I have an issue with HOA fee's

As a owner I want to know is there anything I can do about the rising HOA fees in my town-home units. I moved here 2 years ago, and the fee changed from 110-130 a few months after I move in, and then now I am getting a notice about the costs rising to 160 starting January. That is a monthly fee.. I don't see much if any change in the stuff being done around my town-home set. It has dead plants right and left.. (the ones in front of my house have been dead all summer, and I complained about them. They did trim our bushes and my screen to my windows ended up torn from them cutting it. I have noticed they changed water heads to our sprinklers, but they are still not working as they need to be.. Please help!!!

Review your annual budget. You should see all expenses and how your assessments are being spent. Remember costs are going up all the time and your assessments need to keep up with it. Just because they are not doing anything 'new' it doesn't mean that the cost of 'old' didn't go up.

I would add the following to Melissa's comment - GET INVOLVED IN YOUR HOA! Perhaps there's a finance committe that advises the board - why not join to help them research ways to save money, such as evaluating vendors or searching for new ones that do businesses with HOAs?

Incidentally, you should also remember inflation - as Melissa pointed out, many HOA boards can raise fees up to 3% over the current rate. The rate of inflation is between 2.5% and 3.5% (depending on which enonomist or government study is doining the quoting) so the $110 you might have paid when you brought your home has lost some of its spending power.

You should also ask your board about reserve funds - if you have one, part of your dues is used for that and the rest must cover monthly expenses. Now toss in the homeowners who don't pay fees (or refuse to) for whatever reason - if you only get 80% or 70% of your budgeted income every month, the board has to make decisions as to what gets paid and there are some things you MUST pay, such as insurance or property taxes.

Jenny

politely remind the stupid board member that your "young money" is paying for just as much road, landscape, insurance, etc. as anyone else's "old and experienced" money, and then politely ask him again to explain/answer things. Heck, one might even politely remind the old geezer that it is the job of the elders to inform, educate, and raise up the youngers, and he's doing a crappy job of it by being condescending.

Jenny - Why not join the board or the grounds committee?

Jenny, it sounds as though you want a position on your HOA's board of directors. You already have a position on your HOA because you're a homeowner. Your ownership makes you a member of the HOA.

Board members, on the other hand, are elected by homeowners at annual members' meetings prior to which ballots are sent to homeowners. So . . . what are you "petitioning" to do? Is there a vacancy on the board that you want to fill?

To get a good start on becoming elected to the board of directors, learn your governing documents, e.g., the CC&Rs, bylaws, etc. Learn the financials. As much as possible, make sure that your board complies with the TX law to provide 72 hrs. notice before regular meetings of the board. Also to better prepare yourself, join an HOA committee as others above have suggested. The board approves committee members.

If your HOA has no committees, submit a written request to the board to authorize you to form a committee, e.g., a Grounds Committee. Ask your board to place your request on its next regular meeting agenda. Your attempt to get the board to approve such a committee will be most effective if you can entice 2 other homeowners to join you on it, an include their names on your written request. Such a committee won't necessarily cost your HOA more in dues. As a committee, you may well find a way to work within the existing annual grounds maintenance budget more efficiently. This is exactly how our HOA's grounds were improved without going over budget.

Please check your governing documents, Jenny. The HOA members (homeowners) generally. vote for members of the board of directors, i. e., "directors."

I'm not sure what you man by "officials."

If you mean OFFICERS on the board, i.e., president, vice president, secretary, treasurer are typical, they usually are appointed by the board. Officers are usually, but not always members of the board, but again, that depends on your governing documents.

Again, please read your documents so that, at minimum, you can learn the language of HOAs.

Well, I'm not young, and have read a whole lot about HOAs but have not seen the word "officials." So, for lack of a better term, what is the governing body of your HOA? A Board of Officials? How many of them are there?

Is it possible that your "HOA" is not a "corporation," but is legally something else?

Jenny,

It sounds like you might still be under control of the declarant (developer). When the developer is in control, the members typically have little say until control of the Association is turned over to the membership.

One indication that a declarant might still be in control is if new construction is still happening or if there are homes built that haven't been sold yet.

Do you think that this is the case for your development?