HOA Woes

Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Messages
3,150
Location
Easton, PA
Broken record, beating that dead equine. Ya I get it...

I was on our HOA board for a very short time and try to enact a lot of change, website, e-mail, online payments, invoicing through QuickBooks. Just betterment of the 181 homes we have and our pool. I left after the President thought that texting pictures of checks back & forth was acceptable. I just said nope, I want no part of this and was out. My next step was a management company as dealing with the finances for 181 homes is a bit much as a volunteer. We needed to raise dues significantly because this isn't 1991 anymore when they were last increased but it never passed.

Fast forward to this past Dec. and a secret vote was held by the only remaining board member(president) and sanctioned by the HOA's lawyer to install 3 new board members. This was & is completely against our bylaws as it requires a form of campaigning and paper ballots mailed to each house. Then collected and counted by the secretary and validated by a third party. Mind you 20 people don't get to decide for 181. Well website is gone, domain name gone, e-mail gone, and now there is person claiming to be on the board asking for property info on Facebook which mind you is all in Quickbooks. It's a mess, I reported the lawyer to our state's ethics board because it is in our bylaws clear as day and he ignored it. I hope something will come of it but I'm not holding my breath. I tried getting the city & our AG involved but they want nothing to do with it.

Who else is having this much fun today?
 
Sounds frustrating. Unfortunately, most people just want to benefit from the HOA but not spend any volunteer hours to help.

I suppose you could bring a lawsuit against the board for violating the bylaws. Maybe small claims court, so you could get by without an attorney?
 
I hope your HOA maintains adequate D&O coverage and your own profession does not involve having any professional liability coverage.
 
Learn to love your HOA. The alternative is a bunch of neighbors with overgrown yards, dilapidated homes and derelict vehicles all over the property. Or so I read here on the forum.
Local zoning authority should take care of that.

Learn to love your HOA. The alternative is a bunch of crackhead neighbors
Move to a higher end neighborhood. Not many crackheads in $1M+ homes. Or at least they are better behaved.
 
Move to a higher end neighborhood. Not many crackheads in $1M+ homes. Or at least they are better behaved.

Ahh, yes. The Paris Hilton method to cure all problems:

hiltonnn.JPG
 
Local zoning authority should take care of that.
Doesn't happen in South Carolina. Unfortunately the only neighborhoods that don't look like a junkyard are in HOA's. Definitely a loose/loose proposition - so pick your poison.

Move to a higher end neighborhood. Not many crackheads in $1M+ homes. Or at least they are better behaved.
Very few of those around here not in an HOA either.

I personally have lived in 4 different HOA's and haven't had much more than minor complaints - but there absolutely political organizations, with different rules for different folks. My next move I will try to get out of any HOA but it probably won't be as easy as it sounds.
 
Doesn't happen in South Carolina. Unfortunately the only neighborhoods that don't look like a junkyard are in HOA's. Definitely a loose/loose proposition - so pick your poison.
Did that misspelling come from the paris hilton picture distracting you :LOL:

IF only I had a HOA my neighbors wouldnt leave their trash cans on the sidewalk for 6 days out of the week...
oh wait the city has laws for that.. they just dont enforce them.
 
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Local zoning authority should take care of that.


Move to a higher end neighborhood. Not many crackheads in $1M+ homes. Or at least they are better behaved.

You assume that all local governments work like they might where ever you are then - and in many places, they simply don't and the task falls to HOA's. Depends on where you are located.
 
Doesn't happen in South Carolina. Unfortunately the only neighborhoods that don't look like a junkyard are in HOA's. Definitely a loose/loose proposition - so pick your poison.


Very few of those around here not in an HOA either.

I personally have lived in 4 different HOA's and haven't had much more than minor complaints - but they’re ep, absolutely political organizations, with different rules for different folks. My next move I will try to get out of any HOA but it probably won't be as easy as it sounds.

Yep, unfortunately most newer houses are in a HOA / planned communities.
 
IF only I had a HOA my neighbors wouldnt leave their trash cans on the sidewalk for 6 days out of the week...
oh wait the city has laws for that.. they just dont enforce them.

My neighbor where I used to live did that.

They stopped doing that when I moved their trashcan to the middle of their driveway, ensuring that they'd have to get out and move it.
 
My neighbor where I used to live did that.

They stopped doing that when I moved their trashcan to the middle of their driveway, ensuring that they'd have to get out and move it.
I've done that around here. Moved them right behind parked cars so someone at least had to make an effort.
 
Because municipalities got tired of dealing with the whacko's so they made HOA's so the courts would have to.

My sister is a lawyer and has made very good $$$$ here in Florida dealing with condo and homeowners associations disputes.

One good story:
Police officer on condo board pulls out his gun and lays it on table in front of him at board meeting. I’m not kidding.
 
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