D

HOA due is one thing, you don’t do what they want and they give you fine is another. When someone buy a house, who will really read thru all those small words. After you move in, HOA say No, fence too high, window shutter color not meet standard, next door neighbor put their trash can in front of yours and you got fine,..on and on, You got warming, you got fine, then penalty, interest, attorney fee, lien, then same like you don’t pay due and foreclosure. Almost forgot, weed? They grow every day, what is the standard? Not that HOA is bad. But who is over seeing them? What or who can improve those bad HOA management company? You need attorney to get ride of those HOA with bad attorney behind. To make it simple, get rid of those HOA! No more “do it because I say so” should be over.
REALTOR, Property Manager
TonySo@magnum2000.com
TonySo@magnum2000.com

Somewhat agree with John M but if you’re talking a high rise condominium, how can you work out a payment plan with a resident who falls behind or simply cannot pay? When you do that, you force the others who can pay to absorb that unit’s costs, either to carry them for a certain period of time, or until they actually do go into foreclosure.

Granted, you don’t want a HOA to have unreasonable power of foreclosure whereby someone is late with their payment and a lien can immediately be filed, but you also don’t want the length of time foreclosure proceedings can begin to be too generous.

I truly feel sorry for anyone who is unable to pay their mandatory HOA dues in this unfortunate economic climate but I can’t have a lot of sympathy for those who buy right up to their maximum limit on a condo or beyond their limits and have nothing saved for that rainy day which is now.

That said, I know this is my last condo and my last time living in any dwelling governed by a mandatory HOA. It’s not worth it in my opinion, nor is having to put up with the miniature Hitlers who always seem to find their way to the HOA board and try to run it like their own personal dictatorship. I’ve been down that road too many times and have learned the hard way.

HOA dues are not the problem,IMHO. It is the muscle wielded by the associations to assess fines and foreclose, along with no term limitations on board members, that is the problem. Board meetings are private. That is a problem. Board members get perks from paid employees because they have hiring & firing privileges–so there should be term limits.

Well,

Here’s the thing about the HOAs and the contract. If you decide to buy a piece of property — its between you and the selling party. Except its not if there’s an HOA involved. Then, there’s effectively a mandatory enjoinder to a 3rd party — and its one with which you have no power to negotiate. And I think if people start digging around — that usually means that the contract and the terms are actually unenforceable. You have to have the ability to negotiate with all parties to the contract for it to be generally held as binding (I believe).

Also, if one is not able to purchase a property that isn’t a part of an HOA — then, again, where is the choice? And please don’t say: well, move to some place that is umpteen million miles from where you work and spend all your free time and money driving everywhere…. Again — it then isn’t a choice.

HOA’s for condos (or common structures) is meaningful for the purposes of ensuring the proper functioning and integrity of the structure. Beyond that — its just being a nosy neighbor and people have got to give up on this crazy notion and allow others to have flamingos in their yards, antennas or solar panels on their roofs, and whatever size fence/etc that they want.

Cities already have ordinances — why weren’t they good enough? Why did someone feel the need to empower a whole other group to set standards and rules that no government (at least, not one in the United States) ever dream of attempting to impose on people.

No government would, or should, enforce what the exterior facing color of someone’s window coverings should be. But somehow, governments have passed this power on to HOAs, and the people that end up running these things go crazy ….

The legislature really needs to step in set *very* strict limits on HOA powers. Removing their ability to foreclose is just a good first step….

What really needs to be done, is to have a petition started for a vote on whether people want to keep HOAs as they are currently organized, or if they want to tell the legislature to completely overhaul them.

As an example, have a look at Irving. If you want to live in Las Colinas, yo u almost certainly have to become a member of 2 HOAs (and be subject to potentially 3 sets of deed restrictions). Do you realize how large an area Las Colinas is? Its everything in Irving north of TX Stadium between the eastern border and the airport. And if you move out to any other suburb north or west of there — everything is in an HOA. Developers write these restrictions, and then build and walk away. Where else does the transfer of an asset from 1 party to another have eternal restrictions? Yes, if someone creates a product and licenses it to someone — but no one created the land here — they only acquired it and improved it. And we’re not talking about licensing here — we’re talking about outright sale. But the way that the HOAs exist — it effectively means that the transaction is more akin to an exclusive use license than it is to an outright sale.

There has to be either severe limits on the types of things these governments (face it, they are, as they effectively tax property and restrict personal rights) can control. And I’ll do anything I can to support these representatives.

Tony So,
I am sure you are a smart guy, but reading a contract is the most important thing a realtor, property manager, and buyer can do. When the contract states that the owner is bound by the HOA covenant, it is legally enforceable and has been upheld by the courts as so.

FYI, I am not a lawyer nor HOA board member. I have lived in a couple of HOA communities over the years and witnessed all of the pros and cons. The biggest con is that people don’t bother to read what they sign.

Will Gray,

when buyer proceed the Closing at Title Company and they received the 100 pages (or more) HOA rules, regulations, By-law, How many will read it before they sign?
Yes, I am a realtor, I know those impact.

I also know that the closing situation is taking advantage of those unknowledgeable buyer.
After they signed, that’s their problem if they sign without reading it.
That’s why has too many un-knowledgable home buyers fall into the trap today especially the trap in mortgage such as balloon payment.

You can say they are stupid. But I know:
at the bottom of your heart, you say “I got you. ) “.

That’s wrong.

I managed properties. I saw many times that those Buyer Agents or mortgage agents took advantage of the unknowledgetable Buyers and dropped them after they got their own commission. When those owners came to me, they already in the “I got you” trap.

Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of good real estate agents, mortgage brokers and good attorneys.

TonySo@magnum2000.com

I’m a former treasurer of a 150+ unit condo complex and I believe this move would be a terrible mistake. In many condo complexes, the HOA is responsible for things such as the roof, insurance on the exterior of the structure and garbage removal.

We planned our budget on the assumption that everyone would pay their HOA dues. When they didn’t, we had to rely on lien rights and foreclosure powers to continue to provide such services to the residents who did pay.

If our HOA lacked the powers of foreclosure, I’m quite certain that fewer people would have paid their dues and that would have caused the association to cut services and allow the complex to fall into disrepair.

I recognize that some single family home HOAs have gone waaaayyy too far in enforcing their aesthetic principles, but for condos, it’s imperative that the right to foreclose be preserved. Thankfully I now live in a single family home in Dallas with no HOA and only those neighborhood stabilization overlay threats to fend off.