Gated HOA Gated Community Streets Responsibility

By Robert Lee Long
Citizens say streets in Cross Creek, a private gated community in Hernando, are in need of repair and one of the ways to upgrade their condition is to make them public. One way to achieve improvements and upgrades is to turn the streets over to the city. At issue, however, is the fact that plats of the subdivision will have to be changed, and if the streets are taken into the city, they will have to be accessible to the public.

Leigh Pegram, president of the Cross Creek Homeowners Association, said the group is exploring their options and has retained an attorney. She plans to brief Homeowners Association members on information she received at Tuesday’s board meeting at an upcoming meeting of the Homeowners’ Association.

City Attorney Kenneth Stockton said Cross Creek is platted and recorded as a private gated subdivision. Stockton is seeking an Attorney General’s Opinion on the public access issue. Pegram disagreed slightly, saying the word “private” never appears on the plat. However, at present individuals must have an access code to gain entrance into the subdivision. There are presently two active gates and an emergency gate to allow law enforcement officers and firefighters access to the subdivision.

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Who Pays For HOA BulkHeads

By Gretchen Wenner
One of Oxnard’s premier neighborhoods, where boats nose up to million-dollar homes and the ocean beckons just beyond the harbor, has a problem borne of its marine environment: Sea walls are getting old. The reinforced concrete walls that protect Mandalay Bay’s 743 homes were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They had a projected life span of roughly 40 years — time that’s about up.

A group of homeowners is advocating pre-emptive repairs that would cost a fraction of the estimated $118 million needed for total replacement. A recent evaluation found some stretches are at risk of catastrophic failure, but targeted resurfacing could keep the structures standing 25 more years or so.

The challenge is determining who pays for the repairs, expected to cost millions of dollars.

Bill Scarpino, a resident and member of the Channel Islands Waterfront Homeowners Association, thinks the city owns the sea walls and is responsible for maintenance, just as it is for a public street. He has a folder stuffed 4 inches thick with old city resolutions and court rulings that he says prove it.

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Homeowner Association Attorney Ethics

By Jan Bergemann
In a perfect community association world the association attorney would make sure that the interests of all members of the community are represented when acting on behalf of the association. The actions of the attorney would benefit all members of the community – since all are paying the legal bills equally. Board members and owners should be able to rely on an attorney, who acts as the professional the association hired to represent its legal interest.

But since we are not in a perfect community association world, we see lots of problems caused by association attorneys who make it their main objective to protect the members of the board who signed their retainer agreement and who sign the checks – no matter what. It should not be the task of the association attorney to find ways to circumvent the statutes and the governing documents in order to please the board members who may have a private agenda or try to defend their personal egos.

We see frivolous lawsuits filed all the time, filed by overeager association attorneys – just because some board member has something to hide and doesn’t like an outspoken owner to challenge his/her “private agenda.” These lawsuits are definitely not in the best interest of these associations or the paying members.

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HOAs Adjust To Texas Law Changes

By MATTHEW WATKINS
Want to go green by harvesting rainwater and installing solar panels at your house? Your homeowners association can no longer stop you, even if it considers the projects eyesores. Religious symbols under a certain height and flagpoles with United States, Texas or military flags are now also fair game.

And if your homeowners association wants to foreclose on your home for missed dues and unpaid fines, there are new hurdles it must clear. That is because of a series of new laws passed during the 2011 legislative session that have shaken up how the state’s numerous and sometimes controversial homeowners associations operate.

The laws cover much more than the regulation of members’ yards. Now, all associations must follow open records and meetings laws, meaning they are subject to freedom of information requests, are required to give 72 hours notice before each board meeting and must take meeting minutes.

They now must obtain an expedited court order to foreclose on a house. And they must offer payment plans for their dues and follow new regulations for how they collect and apply payments.

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13 Helps Condo Owner Get Action From HOA

By Loni Blandford
Water can cause quite a lot of damage when it leaks, especially if you are living in an apartment. So when it happened at one Valley condo, the owners turned to their Homeowner’s Association. But when they couldn’t get an answer, they turned to Action News.

“Apparently, there was a leak upstairs,” explained Darlene Castello.

Water started leaking into the Las Vegas condo owned by Darlene’s parents. It damaged the walls and even the carpet. So Darlene called the Homeowner’s Association for help. “I started calling daily. Leaving message after message after message,” said Darlene.

Darlene says she knew who she needed to speak with but he wasn’t returning her calls. “Nobody’s calling back. Let me talk to a supervisor. Well I’m sorry the supervisor is not available would you like to leave a message. I mean that’s all I ever got,” said Darlene.

Darlene says after three months with no response, she decided to call Action News. Our Call for Action volunteers reached out to HOA for her. To her amazement, it worked almost instantly.

–> Read Complete Story Here

Texas Homeowner Association Laws

By Bill Oliver
With more than 60 homeowners associations (HOA), the city of College Station TX is devoting staff time to staying on top of new state laws. Barbara Moore of College Station’s neighborhood services office says additional requirements for HOA’s will affect how she does her job. Before new laws took affect January 1st, Moore says they worked with recruiting and training new HOA officers. Now, she will be assisting HOA’s with complying with new open meetings and records requirements among other things.

Moore says a recent meeting with 80 HOA representatives and members of a HOA trade association generated some surprise from HOA leaders about the increased responsibility caused by new state laws.

–> Original Article Here

–> Link To Texas HOA Laws

Tomball TX Police Connects Homeowner Associations

By Catherine Dominguez
Despite a small turnout, area residents along with the Tomball Police Department are moving forward with an initial email list to get local homeowners association leaders connected. Administrative Sergeant Rebecca Carlisle with the Tomball Police Dept. met with residents March 8 to provide them with information about what they can do to increase security in their communities and discourage crime.

Carlisle said it was important for local communities to establish an electronic system to communicate with each other, including using social media like Facebook and Twitter along with an email blast list. She also said it was critical for HOA officials to enforce HOA regulations, ensure landscaping is maintained and make sure all lights are working in their neighborhood. “This is up to (community members),” Carlisle said.

The meeting was organized by Councilman Mark Stoll, who lives in Spring Pine Estate of Zion Road. After recent reports of two scams in local subdivisions, Stoll decided to put aside his status as a councilman and help organize a community policing system.

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Legislator ‘oops’ on HOA Legislation HB-2160

by Kathleen Stinson
Arizona House Bill 2160, authored by Scottsdale Republican state Rep. John Kavanagh and approved by the state House earlier this week, sets new standards for condominium and HOA board elections. It will now go before a Senate committee.

Kavanagh said his bill guarantees secret ballots, prohibits an HOA from including endorsements in official board mailings, prohibits counting ballots before the close of an election, allows for a representative from each candidate to observe the counting, and provides that any identifying information be placed on the outer envelope and not on the ballot itself.

Kavanagh said his bill does not require HOAs to disclose the vote counts to its members “because I never imagined an HOA not announcing the vote numbers.

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Associa Announces Opening of Texas HOA Collections Service

There was a recent news article that announced that – HOA Collection Services (HCS), an Associa company, launches this week in Texas and California, providing collection services to community associations.

“When community association Boards find collections services necessary, it is paramount to provide efficient, respectful service at a competitive cost,” said Paul Reyes, president of HCS.

Associa is the largest Homeowner Association and Property Owner Association companies in the United States and is moving into Canada and Mexico. It is a diversified company with branches in every aspect of HOAs, including homeowner association management, insurance, and now collections. Associa also owns a homeowner shopping enterprise, a political PAC, finance corporation, .

At the same time that John Carona, owner and founder of Associa, was building up the company, he was also building up a political career. He is a Texas state Senator and his company, Associa, also founded a Political PAC – Associa PAC. Senator Carona currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, Joint Chairman of the Legislative Oversight Board on Windstorm Insurance and as Co-Chairman of the Joint Interim Committee to Study Seacoast Territory Insurance. He also serves as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting and the Senate Criminal Justice, Education and Jurisprudence committees.

Personal comment begins….. I don’t think that legislators, through their private corporation ownership, should be allowed ‘PAC ownership’. And, I really question the sanity of allowing legislators to own companies that would benefit from their own legislation, especially when they have a way to funnel their own company funds, through a political PAC, into their political candidate choices. This is just too much ‘ownership’ of enterprises that can effect every citizen in that geographic area. I believe that this type of activity may be at the core of the ‘disgruntled voters’ in this country. …. end of personal comment.

What do you think?