Comments on: Homeowners Association Gone Wild

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 15 May 2011 16:43:25 +0000

I live in a site condo development in Michigan.
First major problem is; that the developer used standard condo bylaws that are not appropriate for site condos.
Next the board is selectively enforcing the bylaws that they choose and totally ignoring others. Granted some should be ignored and not applicable.
Two years ago, the board decided to sue a co owner for the shade of color of her home. I say shade because the color is blue. The co owner won the suit in court, but then it was overturned in appeals court.
Meanwhile, other bylaws were ignored or not uniformly enforced such as; vacant lot maintenance and capital improvements to common areas made without membership approval.
Some co owners were fined for having boats in driveways while the president of the association himself kept his boat in his driveway for most of the summer.
Necessary repairs to roads were selectively made based on where the board members and friends lived, rather on severity.
HELP NEEDED: How do you legally a board removed that is a group of legal weasels that play a hard ball game that is all about power and is totally out of control?

By: Chad

Chad — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:26:43 +0000

I live in an HOA that has been out of control. I own 3 adjacent lots in the neighborhood.
One was purchased before the subdivision extention and it was not deed restricted (developer forgot to do it).
2 yrs after I purchased the lot, the developer extended my road and sold more lots…all deed restricted. So when you go past my 3rd lot it looks like it is in the HOA, but it is not.
Things went bad when the HOA changed the assessments from estate to lot (I used to pay one due, now they want me to pay per lot…and I do on 2, not the one that has no restrictions). For a couple years they threatend lawsuits, wrote nasty letters certified receipt. Each time I would have my lawyer respond which cost me money. I finally got tired of it and parked the nastiest 1970’s green camper (borrowed from a freind) on the unrestricted lot. The camper had mildew and bird crap on it. i placed a clothes line, a confederate flag and a bug zapper there. I made it look like someone lived there.
This was really sweet as that lot is directly across the street in front of the HOA presidents front door. There was nothing they could do but cry as the lot was not deed restricted. After they paid me back for my lawyer fees, I removed the camper.
Now I will never sell that lot unitl I have sold my others first as that lot is like a moat around my castle…..it keeps the huns at bay.

By: mack

mack — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:41:06 +0000

Very well stated Kimsey, however I don’t think that homeowners should be put in this position by overzealous HOA personnel that are uneducated regarding construction materials and techniques.

By: Kimsey Pollard

Kimsey Pollard — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:14:19 +0000

As you will note the homeowners association rules in this case states: “Each homeowner shall keep and maintain each Lot and Structure owner by him, as well as all landscaping located thereon, in good condition and repair…” . However in this case the letter describing the infraction also specified the fix. This is at odds which the association rule in quotes above. It doesn’t say the complainant also gets to pick the remedy. The homeowner could replace the copper roof, paint it to look like new copper or change it in other ways acceptable to the architectural review committee. Not withstanding the fact that a copper roof properly installed requires no maintenance, something entirely overlooked by the person making the complaint who didn’t know the difference between copper and other metals and that copper has more than one color. Homeowners should challenge and investigate unreasonable requests if for no other reason than the complaint maybe baseless; be just the opinion or misinformation of the complainer, or worse an attempt to modify the architectural standards of the neighborhood without the consent of the homeowners. Most homeowners know when their house needs maintenance and move to make repairs in a timely manner without be prodded to do so because it lowers the value of their property if they don’t. But they generally also don’t make “needless repairs” or change their property in such a way as to lower its’ value.