Sample HOA complaint letter to Builders

JessicaH (Louisiana)
Posts: 1

Posted:

I am the HOA sec for our board. Our community has just been turned over and our owners have complied a "complaint" list of things the builders should have taken care of before turning over to us. Our situation is a little unfair as the developper turned over HOA control to our builder over a year ago. Now that the builder is done building in our community and is about to move their model, they have handed over the HOA to us. With this, we have inherited a multitude of things that were not properly handeled. We want to contact the builders and give them a timeline for correcting these issues before they leave the community or we are considering leagal action. Can anyone send me a sample "complaint letter" so that I can make sure I am writting our complaints in a professional manner? Thanks.

JosephW (Michigan)
Posts: 882

Posted:

First you have to determine if the association is the proper entity to handle the complaints. If you're an HOA where the association has no responsibility for the maintenance of the homes, and if the problems are mainly with the homes, then the association may not have any standing to bring any complaints. If the problems are with common areas, where the association has maintenance and repair responsibility, then the association is the proper body to complain. Check your documents to see. If its a combination of problems then the issues may have to be dealt with separately.

If the problems are between the owner and the builder/developer, then they may have to bring them individually or in a class action.

If the problems are with the common areas, how were they determined? Generally it is recommended that the association retain a licensed engineer or architect to review the common areas as soon as the association can get one to make sure they were built to code and specification and to give the board a good idea of how long they will last for reserve planning purposes. Even if the problems may seem obvious, an independent report from an expert can go a lot farther than some complaints from non-experts. It will definitely go a lot farther in court if you end up there.

In any event, you are now a business and the board is charged with doing what is best for the association and in this case, it probably means retaining an attorney also to advise you as to your responsibilities. Right now you don't know what you don't know and you don't want to get too far down the road guessing as to how to proceed. If the problems are ones the association should deal with, have the attorney draft the letter to the builder or developer, it will be harder for them to ignore.

This isn't quite what you asked for, but I hope it helps. If not, maybe you can provide a little more detail.

Joe

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LisaP (Florida)
Posts: 32

Posted:

Did the developer act as the Board before turnover? If so, what state are you in? Also, when he the developer turned it over, did he turn it over to a Board of owners or to the builder?