Forums » Home Owner Association (HOA) Issues & Problems Forum » Do I Have to Pay?

Do I Have to Pay? 10 posts by 5 users

Troy D.

Homeowner
Raleigh, NC

Posted: 03/24/2008 at 08:45AM

Hello,

I have a piece of land that I purchased in 2004 in a small subdivision of approx 30 homes. By the way, the land was purchased for personal use to build a new home. When the land was purchased there was no HOA in place. However, the owner of the subdivision now wants everyone to pay HOA dues of $340 because of family financial issues. I currently still own the land, but it's vacant and I don't live in the subdivision. My question is: Under the circumstances can the owner make me(us) pay?

Thanks,
tdsilk

Sponsors:

Kathleen T.

Property Manager
Houston, TX

6 posts

Posted: 03/27/2008 at 06:51AM

Dear tdsilk;

A Homeowner's Association must be formed legally prior to charges being assessed to Owners of the properties. A corporation has to be established, Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws & Restrictive Covenants have to be recorded in the county of the property. I have seen communities where it is voluntary as well. Did they state in the invoice what gives them the power to collect that money? Is it the Developer collecting?

Ofgift G.

347 posts

Posted: 04/15/2008 at 11:25PM

The previous poster is correct, and the owner would probably have to have affirmative vote of a certain percentage of owners to form an hoa.
If you're smart, you'll get together with the other owners, let them know that if they choose to have an hoa, they will suffer the loss of their constitutional rights, the fact that their home will NEVER TRULY be their home, there will always be a lien against it that can and will and IS being foreclosed on in many areas/states, and that a few people will have control of what they do to their house.
If you're smart, you will ALL vote against it, and refuse to take part in such a monstrocity. In some states, (mine is one) you lose homestead protection, fair market value protection, and other protections and priveleges given to non-hoa homeowners.
You are being taxed twice (and in this case, not because of developre/city back-scratching, but by stupidity/error on the part of the original land owner.)
HOA's do almost NOTHING for the homeowner, but provide jobs for management companies and foreclosure lawyers.

FWIW, I'm on the board of an association. We get to vote in a few years to dissolve, and I plan to work for that. Our homeowners deserve more than what they get now. They deserve the freedoms our soldiers have fought for/are fighting forand I'm not talking of cheap oil.
A large chunk of our money that is collected for assessments pays the management company bills and the landscaper, and the lawyer. There's not a lot left. HOA's are old henhouses for foxes. (100,000 a year, over 55K for MC, 30 K for landscape, lawyer retainer/bills, repair and maintenance, and reserves to repair and replace common elements.

Okay, off the soapbox.

Ofgift G.

347 posts

Posted: 04/16/2008 at 09:39AM

Originally posted by "tdsilk"

When the land was purchased there was no HOA in place. However, the owner of the subdivision now wants everyone to pay HOA dues of $340 because of family financial issues. Under the circumstances can the owner make me(us) pay?tdsilk

He's taxing you. That's taxation without representation.
REVOLT!

REVOLT!

HOA dues have specific reasons for being collected. HOAs are legal, usually not for profit, or, non-profit corporations, incorporated under state law.
There is NO place where the money can be used for other than narrowly defined needs, and owner debt is NOT one of them.
In fact, under our state non-profit laws, we can't have any " savings" , it all has to be used.
What he's wanting to do is at best misguided, he is misunderstanding the laws, or hopes no one will question his authority to do that.
You need to know that in most states, hoa boards are almost totally unregulated, so if you don't stop him, he actually could get away with this scheme.

You not only can stop this, but you should/must, even if he says it's a voluntary association. These guys can be really slippery. Say something like, " Not no, but HE!! no"

Kathleen T.

Property Manager
Houston, TX

6 posts

Posted: 04/28/2008 at 05:47AM

A Homeowner's Association, if properly managed (by a management company or the Homeowners) will help maintain property values by enforcing deed restrictions so when you want to sell your property you are able to at a fair price. Some Associations will forclose, and that's a shame.

Wheatie

Real Estate Investor / BP Moderator
Denver, CO

2955 posts

Posted: 04/28/2008 at 08:01AM

And badly managed, as it seems too many are, they will put onerous restrictions and costs onto your property, reducing the price. Well managed HOAs that provide real benefits probably do improve property values in areas where there are enough buyers that what to live in such a covenant controlled community. I lived in Houston many years, and I'm not sure I'd apply that description to many of the HOAs there. Some of them do some pretty stupid stuff here in the Denver area, too. For example, we've been in a drought for many years, and most areas have tight restrictions on lawn watering. Yet HOAs insist people have bluegrass lawns and water them at the maximum allowed rate. Want xeriscaping? No way, that doesn't match the guidelines.

Joshua D.

BiggerPockets Founder
Denver, CO

4670 posts

Posted: 04/28/2008 at 10:16AM

Hey Troy -
Do you have any updates on what's going on? Have you discussed the issue with others in the " HOA zone" ? Please fill us all in on how things are progressing for you.

Ofgift G.

347 posts

Posted: 04/28/2008 at 11:58AM

This is the “raison d’etre” for HOA governance as contained in every declaration of covenants. Yet, the results of an HUD sponsored study on housing prices in 2004 revealed that (emphasis added),

[S]ampled prices for single-family homes in areas of Houston that were (1) zoned, (2) governed by covenants, and (3) governed by neither zoning nor covenants . . . [and] found no significant difference between values in zoned and covenanted areas, but found both were significantly higher than values in areas lacking both

http://pvtgov.org/pvtgov/downloads/hoa-exactions.pdf

Troy D.

Homeowner
Raleigh, NC

6 posts

Posted: 06/02/2008 at 12:22PM

Originally posted by "assetmanager"

Dear tdsilk;

A Homeowner's Association must be formed legally prior to charges being assessed to Owners of the properties. A corporation has to be established, Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws & Restrictive Covenants have to be recorded in the county of the property. I have seen communities where it is voluntary as well. Did they state in the invoice what gives them the power to collect that money? Is it the Developer collecting?

Sorry for the delay on this. No, they just decided to add this fee because they need the money. I guess you could say it's the developer in a sense. It's a family who decided to build some homes on land they own.

Troy D.

Homeowner
Raleigh, NC

6 posts

Posted: 06/02/2008 at 12:27PM

Originally posted by "biggerpo"

Hey Troy -
Do you have any updates on what's going on? Have you discussed the issue with others in the " HOA zone" ? Please fill us all in on how things are progressing for you.

Hi Joshua,

They recently contacted my realtor stating that they would lien the property if the HOA are not paid. I will contact them to see what the deal is. I'm sure it was clearly stated in the covenants that no HOA were to be paid.

Thanks,
td