Articles on Homeowners HOA
Does my Home Owner’s Association have the Right to Dig a Trench and Leave a Mess on my Property?
I have a 1 acre peice of property in a gated community. There is a 14 ft utility easement at the front of my property as there is a transformer there. The HOA came in on my property and installed Electrical power panels to service a gate for back entry/ exit to the sub division. They did not have my permission. They also dug a trench completely across my property about 2 feet wide to reach the transformer for power to the gate and when finished left my property in a mess. My question is, did the HOA have the right to do what they did without my permission? I live in a small (15 home) community outside Charlotte, NC. The community developer controlled the HOA initially, though within the past couple years, several new homes have been built and sold, and the new homeowners were told via realtors and at closing that there was no HOA and no fees due. The rest of the community has been living under the CC&R documents and paying lake access fees. Do we have an actionable HOA or not? If not, what do we need to do? Do the original CC&Rs stand? We live in Texas (north central); the developer in our subdivision had to add a retaining wall as a result of the City requiring them to install a detention pond. The retaining wall was partially installed on our property. The question is do we own the portion of the retaining wall that was incorrectly (we think) installed on our property line. We do not think we should be responsible for the repair and maintenance of the retaining wall. What do you think? As a small Home Owners Association in Washington state, we have a plated 60 foot access & egress easement which has existed for over 20 years. The easement in question passes across a tiny segment of the 5 acres of a single member’s property but they are exceedingly resistant to expanding the margin of the easement though the expansion will be into a completely unused area of their property and out of sight and will fully address their and our membership’s concerns of liability/risk. Given the facts above, within reason, and without damaging in any way the associate member’s property or its value does our Homeowner’s association have a right to demand the expansion of the easement margin? I am having an issue with my next door neighbor that has been ongoing for two years. I have tried to talk to the management company, but they have not been helpful. My question is I must notify my HOA that I plan on renting out my home. I can not rent it for more then 2 years in accordance with the HOA. Can the HOA say no to me renting out my home? What rights do I have? Can an HOA hold a homeowner liable for cutting down trees on HOA property when eye witness proof does not exist and the only evidence is circumstantial? I live in a Association Property with communal parking space in front of my backyard gate. We keep our trashcans in the back yard and bring them through this gate and the parking space to the communal street for trash day. Recently, a neighbor parked in the spot on trash day and did not leave much room between my house and his car. When my minor aged son took the trash out, after dark, he scratched our neighbor’s car. Who is liable for the damage to our neighbor’s car, us or the home owner association? I live in a Condo association in Pa. Our community is approx. 25% full and our condo documents state 2 members of the association should serve on the board at this time. Therefore the residents have elected 2 board members (one being myself). However when we have board meetings the developer (who supposedly is the other 75% of board) has no communication with us an never shows up at the board meetings. Instead the property management company is there in his place. They never let us decide anything, and they adhocly do what they want without even consulting us. Is there something I can do about this situation? Does a Condo Association have the legal right to build a sidewalk on a walk-way easement? An easement was approved by the township to allow residents access to a public walking trail, this easement was defined as a 20ft area between two adjoining lots. Does a Condo Association have the right to make such improvements; even if the owners of the lots do not agree with this (assuming it properly approved by a majority of residents)? What is the difference between an easement for INGRESS AND EGRESS (not exclusive) as opposed to an easement “OVER AND ACROSS” lands? The easements run through a gated community to a river. We are not a part of the HOA. Have any laws been broken when a condo association board member is also a realtor representing sellers in that complex, and having those units that are for sale (specifically those units represented by this person) reshingled etc. before other units in the complex which were ahead on the list? Can the Board of a HOA enter a private property within the community that happens to have the waterfall circuit board and the sprinkler system control panel located on their property? We can’t find anywhere in the documents or bylaws where the board was given a utility easement or access easement to get to these panels. Do we have a right to enter a backyard to access the control panels without a documented easement? Can this homeowner forbid us access to the panels? At the time we purchased the home we picked the lot, style, and elevation of the house specifically so we could enjoy the view. Our lot sits atop a hill, and overlooks the pond, and hills that are in the community. The people that live directly across the street from us are planning to build a garage which will effectively block the view we enjoy. The HOA board (which I am a member, as well as the homeowner planning the garage) says they cannot deny the request because there are other (2) detached garages in the community. However, neither of these garages obstructs the view of others. Is there anything I as a homeowner can do to prevent the garage from being built. An easement through an unincorporated HOA community in Yavapai County, AZ allows access through the community to landlocked abutting Property. Easement metes and bounds describe a route somewhat different from existing roads. Owner has unfettered access. Adherence to the described easement would require demo of some existing construction and construction of new roads. What are respective rights of community and easement grantee (Property owner)? For example, does the law allow the Property owner unrestricted rights to treat the route of his described easement however he deems necessary irrespective of the current use of that property? I am a member of a Homeowners Association and I have discovered that the Management Company and a member of the Communications Committee have been manipulating the website to cover up violations of the bylaws. What can I do? Recently, we had an issue where a tree died in a homeowner’s back yard. The tree was actually on the property that the HOA (Home Owner’s Association) owns. The homeowner cut the tree down due to the fact that it was a hazard to him and anyone in the lake in that area if the tree should have fallen. This homeowner has asked for reimbursement from the HOA for the cost of the removal of the tree due to the fact that the tree was on HOA property. Would the fact that lakefront owner’s have “property rights” to the water’s edge affect the legal responsibility of the HOA to pay for the removal of the tree? I live in a Condominium and I am having trouble with renters not abiding by the associations rules. The renters are running in the hallways, which causes loud noises and vibrates our walls that face the hallway. The association is saying that since we are it only ones that are complaining, that is doesn’t happen many times a day and that the only happens in the daytime, that they will no longer try to control the renters behavior. This has been going on for over 2 years. What recourse do we have to reclaim our peaceful living environment? I have lived in my house for 15 years the HOA requires that you have at least 4 trees on each lot, about 5 years ago a man bought the lot next door ,then he started putting in trees along property line trees that have lots of big leaves. I try to keep my yard looking nice but now I have to get up these leaves 3- 4 times a year. Is there anyway that I can make him pay me for my time and using my equipment? When I arrived back home ~9:00pm I had an envelope taped to my front door. It was on letterhead from the HOA, ( not signed by any person) saying that I was in violation of a sign covenant and if the sign was not removed by 12:00AM (3 hours later) I would be fined $500 per day until it was removed and no longer visible. I doubted the validity of the letter but removed the sign before midnight as per the letter to avoid the chance of any penalty until I could check on the validity of the letter. I have never had any interaction with the HOA before this and do not understand how such a swift assessment/violation can be accessed without some understanding of the issues. We have a neighbor who is hell bent on reporting any tiny violation of HOA covenants to the HOA, and takes pictures to email them. The pictures they have taken include the basement bedroom window of our roommate, who is not happy about pics being taken. Somehow I feel like this is an invasion of privacy, but don’t know what to do. I used to sit on a Homeowner’s Association, and then I resigned following a lawsuit which named me as a defendant. They had a new assessment, and brought in a new management company. Now the new management company is harrassing me. How can I get them to stop? The roof on my Unit was repaired personally by the previous owner of my Unit as a requirement before I purchased via FHA and is not in need of repair however, we were all assessed the same amount. Can a voting HOA member also act as a developer for the development? Someone has built a house down the block from us and has decided to put a dock 20 feet from us, and instead of making his own access to his dock he has decided to use ours. What can we do? The Home Owners Association of which I am a member is submitting for approval an amendment to the current Covenants which would proscribe the keeping of horses. Since horses were specifically allowed when I purchased my property and I have already invested in stalls and tack. An agreement between a townhome homeowners association and a neighboring condo homeowners association includes financial contributions for upkeep of property easements. Can one demand financial accountability from the other? Our nine unit ocean city condo association has recently voted to add boat slips. The association also added an addendum to this vote that states the boat slips can not be rented out. I personally don’t own a boat, and I have no plans of purchasing a boat as with several other members not on the board. Is the association legally allowed to extend to other members the expense of a luxury item like a boat slip? If they are, can they forbid anyone from renting their unused boat slips?
