Process for suing HOA member

Quote from mmathis : The owner of the stolen credit card would have to notify the company of the theft. Similarly, the unsatisfied homeowner would have to notify the HOA of his dissatisfaction. The HOA has no reason to believe they aren't holding up their side of the contract if nobody tells them they aren't... As a renter, I can't withhold rent because I'm not happy with the way the landlord handles things in the apartment unless I notify him (i.e., if the heat goes out, I can't just not pay rent until the heat is fixed. I have to notify the landlord, and if he doesn't fix it in a timely manner only then can I withhold rent). Given the information in the OP, you're right that we don't know the full situation. There's no reason to assume that the HOA isn't fulfilling their obligations, though.

You see how do we know what they did or didnt do maybe homeowner did try to resolve an issue and HOA refused.

You are getting only part of a story and not even half based on OP beligerant attitude here I have justified reason to believe that theres big gaps in the story.

Quote from phonic : Both of you seem to be missing the point that it doesn't matter what the HOA dues are for. It doesn't matter why the homeowner refused to pay. It's doesn't matter if they used or approved of the way the funds were being managed. It could all go towards an annual cookout that the homeowner wasn't able to attend. The fact remains that legally they owe that money. Period. The end.

You are right - I couldn't agree more. I feel like some people are either trolling or just tremendously ignorant and obtuse.

I lived in an HOA in the OPs area for 16 years. They (HOA lawyers) threw their weight around to a tune of $3000+ per year in additional fees for misc violations throughout the year.

They would tell you to paint, so you repaint, BUT it's the wrong or "unapproved" color... $1500 see ya in court.

They would always hit me up when I went on vacation with a letter, the day I left, with wording "if not... within... 15 days... $1000, se ya in court". They knew I went away for 3 weeks, 2 times per year, every year.

When you went to court, there were 200 other homeowners there that day, all of us waiting to be called to the stand, alphabetically. It seemed they had an entire courtroom reserved once a month.

I sold that place in 2006 and specifically looked for a new property without an HOA.

From 2005-2006 they foreclosed on hundreds of properties in the neighborhood. They integrated Hurricane Katrina Victims into the neighborhood. No one paid their dues, cut their lawn or repaired their homes. The HOA could not enforce anything upon the new government subsidized home owners.

The place went to shit. It went from a very nice upscale neighborhood, to the ghetto in 2 years. Property values are still 1/2 of surrounding areas. That's the power of HOA's

Quote from G37 : I lived in an HOA in the OPs area for 16 years. They (HOA lawyers) threw their weight around to a tune of $3000+ per year in additional fees for misc violations throughout the year. They would tell you to paint, so you repaint, BUT it's the wrong or "unapproved" color... $1500 see ya in court. They would always hit me up when I went on vacation with a letter, the day I left, with wording "if not... within... 15 days... $1000, se ya in court". They knew I went away for 3 weeks, 2 times per year, every year. When you went to court, there were 200 other homeowners there that day, all of us waiting to be called to the stand, alphabetically. It seemed they had an entire courtroom reserved once a month. I sold that place in 2006 and specifically looked for a new property without an HOA. From 2005-2006 they foreclosed on hundreds of properties in the neighborhood. They integrated Hurricane Katrina Victims into the neighborhood. No one paid their dues, cut their lawn or repaired their homes. The HOA could not enforce anything upon the new government subsidized home owners. The place went to shit. It went from a very nice upscale neighborhood, to the ghetto in 2 years. Property values are still 1/2 of surrounding areas. That's the power of HOA's

Agreed. After seeing the OP's attitude, I will make sure that my HOA board isn't trash like him before buying property

Hi DealGate,

I usually don't respond to too many posts on Slickdeals as I don't often have a lot of insight to share. For some reason, though, your request seems to have caught the attention of a lot of deadwood in the Slickdeals community (in this thread, it's most people on this thread whose usernames begin with S). First, I wanted to mention a few things:

- I also live in a condominium with an HOA, I'm just across the river from you.
- Like most normal people, I assumed that your HOA dues, like most anybody's, are compulsory. The services and fees are outlined in the HOA informational packet that people get shortly after signing a contract to purchase the unit (but before settlement). Since you stated that 45 of the 46 units are on-time, I'd have to assume that they're compulsory because getting 45 out of 46 people to do ANYTHING voluntarily is next to impossible. I have no idea why anyone is trying to make an issue as to the validity of the charges.
- Also $400 a year, or whatever is it, is practically nothing in this neck the woods. I'm shocked that even pays for insurance, although it sounds like your HOA is a little less involved than mine. In our city / county, the county collects trash (I think) but the HOA pays the trash fee on behalf of the residents.
- I also appreciate your anti-HOA stature. I can imagine, having attended a bunch of meetings, that it's tough because sometimes people have competing interests. I would imagine that one neighbor might take issue with 125K gallons of pool water dumped on his/her lawn. Purely hypothetically, of course.

Suing people and attaching assets isn't fun, and my very limited experience on reading up on how to do this even in small claims. That's why it's nice to have one (and only one) aggressive lawyer on the HOA committee; because they sometimes get a kick out of this and are happy to do it as a service to the community. But seriously, a few thoughts:

- A simple letter from a lawyer might go a long way; it helped me quickly and amicably settle something, and if it costs $100, it's worth it just to ensure future collections as well.
- New bylaws may be the answer. The nice thing about jerks like this is that I bet he's not going to bother to show up to a meeting. So you can pass very narrowly tailored but legitimate rules that fine the man for infractions like dumping his pool water. If you run up enough in fees and dues, it makes the legal recourse seem more attractive.
- Maybe you can put a lien on the property and then pass a bylaw that forbids rental of units that are, say, generously overdue in their dues (like 12 months, something really loose so that other neighbors see this for what it is). Then, when he wants to move, he really has no recourse.

You seem to be stuck in an unpleasant situation; and my expertise is limited to the few HOA meetings I attend each year so I can't be of too much help. But I wish you the best of luck, both with the posters here and the community member.

Edit: Sorry, missed your post about getting it paid with the letter. Congrats!

Quote from dealgate : HOAs are the product of big development and expansion. In order to gain favorable tax/easement/zoning ordnance, builders contract with the county. These are enforced via covenants, ie HOAs. The HOA was here before I moved in. I am as anti-HOA as you can be. I follow the "rules" as loosely as possible. I have many residences that whole-hardheartedly thank me for being HOA president. I approve pretty much anything that comes across my desk architectural wise. Our HOA exists for the most part to collect garbage collection fees and fees to maintain common areas and insurance for the HOA (we are required to carry $1 million in liability). I have thought about seeing if the county will switch us to public trash collection. It is not an easy task once something is set up the way it is. This is one of the richest counties in the country (montgomery county, md) so they are unwilling to reduce their revenue which is what would happen if we got county trash pickup. Many neighborhoods in MC have private pickup. The benefit is 2x per week pickup as apposed to one. If we did not have private trash, our fees could go down less than half what they are now. But there is about 5 acres that the HOA owns and has to maintain in addition to fences. That is not cheap. Not all HOAs suck. This one has a basic set of rules that are VERY liberally applied. The neighborhood has mostly million dollar homes so no one is upset with the pittance of fees or in reality very minor rules. We actually changed the bylaws once when a resident put in an unauthorized fence that was against HOA guidelines but was not an eyesore. If you move into most suburbs of most major cities, you are not going to be able to avoid HOAs. I hate them as well, which is why I am president. I can promise you no American flag will ever be banned here nor do we measure gravel to make sure it is within guidelines. I did look into dissolving the HOA and it is more trouble that it is worth and has very little chance of ever being done. So again, it is not the residents that requested the HOA, it is the builder that built the community. The problem with HOAs is when you get self-important Nazis running it.

Quote from Jelklan : Hi DealGate, I usually don't respond to too many posts on Slickdeals as I don't often have a lot of insight to share. For some reason, though, your request seems to have caught the attention of a lot of deadwood in the Slickdeals community (in this thread, it's most people on this thread whose usernames begin with S). First, I wanted to mention a few things: - I also live in a condominium with an HOA, I'm just across the river from you. - Like most normal people, I assumed that your HOA dues, like most anybody's, are compulsory. The services and fees are outlined in the HOA informational packet that people get shortly after signing a contract to purchase the unit (but before settlement). Since you stated that 45 of the 46 units are on-time, I'd have to assume that they're compulsory because getting 45 out of 46 people to do ANYTHING voluntarily is next to impossible. I have no idea why anyone is trying to make an issue as to the validity of the charges. - Also $400 a year, or whatever is it, is practically nothing in this neck the woods. I'm shocked that even pays for insurance, although it sounds like your HOA is a little less involved than mine. In our city / county, the county collects trash (I think) but the HOA pays the trash fee on behalf of the residents. - I also appreciate your anti-HOA stature. I can imagine, having attended a bunch of meetings, that it's tough because sometimes people have competing interests. I would imagine that one neighbor might take issue with 125K gallons of pool water dumped on his/her lawn. Purely hypothetically, of course. Suing people and attaching assets isn't fun, and my very limited experience on reading up on how to do this even in small claims. That's why it's nice to have one (and only one) aggressive lawyer on the HOA committee; because they sometimes get a kick out of this and are happy to do it as a service to the community. But seriously, a few thoughts: - A simple letter from a lawyer might go a long way; it helped me quickly and amicably settle something, and if it costs $100, it's worth it just to ensure future collections as well. - New bylaws may be the answer. The nice thing about jerks like this is that I bet he's not going to bother to show up to a meeting. So you can pass very narrowly tailored but legitimate rules that fine the man for infractions like dumping his pool water. If you run up enough in fees and dues, it makes the legal recourse seem more attractive. - Maybe you can put a lien on the property and then pass a bylaw that forbids rental of units that are, say, generously overdue in their dues (like 12 months, something really loose so that other neighbors see this for what it is). Then, when he wants to move, he really has no recourse. You seem to be stuck in an unpleasant situation; and my expertise is limited to the few HOA meetings I attend each year so I can't be of too much help. But I wish you the best of luck, both with the posters here and the community member. Edit: Sorry, missed your post about getting it paid with the letter. Congrats!

Thanks! I appreciate the vote of confidence. You are correct on all counts. Our HOA is so benign in what we do that we meet once a year for an hour to vote in the board members which basically goes to whoever says, "not me" last. I was "roped" in to being the president since I had just moved in and they shanghaied me basically!

I really don't know what the issue is with the "S"s. Something is there that I am not seeing. I have never seen that kind of rage/hatred/psychological issues in anyone else, so I really have no frame of reference for their responses. Really just a total non-sequitur. But hey, they are entitled to their opinion, no matter how irrelevant.

**btw: This post needs to die so I am not going to respond anymore - thanks all for the help as stated to everyone, the HOA dues were paid and no further action is warranted. The dumping of the pool water is another issue and not really a violation of any HOA rules that I can find. So I recommended that the homeowner that is the victim of this to seek a solution under local/federal laws, of which there are some, particularly EPA related laws.