about capital reserve fees, doc fees, rush fees, etc, so I figure these are frequently included on transactions w/hoas. Just seemed like we were missing a chance at building up our reserve a tiny bit, with something that is almost completely inconsequential to a new owner.
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Apr 10, 2020 18:54
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I don't know actually. I have a meeting on Monday so if I remember I'll ask. It's on zoom so I'm sure it will be a circus. 
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Apr 11, 2020 17:13
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No fees to answer your question. Dues of course are pro-rated. I was disappointed no one hacked our zoom meeting.
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Apr 18, 2020 17:01
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Thanks Colostomy. I got the board to approve an additional $100 documentation fee, and it did not rattle the new purchase r of the $920K property. 🤷🏿♂️ Re drainage issues, I found the “Urban Drainage and Flood Control District Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual Volume 1“ and spent some time reading it, interesting to read that(at least in our state) municipalities and other operators of flood control structures are somewhat shielded from damages unless there is negligence (or some other very limited circumstance). Relieved me of a small bit of concern I had regarding the HOA responsibilities in this area. Next issue: one the board members is not useful, going to try to put them to use or.
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Apr 30, 2020 15:44
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some_admin posted:Next issue: one the board members is not useful, going to try to put them to use or.
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May 1, 2020 22:17
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some_admin posted:Thanks Colostomy. I got the board to approve an additional $100 documentation fee, and it did not rattle the new purchase r of the $920K property. 🤷🏿♂️ No problemo. And yeah, when I tell someone what it is like to serve on a HOA board..."Uh, more work than you think, and you will be loving tired of talking about water and drainage issues." Next up is opening our golf course. Which is a small par 3 executive 9 hole course. My only addition to the board thoughts is basically don't pair up singles for social distance reasons. Which is par for the course it seems. 
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May 3, 2020 01:01
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Big thing now is HOAs wanting to open up pools and amenity centers now that the "peak" is over. Word is over 700 lawsuits have already been filed against businesses related to covid, some involving liability of the business/facilities in not taking steps to manage transmissability. Lots of people wanting to push for the HOA amenities to open, which could lead to lawsuits soon as someone is infected. Lawsuit liability is going to be crazy for years.
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May 3, 2020 16:05
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So they just going to sue themselves?
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May 3, 2020 18:42
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DangerZoneDelux posted:So they just going to sue themselves? Someone will get sick/die and they or their family will get a personal injury attorney who will explore everywhere they may have been to see who may not be following strict CDC guidelines and name them in a suit. It's happening and will happen for a very long time. Most HOAs has insurance carriers so there are deep pockets on these. Already happens with uneven sidewalks and things already.
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May 3, 2020 18:53
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Fooma posted:Big thing now is HOAs wanting to open up pools and amenity centers now that the "peak" is over. Word is over 700 lawsuits have already been filed against businesses related to covid, some involving liability of the business/facilities in not taking steps to manage transmissability. Lots of people wanting to push for the HOA amenities to open, which could lead to lawsuits soon as someone is infected. Lawsuit liability is going to be crazy for years. drat, I’m glad we don’t do anything other than pay someone to mow the lawn/shovel snow... Hmmm. Anyone think I can make an effective argument to discontinue these services due to possible liability concerns? (They are not specified in covenants, I’m not sure why we are doing them).
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May 3, 2020 23:05
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The contractor you pay for the service should have liability covered by their insurance (assuming they're properly licensed) and your own insurance should cover worker liabilities. You *could* make a case that it's not stipulated under CC&Rs, but it shouldn't take too long for someone to say "Hey I have to do my own lawn now so.... uh, we getting a reduction in our dues or something?"
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May 3, 2020 23:55
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Yeah, will be an interesting meeting tonight. The pool, tennis courts and the golf course. Liability will probably/obviously be discussed. Funny thing is first words out of my mouth when I was elected were "Is there indemnification for me?" If not, I'd be long gone. Right now it is quite a balancing act among everyone.
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May 4, 2020 14:42
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Colostomy Bag posted:Funny thing is first words out of my mouth when I was elected were "Is there indemnification for me?" If not, I'd be long gone. If they don't already have one, make your second question if there is a council email list or similar where things can be discussed outside of meetings. Tbh you shouldn't have to wait until the meeting for that question
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May 5, 2020 16:29
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some_admin posted:Hey how much. Do your HOAs typically charge for transfer/doc fees etc when a property is sold/bought? I paid $250 in 2008 when I bought my townhouse. I have to pay $500 to move out. My question for Colostomy (and other HOA folks) is: What options do the residents have for removing the current board and having an election to replace all parties, included the salaried Property Manager? I don't think we have any gross mismanagement, the President is a decent guy and he deals with the issues fairly well but in the 12 years I've been here things have just gone downhill while our dues have increased. I paid $185/month in 2008 when I bought, I now pay $287 (some units pay more, based on sq footage). We have awful landscaping. Not the boards fault, but they are not doing anything to bring in someone that can make this place look decent. Signage around the neighborhood is from 1996 when these were constructed, and they are falling apart. Mailboxes (pedestal style) are in disrepair, again not the HOA's job to specifically fix them but they should be demanding the Post Office replace them. Lots of disrepair around the units, rotting balcony wood, outside features falling apart, tennis and basketball courts are a joke and the kids playground equipment is 20 years old and completely unsafe. We have demanded, at meetings, that these issues get addressed but they aren't important enough I guess. The single most important issue for my entire community is what the community physically looks like on the outside. It's becoming impossible to sell because it looks like a shithole here and the board is very lazy about doing anything to correct it. We don't use NextDoor, but we have a Facebook group and it's very active with mostly posts complaining about how lovely our community looks and the majority of residents are fully united in this area and quarterly meeting attendance has increased which is a good thing. I emailed out management company asking them to remove the board but I don't know if that's something they have the ability to do.
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May 7, 2020 20:21
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Remove the board lol. Just run for a position and fix the issues yourself
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May 7, 2020 20:33
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DangerZoneDelux posted:Remove the board lol. Just run for a position and fix the issues yourself Never any open positions or I (and others) would! We had a treasurer position open 2 years ago that was filled by a retired CPA.
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May 7, 2020 20:45
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Read your covenants and rules, they will have an explanation of how the board is set up and what mechanism s exist to have elections or recall the board or replace members As far as the postal facilities on your property those are very likely the responsibilities of the HOA and again, will be spelled out in the covenants. General appearances regarding landscaping standards, storage of items, signage etc are going to be spelled out in covenant as well. If they are not spelled out then probably difficult for HOA to do anything. If you have a management company overseeing the community and they are not doing a good job, then it’s up to the board to find another management company,, they are hired by the HOA board.
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May 7, 2020 21:18
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some_admin posted:As far as the postal facilities on your property those are very likely the responsibilities of the HOA and again, will be spelled out in the covenants. Just want to reemphasize this - postal services in the US are really weird. Unless your HOA has unusual provisions, my understanding is that you buy a USPS box, which then grants them a perpetual license to use it for delivering/receiving mail with no payment to the box owner. So you get service, they get the rights to postage paid. This is why UPS and Fedex can't put anything in your post box, and why it's a federal crime to tamper with it. It's a weird system, and probably either your HOA's problem or your problem as an individual to deal with (not to mention any HOA covenants around what an acceptable USPS box is).
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May 7, 2020 23:53
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Douchebag posted:Never any open positions or I (and others) would! Covenants and bylaws reign supreme. 75% vote to make a major change. It is interesting to see how the whole thing works. Like a mini DC. Sorry if it sounds like I'm rambling but there have been 1,000 emails on how we can "open" our stuff between board members.
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May 8, 2020 21:33
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Colostomy Bag posted:Covenants and bylaws reign supreme. 75% vote to make a major change. It is interesting to see how the whole thing works. Like a mini DC. Sorry if it sounds like I'm rambling but there have been 1,000 emails on how we can "open" our stuff between board members. There will be positions open in the fall, most likely trustee positions. I’m going to run for one. My HOA needs major changes. I don’t expect I can fix this dump overnight but maybe I can learn how things work and offer suggestions. A lot of people around me want to form some community action committee to identify problems and propose solutions to the current board.
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May 8, 2020 23:14
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After rereading covenant, the board can only directly vote out the officers. Lol since the useless guy does not have an officer position, it would have to be a general membership vote, and would have to have quorum ( we’ve never had a quorum present @ annual meeting ). I’m thinking of asking for proxies, anyone have experience with that?
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May 10, 2020 02:51
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Douchebag posted:There will be positions open in the fall, most likely trustee positions. I’m going to run for one. My HOA needs major changes. I don’t expect I can fix this dump overnight but maybe I can learn how things work and offer suggestions. How many people are there?
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May 10, 2020 15:38
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I’m secretary for our HOA and I do my damndest to do a terrible job as possible. Not to be all #notallhoas but we pretty much do jack squat because everyone takes care of their properties. Our dues are only $35/yr because we only have a tiny common area up at the entrance for the neighborhood sign as well as some street lamps. Now that we finally saved up enough and got a nice new stone sign to replace the original rotting wood one from 20+ years ago, we don’t even have anything else to do with that money. maybe another round of new mailboxes and posts for everyone in five years?
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May 10, 2020 16:04
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Douchebag posted:My question for Colostomy (and other HOA folks) is: What options do the residents have for removing the current board and having an election to replace all parties, included the salaried Property Manager? quote:in the 12 years I've been here things have just gone downhill while our dues have increased. quote:We have awful landscaping. That should all be doable without a special assessment if you have enough leadup to save for it. quote:Signage around the neighborhood is from 1996 when these were constructed, and they are falling apart. quote:tennis and basketball courts are a joke and the kids playground equipment is 20 years old and completely unsafe. quote:We have demanded, at meetings, that these issues get addressed but they aren't important enough I guess. But if they're straight up ignoring concerns you have a legitimate reason to replace the board when it comes up in a year. This will require you or a few other people to make sure they run as a group, reach out to the residents about what you would do to address the current failings to get backing, and ensure the newly seated group has a majority to push back against any entrenched interests. It might also be a good time to redo your CC&Rs to ensure everything is on the up and up. devmd01 posted:Now that we finally saved up enough and got a nice new stone sign to replace the original rotting wood one from 20+ years ago, we don’t even have anything else to do with that money. maybe another round of new mailboxes and posts for everyone in five years? You can also see if the residents would be interested in a community project that can get a discount due to volume purchasing. New windows? New garage doors? Community gutter-cleaning? FilthyImp fucked around with this message at 17:28 on May 10, 2020 |
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May 10, 2020 17:24
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TBH, I wouldn't expect much for $35/year.
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May 10, 2020 18:22
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Colostomy Bag posted:How many people are there? We have 446 units in this development, I'd say probably 20 people give a poo poo enough to want to do something to make changes, and another 30 that just like to bitch and complain about stuff on Facebook. FilthyImp posted:First, find out if your state has anything akin to California's Davis-Sterling act. I'd also have a look at the financials. Why do you have a salaried property manager opposed to a Managing Agent and a Management Company. Might be cheaper, but a good management company can facilitate a lot of things you may need, like finding new vendors. Thanks for this, all seems logical. Regarding photos, we have a community Facebook group and ALL of the issues get photographed and shared, all the time. So if there is a problem here, it's been documented online many times. Re: property manager? So we have 5 board members and a property manager who is salaried, and works in the office and manages the day to day operations of the HOA and community. She handles work orders for property repairs, property mods, pool badges, oversees most things. We have a property management company that is selected by the board (I thought it was the other way around so this shocked me). I think we have had 3 property management firms in the 12 years I have lived here. They handled the payment processing of our monthly fees and I think that's it. I think our property manager is paid by the management firm. Her salary is not on our budget unless it's hidden in one of the line items. A lot of my, and my neighbors frustrations, are due to the fact that it seems poo poo just doesn't get done quick enough to appease everyone. Landscaping is understandable, grass doesn't grow overnight LOL. And your explanations make it make more sense about how things work.
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May 11, 2020 13:51
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devmd01 posted:I’m secretary for our HOA and I do my damndest to do a terrible job as possible. Not to be all #notallhoas but we pretty much do jack squat because everyone takes care of their properties. Our dues are only $35/yr because we only have a tiny common area up at the entrance for the neighborhood sign as well as some street lamps. Now that we finally saved up enough and got a nice new stone sign to replace the original rotting wood one from 20+ years ago, we don’t even have anything else to do with that money. maybe another round of new mailboxes and posts for everyone in five years? Are those the only two things your HOA is responsible for? Not your streets or street signs? Drainage basin maintenance? Some other nasty periodically high dollar item?
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May 11, 2020 18:05
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Nope, all handled by the town. We aren’t responsible for the drainage ponds (that I’m aware of), sidewalks, snow clearing, etc. The common area up front is tiny, it just manages traffic flow in/out and is a place to have the sign. The biggest dollar item we did previous to the sign was replace everyone’s mailboxes and posts about 6 years ago. Our expenses are the electricity for the lamps, landscape service for the common area, flowers for any homeowner funerals, misc postage, and that’s pretty much it! The only negative rule in our covenants imo is no outbuildings/garden sheds, etc. Everything else is pretty drat minimal in terms of disallowed items. devmd01 fucked around with this message at 22:52 on May 11, 2020 |
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May 11, 2020 22:50
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In that case, you've got pretty minimal reserve requirements. Your dues were just a huge red flag in comparison to what any well functioning HOA would need around here (where the municipalities make SURE the developer isn't able to offload the street maintenance to them).
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May 12, 2020 14:59
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Douchebag posted:We have 446 units in this development, I'd say probably 20 people give a poo poo enough to want to do something to make changes, and another 30 that just like to bitch and complain about stuff on Facebook. Yeah, good luck on getting some major vote. I was amazed by the level of apathy (in hindsight I shouldn't have been) with our residents. Yes, there are a group that will raise torches and pitchforks everytime dues are increased but that is about it. As for our board, only one I would consider is fairly worthless. In other words, once you see behind the curtain you might be surprised why decisions are made the way they are. Sometimes I think it is groupthink but for the most part they are solid decisions. Good luck with whatever you do and happens. Just be prepared not to take anything personal. And it is a lot of work (which most people won't believe). Cripes, the number of emails flying back and forth on how to handle opening our golf course and pool complex is nuts. And BTW, I appreciate your user name. Us Bags have to stick together.
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May 14, 2020 15:17
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Welp file this under fact is stranger than fiction. Resident writes in to us complaining about golf carts (we have miles of sidewalks that we maintain, they are basically outlawed on the street, not allowed on trails...yada yada). Goes on to say that a group will drive through property with fishing rods and beer. Our lake is fairly good sized for a subdivision. A valid complaint. Then comes the second one. We have dog poop stations with bags and such along our trails. Apparently someone stole one. What a world.
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May 22, 2020 14:43
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Reading this thread as a european it all seems utterly bugfuck insane. Trying to keep out undesirables, limiting renting, car ownership, number of occupiers, regulating behaviour outside of what the law prohibits, house values being the deciding factor on making alterations - nevermind lawns which I haven't seen mentioned here but I heard it's an issue too. Around here it's all just local authority which deals with a large area and usually is quite open-minded about things, certainly they won't use "lol no property values sacred" as a justification for a decision. As an actual question are there any more open-minded HOAs, where everything I've listed above goes, that are in nice neighbourhoods and still take care of common expenses?
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May 29, 2020 11:01
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This morning I found a sticker on my door saying that our HOA is being mismanaged, and I should contact the email provided for more information. I’m intrigued, but also something seems fishy about it. I don’t think our HOA is mismanaged, but I certainly don’t like them. I’ve lived here less than a year and received 5 violation warnings about various things (some of them very vague). But anyway, does that seem fishy to anyone else? I’m not sure what the scam would be.
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May 29, 2020 18:17
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