I am not necessarily against HOA’s. My wife and I are considering buying a 2Bd/2Ba in RB as a second home, possibly for retirement. We would like something with low maintenance and a pool for our kids. This is difficult with part-time residency. I just think it is buyer beware. Newer PUDs (1990-2002) may not have these problems. Very new PUDs may have issues as indicated as initially stated.
However, I believe increase over 10% per year are required to be approved by the owners. High increases in dues after special assessments doesn’t make sense. The special assessment will cover the current shortfall. The additional dues required to cover the same roof should be spread over 30+ years.
Example:
Roof for each unit: $10,000.
No. of year life: 30 years
$10,000 / 30 years / 12 months = $27.78 per month.
This is without accrual of interest. There has to be other major issues for the dues to go from $150 to $350 per month.
The board may have just hired a very expensive Property Management Company.