Sue HOA when home value declines
 

On Wed, 1 Oct 2008 09:10:07 -0500, HeyBub wrote:
"[LONGMONT, Colo] A Longmont couple has turned the legal tables on their
homeowners' association - suing it not for being too overbearing with rules
enforcement but for being too lax. [Plaintiffs] complain in their suit that
houses around them feature architectural inconsistencies, lawns are choked
with weeds and construction projects are allowed to go on longer than the
association covenants allow."

They can go sue themselves. ****ing lazy idiots.

Sue HOA when home value declines
 

AZ Nomad wrote:

On Wed, 1 Oct 2008 09:10:07 -0500, HeyBub wrote:


"[LONGMONT, Colo] A Longmont couple has turned the legal tables on their
homeowners' association - suing it not for being too overbearing with rules
enforcement but for being too lax. [Plaintiffs] complain in their suit that
houses around them feature architectural inconsistencies, lawns are choked
with weeds and construction projects are allowed to go on longer than the
association covenants allow."



They can go sue themselves. ****ing lazy idiots.



I could write a book about boards not enforcing "rules" - our condo
"rules" include abiding by building
codes. With the wrong people on boards, it can go to extremes.....we
had board members (almost a
majority) who were chronically delinquent in their maint. assessments.
With one other owner on their
side, they accounted for half the association votes. Lazy? There were
elderly folks living here who had
to put up with no lighting whatever in the building atrium, stairs, and
walkways. There were open trash
containers infested with rats. One old couple, after both had passed
away, had an estate sale. I saw a
big rat trap on the shelf of the master bedroom closet. A roof beam
over the atrium was rotted and sagging
for years. The paint was peeling, the pavement in parking lot all
cracked and potholed. When one renter
complained to the city code folks about rat sounds in attic (above
second floor unit), the code inspector
found only "a dust ball in an AC duct". Had he looked in the attics
above all four wings of the building,
he would have found rat droppings. Most of this occurred prior to my
living here, but I know where the
bodies are buried :o) There has been extreme abuse directed at those
who don't "go along". This is not
a bad neighborhood, as the term commonly applies - very "upscale".

Why should someone spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a home and
have the value decline
ONLY because those vested with the responsibility for maintenance refuse
to do their jobs?

Sue HOA when home value declines
 

On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:48:53 -0400, Norminn wrote:
AZ Nomad wrote:

They can go sue themselves. ****ing lazy idiots.



I could write a book about boards not enforcing "rules" - our condo
"rules" include abiding by building
codes. With the wrong people on boards, it can go to extremes.....we
had board members (almost a
majority) who were chronically delinquent in their maint. assessments.
With one other owner on their
side, they accounted for half the association votes. Lazy? There were
elderly folks living here who had
to put up with no lighting whatever in the building atrium, stairs, and
walkways. There were open trash
containers infested with rats. One old couple, after both had passed
away, had an estate sale. I saw a
big rat trap on the shelf of the master bedroom closet. A roof beam
over the atrium was rotted and sagging
for years. The paint was peeling, the pavement in parking lot all
cracked and potholed. When one renter
complained to the city code folks about rat sounds in attic (above
second floor unit), the code inspector
found only "a dust ball in an AC duct". Had he looked in the attics
above all four wings of the building,
he would have found rat droppings. Most of this occurred prior to my
living here, but I know where the
bodies are buried :o) There has been extreme abuse directed at those
who don't "go along". This is not
a bad neighborhood, as the term commonly applies - very "upscale".

Why should someone spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a home and
have the value decline
ONLY because those vested with the responsibility for maintenance refuse
to do their jobs?

If you don't like the HOA, then do something about it. Communicate with
the neighbors. Go to meetings. Run for office in the HOA yourself.

Unfortunately, it involves more that whining and it involves getting
off your lazy ass.

Sue HOA when home value declines
 

clipped

If you don't like the HOA, then do something about it. Communicate with
the neighbors. Go to meetings. Run for office in the HOA yourself.


You missed the part where I said those hostile to maintaining properly
held half the votes? Don't
know how that would go unless one stuffed the ballot box :o)

Unfortunately, it involves more that whining and it involves getting
off your lazy ass.


Sure. Hire an attorney or file a complaint, which are very expensive
for the loser. And when the
other side is willing to lie to get ahead, then .............

Sue HOA when home value declines
 

Norminn wrote:
AZ Nomad wrote:

On Wed, 1 Oct 2008 09:10:07 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

(snip)
Why should someone spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a home and
have the value decline
ONLY because those vested with the responsibility for maintenance refuse
to do their jobs?
Any time you live someplace where others do the upkeep, and you don't
have the power/money/time/knowledge to hire and fire the work crews, you
are at risk. IMHO, attached/stacked condos are little better than
renting an apartment, with the same general level of upkeep. Sure, you
get equity, assuming the place remains salable, but along with making
normal-sized house payments, you are also making association payments.
In many cases, those equal or exceed the upkeep costs on a house, and
all you gain is the free time. For those that are not able to do their
own upkeep on a house, the alternative to a condo is to buy a house and
try to have a long-term arrangement with a competent and trustworthy
fixit guy. (Or your kids, if they didn't move far away. I did a lot of
repairs to my Grandparent's house...)

But having ranted all that- yes, if you have chosen to live in a condo,
and the association (and/or the management company they hired to do the
nuts and bolts of daily upkeep) falls down on the job, court is about
the only stick you have. They didn't hold up their end of the contracts
involved.

--
aem sends...