Be Careful when Buying in Condo HOA

[CA renter]

My very conservative father (Great Depression baby), who never had any debt except small mortgage loans, was foreclosed on during the last downturn in LA precisely because of these special assessments.

He refused to go along with the HOA because he didn’t think the work was needed (new asphalt, new roofs, etc.). They fought so hard he got death threats, and lawyers were fighting back-and-forth. Real ugly.

He gave up and let it foreclose. He had put 30% down when he bought, and lost all of it.

The problem is very few homes are being built without HOAs. This should definitely be changed, IMO, even if buyers had to pay extra up-front to help pay for infrastructure costs. No Mello-Roos! It should be factored into the cost of the house…therefore, the developers should pay LESS for the land.

Then, there’s this story out today:

Jim Greenwood is parking his 2007 Ford F-150 in the garage, but he’s not through battling the Frisco homeowners’ association. He says the association has declared the iconic Texas truck not upscale enough to leave in his driveway.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/081908dnmetfriscotrucks.ecbc1d7.html

[TuVu]

I went to the Dallas News link. Thank God we bought an older house with no HOA. Of course, there’s the family down the street who appparently decided to paint the house the same color as the yellow line dividing the road. This is a convenient landmark, though. We tell friends who have never been here, “Go past the house painted the same color as the line in the street.”

OT: I am embarrassed that I got sidetracked on the Dallas News with a link to a quiz about how much one knows about the show “Dallas,” which started 30 years ago. I got every one of the 10 questions right! I announced this to my husband and he said sarcastically, “Woot. Gonna put that on your resume?” In my own defense, I told myself years ago that if the whole year of Bobby off the show is written off as a Pam dream, I will never watch that show again. And I DIDN’T.

[TuVu]

I went to the Dallas News link. Thank God we bought an older house with no HOA. Of course, there’s the family down the street who appparently decided to paint the house the same color as the yellow line dividing the road. This is a convenient landmark, though. We tell friends who have never been here, “Go past the house painted the same color as the line in the street.”

OT: I am embarrassed that I got sidetracked on the Dallas News with a link to a quiz about how much one knows about the show “Dallas,” which started 30 years ago. I got every one of the 10 questions right! I announced this to my husband and he said sarcastically, “Woot. Gonna put that on your resume?” In my own defense, I told myself years ago that if the whole year of Bobby off the show is written off as a Pam dream, I will never watch that show again. And I DIDN’T.

[TuVu]

I went to the Dallas News link. Thank God we bought an older house with no HOA. Of course, there’s the family down the street who appparently decided to paint the house the same color as the yellow line dividing the road. This is a convenient landmark, though. We tell friends who have never been here, “Go past the house painted the same color as the line in the street.”

OT: I am embarrassed that I got sidetracked on the Dallas News with a link to a quiz about how much one knows about the show “Dallas,” which started 30 years ago. I got every one of the 10 questions right! I announced this to my husband and he said sarcastically, “Woot. Gonna put that on your resume?” In my own defense, I told myself years ago that if the whole year of Bobby off the show is written off as a Pam dream, I will never watch that show again. And I DIDN’T.

[TuVu]

I went to the Dallas News link. Thank God we bought an older house with no HOA. Of course, there’s the family down the street who appparently decided to paint the house the same color as the yellow line dividing the road. This is a convenient landmark, though. We tell friends who have never been here, “Go past the house painted the same color as the line in the street.”

OT: I am embarrassed that I got sidetracked on the Dallas News with a link to a quiz about how much one knows about the show “Dallas,” which started 30 years ago. I got every one of the 10 questions right! I announced this to my husband and he said sarcastically, “Woot. Gonna put that on your resume?” In my own defense, I told myself years ago that if the whole year of Bobby off the show is written off as a Pam dream, I will never watch that show again. And I DIDN’T.

[TuVu]

I went to the Dallas News link. Thank God we bought an older house with no HOA. Of course, there’s the family down the street who appparently decided to paint the house the same color as the yellow line dividing the road. This is a convenient landmark, though. We tell friends who have never been here, “Go past the house painted the same color as the line in the street.”

OT: I am embarrassed that I got sidetracked on the Dallas News with a link to a quiz about how much one knows about the show “Dallas,” which started 30 years ago. I got every one of the 10 questions right! I announced this to my husband and he said sarcastically, “Woot. Gonna put that on your resume?” In my own defense, I told myself years ago that if the whole year of Bobby off the show is written off as a Pam dream, I will never watch that show again. And I DIDN’T.

[SD Realtor]

HOAs are super tough. A few things that may or may not help you the buyer is to be super proactive. Don’t be afraid to try to contact board members. It may not be easy but if you are persistent you can find them.

UR made good points about things such as a CLUE report (note that CLUE reports go back 5 years I believe) and also a CLUE report gives the actual amount paid out for a claim and then the insurance code for the claim. Finding out other details about the claim itself is your task but a CLUE is essential to ask for.

Also as a buyer always make sure that you don’t ever let any contingency period pass in a passive manner. It really is your agents job to make sure that when a contingency date is rolling up, to then be proactive and send a contingency removal form that explicitely keeps in place, any such contingencies that cannot be removed for lack of information. This would include filing a notice to perform for any documentation that has not been delivered to you.

The delivery for HOA docs is lame. HOA docs are ordered from escrow. An HOA demand is placed (usually with a property manager or a 3rd party such as Condo Certs) then the docs get sent to escrow and then to you or straight to you. The process rarely happens in a timely manner. While it is clearly not the buyers responsibility to get those docs delivered in time, (because in reality there is nothing the buyer can do) it is the buyers (or more likely) the buyers agent to handle the situation in a responsible manner. Notice to perform, contingency removal with exceptions noted, and even an addendum explicitely stating buyers right to retain that contingency until after delivery and examination of the HOA docs are tools that are at the disposal of the realtor.

Another item of concern is the developer. Suppose you are considering purchasing into a development that is less then 10 years old. Suppose that there are builders defects and there will be a lawsuit where the residents or HOA plans to bring action against the developer. Let’s say for instance plumbing issues, or some big ticket items… Okay so if the developer declares bankruptcy or is out of business who do you suppose will have to then pay to remedy those defects?

[SD Realtor]

HOAs are super tough. A few things that may or may not help you the buyer is to be super proactive. Don’t be afraid to try to contact board members. It may not be easy but if you are persistent you can find them.

UR made good points about things such as a CLUE report (note that CLUE reports go back 5 years I believe) and also a CLUE report gives the actual amount paid out for a claim and then the insurance code for the claim. Finding out other details about the claim itself is your task but a CLUE is essential to ask for.

Also as a buyer always make sure that you don’t ever let any contingency period pass in a passive manner. It really is your agents job to make sure that when a contingency date is rolling up, to then be proactive and send a contingency removal form that explicitely keeps in place, any such contingencies that cannot be removed for lack of information. This would include filing a notice to perform for any documentation that has not been delivered to you.

The delivery for HOA docs is lame. HOA docs are ordered from escrow. An HOA demand is placed (usually with a property manager or a 3rd party such as Condo Certs) then the docs get sent to escrow and then to you or straight to you. The process rarely happens in a timely manner. While it is clearly not the buyers responsibility to get those docs delivered in time, (because in reality there is nothing the buyer can do) it is the buyers (or more likely) the buyers agent to handle the situation in a responsible manner. Notice to perform, contingency removal with exceptions noted, and even an addendum explicitely stating buyers right to retain that contingency until after delivery and examination of the HOA docs are tools that are at the disposal of the realtor.

Another item of concern is the developer. Suppose you are considering purchasing into a development that is less then 10 years old. Suppose that there are builders defects and there will be a lawsuit where the residents or HOA plans to bring action against the developer. Let’s say for instance plumbing issues, or some big ticket items… Okay so if the developer declares bankruptcy or is out of business who do you suppose will have to then pay to remedy those defects?

[SD Realtor]

HOAs are super tough. A few things that may or may not help you the buyer is to be super proactive. Don’t be afraid to try to contact board members. It may not be easy but if you are persistent you can find them.

UR made good points about things such as a CLUE report (note that CLUE reports go back 5 years I believe) and also a CLUE report gives the actual amount paid out for a claim and then the insurance code for the claim. Finding out other details about the claim itself is your task but a CLUE is essential to ask for.

Also as a buyer always make sure that you don’t ever let any contingency period pass in a passive manner. It really is your agents job to make sure that when a contingency date is rolling up, to then be proactive and send a contingency removal form that explicitely keeps in place, any such contingencies that cannot be removed for lack of information. This would include filing a notice to perform for any documentation that has not been delivered to you.

The delivery for HOA docs is lame. HOA docs are ordered from escrow. An HOA demand is placed (usually with a property manager or a 3rd party such as Condo Certs) then the docs get sent to escrow and then to you or straight to you. The process rarely happens in a timely manner. While it is clearly not the buyers responsibility to get those docs delivered in time, (because in reality there is nothing the buyer can do) it is the buyers (or more likely) the buyers agent to handle the situation in a responsible manner. Notice to perform, contingency removal with exceptions noted, and even an addendum explicitely stating buyers right to retain that contingency until after delivery and examination of the HOA docs are tools that are at the disposal of the realtor.

Another item of concern is the developer. Suppose you are considering purchasing into a development that is less then 10 years old. Suppose that there are builders defects and there will be a lawsuit where the residents or HOA plans to bring action against the developer. Let’s say for instance plumbing issues, or some big ticket items… Okay so if the developer declares bankruptcy or is out of business who do you suppose will have to then pay to remedy those defects?

[SD Realtor]

HOAs are super tough. A few things that may or may not help you the buyer is to be super proactive. Don’t be afraid to try to contact board members. It may not be easy but if you are persistent you can find them.

UR made good points about things such as a CLUE report (note that CLUE reports go back 5 years I believe) and also a CLUE report gives the actual amount paid out for a claim and then the insurance code for the claim. Finding out other details about the claim itself is your task but a CLUE is essential to ask for.

Also as a buyer always make sure that you don’t ever let any contingency period pass in a passive manner. It really is your agents job to make sure that when a contingency date is rolling up, to then be proactive and send a contingency removal form that explicitely keeps in place, any such contingencies that cannot be removed for lack of information. This would include filing a notice to perform for any documentation that has not been delivered to you.

The delivery for HOA docs is lame. HOA docs are ordered from escrow. An HOA demand is placed (usually with a property manager or a 3rd party such as Condo Certs) then the docs get sent to escrow and then to you or straight to you. The process rarely happens in a timely manner. While it is clearly not the buyers responsibility to get those docs delivered in time, (because in reality there is nothing the buyer can do) it is the buyers (or more likely) the buyers agent to handle the situation in a responsible manner. Notice to perform, contingency removal with exceptions noted, and even an addendum explicitely stating buyers right to retain that contingency until after delivery and examination of the HOA docs are tools that are at the disposal of the realtor.

Another item of concern is the developer. Suppose you are considering purchasing into a development that is less then 10 years old. Suppose that there are builders defects and there will be a lawsuit where the residents or HOA plans to bring action against the developer. Let’s say for instance plumbing issues, or some big ticket items… Okay so if the developer declares bankruptcy or is out of business who do you suppose will have to then pay to remedy those defects?

[SD Realtor]

HOAs are super tough. A few things that may or may not help you the buyer is to be super proactive. Don’t be afraid to try to contact board members. It may not be easy but if you are persistent you can find them.

UR made good points about things such as a CLUE report (note that CLUE reports go back 5 years I believe) and also a CLUE report gives the actual amount paid out for a claim and then the insurance code for the claim. Finding out other details about the claim itself is your task but a CLUE is essential to ask for.

Also as a buyer always make sure that you don’t ever let any contingency period pass in a passive manner. It really is your agents job to make sure that when a contingency date is rolling up, to then be proactive and send a contingency removal form that explicitely keeps in place, any such contingencies that cannot be removed for lack of information. This would include filing a notice to perform for any documentation that has not been delivered to you.

The delivery for HOA docs is lame. HOA docs are ordered from escrow. An HOA demand is placed (usually with a property manager or a 3rd party such as Condo Certs) then the docs get sent to escrow and then to you or straight to you. The process rarely happens in a timely manner. While it is clearly not the buyers responsibility to get those docs delivered in time, (because in reality there is nothing the buyer can do) it is the buyers (or more likely) the buyers agent to handle the situation in a responsible manner. Notice to perform, contingency removal with exceptions noted, and even an addendum explicitely stating buyers right to retain that contingency until after delivery and examination of the HOA docs are tools that are at the disposal of the realtor.

Another item of concern is the developer. Suppose you are considering purchasing into a development that is less then 10 years old. Suppose that there are builders defects and there will be a lawsuit where the residents or HOA plans to bring action against the developer. Let’s say for instance plumbing issues, or some big ticket items… Okay so if the developer declares bankruptcy or is out of business who do you suppose will have to then pay to remedy those defects?

[CA renter]

All excellent points, SDR. Thank you!

[CA renter]

All excellent points, SDR. Thank you!

[CA renter]

All excellent points, SDR. Thank you!

[CA renter]

All excellent points, SDR. Thank you!

[Author]

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