Common Area Conversion by Homeowner

I have an interesting problem.

I am the VP of a newer association. We have a homeowner who took it upon himself prior to the developer turnover to plant a landscaping berms adjacent to his property. It extends 50 feet into the common area on two sides, basically sectioning off 5000 square feet of common area for his own private use. It includes trees, rocks, shrubs, etc. Developer had turned a blind eye and told us it was our problem now!

When the Board was elected early this year, we made removing this a priority due to other homeowner complaints. The homeowner involved has responded to our letters accepting responsibility and refusing to remove it. We placed a lien (per our Declaration document) for the removal and repair of the area. He is now selling his house.We met with him and he agreed to remove the items, in which case we will remove the lien. It still has not been done. These homeowners are not pleasant people.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Illinois Condo act and our Declaration clearly put us in the right, but it is a big pain. And we all know you can sue anyone for anything (we have insurance to cover legal fees)

Ideas?

I was aware that he could not get a clear deed- just curious if anyone had dealt with a similar situation before and the outcome/suggestions.

We don't have a management company- I have been able to handle systems, setup, database, letters, etc. myself for our association of 300. I am a Realtor as well, and in Illinois suburbs it has been my experience that the Management companies locally are inept. They charge a lot of money for little work or follow up.

We held our ground through threats of legal action and middle of the night vandalism of one members home. happy to report all landscaping has been removed and the area has been repaired. Lien can now be removed and it only cost us $46 to get it all done! (rather than $3000 had we not pursued)

SB3, The "so what" attitude doesn't cut it when it comes to common areas. It is the responsibility of the Association to maintain common areas and no one, single homeowner has any right to stake claim to any common areas of which he does not own. He overstepped his bounds by "assuming" he could do anything he wants outside his own property lines.

Maybe your association allows such things and if it works for you that's fine. But it must be something your board of directors/association agreed to. Just because that guy's developer "turned a blind eye" the Association has every right to get things back in order to be in compliance with their documents and rules.

Welcome to HOATalk.

.......back in September 2005. LOL