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Should homeowner associations have the power to foreclose on homes?   Yes:  16% No:  84%

Page # 1 2 13. What happened to "Love Thy Neighbor"?     I believe a HOA has no right to Foreclose, after all the BOD are our neighbors! California has the most I'm told and most HOA's here are the worst in the nation. What happened to "Love Thy Neighbor"? In my opinion, many of our association board members who served in the last 40 years never attend board meetings once they serve. And our board; same members served for seven (7) years without a quorum! In my opinion that is an injustice. In our HOA there's been many accusations of illeged embezzlements . The District Attorney wouldn't touch the complaint-with proof-unless the amount was a million bucks! The Attorney Generals office will answer a complaint letter, the answer is always the same, "hire an attorney". The Cal Corp. codes state "the Attorney General 'MAY' intercede on the HO's behalf", that's a cop out! I believe the MAY is a mighty deceiving word. It would be nice if HOA'S were disbanned-entirely in single dwelling tract homes without gated communities! Could a measure be put on the ballot to offer a voluntary membership? That would be nice. Give the little guys a break! Many of my neighbors ask, what rights do we have - I tell them none! The board members who are our neighbors, tsk,tsk, they never gave a hoot about their neighbors in our tract; after all the BOD have all the power and they know it! They also have access to the bank account. Our last board fled a couple years ago when they found out one of the members received a check register anonomously, with many questionable expenditures shown. The internet is a great place, however, would it be presumptious to ask that a nation wide newsletter be published for those who do not have a PC, nor access to the net. Posted Aug 26 2006 4:13PM CEST     Username withheld Torrance, California   12. In Texas anyway, is that the assessment is a secured debt     Regarding secured debt versus unsecured debt: The problem, in Texas anyway, is that the assessment is a secured debt. Any type of loan or debt can be made secured through a contractual agreement. Our CCRs make that debt secured by our property and the CCRs are part of the purchase contract. Posted Aug 1 2006 2:14PM CEST     Judith Watkins , Texas   11. If you look at the poll data, it is 84% of voters say, "NO".     Re: Should homeowner associations have the power to foreclose on homes? The polling data you have on your outgoing Email concerning this poll is incorrect. Your Email states that 84% of voters have said, "YES", HOA's should be able to foreclose on a home. That is not true. If you look at the poll data, it is 84% of voters say, "NO". Bill Mills San Clemente, California AHRC Response You are correct. The results for this poll is as follows: Should homeowner associations have the power to foreclose on homes? No 84% No 16% Thank you for the correction AHRC Staff Posted Jul 31 2006 1:56AM CEST     Username withheld , California   10. A homeowner loses not only his/her house but all their investment in it.     I do believe that associations should have some way of collecting dues. But one of my biggest problems, at least in Texas - maybe other states - is that these foreclosures are not equity based. A homeowner loses not only his/her house but all their investment in it. Buying a house with little or no mortage for a few thousand dollars is a heck of a deal and could be very profitable. And what about those on fixed incomes who experience an increase in their assessments beyond the ability to pay? Is it fair they should lose - or even risk losing - their homes? What about people who encounter a hardship, a serious illness? Should they be punished? Posted Jul 30 2006 4:50PM CEST     Judith Watkins , Texas   9. Kicking someone out of their home for any reason is not something that should be allowed for a non-secured debt.     The issue of who can and can not foreclose on a home is probably one of the touchiest problems on this forum. Different states and different HOA's all have different solutions. Let's start with the basic premise that the individual homeowner owes some legitimate debt to the HOA. In this country we have two kinds of debt. One is secured and the other is unsecured. Secured debt is like the mortgage on your house or the payment on your car. It is secured by the physical asset. Unsecured debt is like credit card debt. Yes, you owe some amount on your credit card because you charged something. However, the credit card company does not have the right to seize your property in order to force you to pay the debt. What a credit card company can do is add negative comments to your credit report. If the unsecured amount you owe is large enough, they can even get a lien against your property. A lien doesn't allow them to foreclose. It just clouds the title so that if you ever sell the property, you can't close escrow without clearing the lien. I believe that HOA fines and dues should NOT be considered secured debt. When we all signed the papers to join our HOA, we agreed to abide by the rules. Of course we are obligated to pay what's owed to our HOA. Any one who doesn't pay their legitimate dues is just cheating their neighbors. However, in all of the CC&R's I've read, no where does it say that the HOA can foreclose on my home. Foreclosure is something that has been allowed by the state and legal bureaucracies. If a HOA can't foreclose, how can they get their money? The answer is Small Claims Court. In California a corporation can sue for up to $5,000 (an individual can sue for up to $7,500). Most HOA claims are much less than $5,000. Does a decision in the HOA's favor force the homeowner to pay? No, the HOA would be just like the credit card company. They would have a lien against the homeowner's property. The homeowner could never sell without clearing the lien, and their credit would be negatively affected until the lien was cleared. However, there are exceptions. There is such a thing as an HOA that has ulterior motives for foreclosing. The number may be very small, but it's real. And because there are exceptions, home ownership should be protected. It should be protected, if for no other reason, because the two parties may have legitimate disagreements between amounts owed. Neither party should be given such ultimate control of the final decision. Only God doesn't make mistakes. Kicking someone out of their home for any reason is not something that should be allowed for a non-secured debt. Bill Mills Service 1st Mediation & Ombudsman Services San Clemente, CA Posted Jul 29 2006 8:13PM CEST     Bill Mills (View Profile) San clemente, California   8. What part of homeownership do you not understand?     Ms. Pearman: One question did the HOA pay any monthly notes on the property? Whoever makes the monthly notes is the owner! What part of homeownership do you not understand???????? Mrs. LeVelle Virginia Posted Dec 29 2005 6:18AM CET     chris le velle (View Profile) winchester, Virginia   7. But wouldn't it be more civil to help your neighbor instead of taking his home and casting him out?     The Homeowner Associations have NO financial investment in your real estate when they claim they are protecting the value of "your property" by applying rules and regulations in the CC&R. So what does the HOA have to lose? The members can try to get the rules changed if they are impossible to live with or try to replace unbending members of the board. There is nothing tangable that the board holds or has invested in that can be taken from them as punishment when they behave badly. I might be convinced that fining a member for bad conduct or poor up keep of his property could be in-line. But wouldn't it be more civil to help your neighbor instead of taking his home and casting him out. Posted Dec 6 2005 5:02PM CET     Username withheld Hendersonville, North Carolina   6. Many Homeowner Association have no right to use "Association" in its title     Association is defined "...the state of being associated; companionship; fellowship; partnership." Many Homeowner Association have no right to use "Association" in its title - to allow them to foreclose would be granting more power to misuse and abuse. John Mack South Carolina PROFILE: The wife and I recently purchased out soon-to-be retirement home in SC and my experience with the HOA has been very disappointing "Association" is defined as "...the state of being associated;companionship;fellowship;partnership." If "truth-in advertising" standards were applied to each HOA I wonder what noun would be the most often used by homeowners to reflect their opinion of the respect,treatment and tactics these organizations provide? Posted Nov 19 2005 2:16AM CET     John Mack (View Profile) , South Carolina   5. Who could possibly argue that an HOA should NOT have the power to foreclose on a home?     Who could possibly argue that an HOA should NOT have the power to foreclose on a home? Foreclosure is commonly the only recourse that an Association has for delinquent dues. If foreclosure is not available, why would anybody bother to pay dues if there is no consequence? A person is informed of HOA status at or prior to closing of purchase of a home. If a person doesn't want HOA involvement, he or she should buy a home somewhere else. If a person is dissatisfied with an Association, try attending a few meetings and do something about the actions of your Board instead of belly-ache about it. A Homeowners Board is simply a group of property owners, and "runaway Boards" can be shut down in a single meeting if enough opposition shows up just once. I'm constantly floored by the number of people that complain about the actions of their Board but aren't willing to participate in any activities of the Association. If a person isn't an active participant or has never even written a letter of complaint to the Board, he or she is implying that they approve of the actions of the Board. If you don't speak up, the Board will keep going thinking that they have your support. Don't complain to other homeowners, complain to the Board! Brian Hanson Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USER PROFILE: Administrative Services Director for Condominium Owners Association. Independent contractor position to provide all administrative services for operation of the HOA, including billing, collecting, recordkeeping, maintenance and renovation project coordination, and all other services as required for successful and prosperous operation of the HOA. Position is held on the Board of Directors as President of the Board, with voting rights rescinded. Posted Oct 12 2005 3:39AM CEST     Brian Hansen (View Profile) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma   4. Please forgive the semantics... After 6 months have passed we turn over the collection process to our attorney     I am VP of a homeowners association in King County, Washington. Please forgive the semantics, but here the HOA cannot foreclose on the property - it is the county government that will initiate foreclosure proceedings. We are a relatively young association, nine years old, having assumed duties from a property management company after most of the lots were developed. We give the homeowner every opportunity to contact us once the dues are past due, including utilizing registered mail to contact them. After 6 months have passed we turn over the collection process to our attorney. He also makes every attempt to contact the property owner and settle the past dues and late fees. If he is unsuccessful he sets up a lien with the county, which then gives the homeowner additional opportunities to pay the amount of the lien (although there is less time allowed at this point to settle). If the homeowner still does not pay then foreclosure proceedings are initiated - it's basically still up to the homeowner. It seems kind of crazy that a homeowner would let his or her home become subject to risk over a yearly homeowner dues payment that probably in most states is less than three months of gasoline charges....... I know that our HOA would accept any reasonable payment approach to settle overdue association fees - we have about five thousand dollars worth of uncollected dues - our monthly newsletters reiterate the information about how the dues are used to address monthly costs for association-owned street lights, landscaping and sprinkler system utilization for our "tot-lot". Most of the title companies are up-front about telling prospective buyers of the active HOA here, and the people keep buying. I don't know who they are trying to fool by not paying the dues. Bottom line - I agree with the two other folks who said pay the bill - it's cheaper than living with bad credit if you lose your home. Art Strong West Virgina Posted Sep 9 2005 3:57AM CEST     Art Strong , West Virginia   Page # 1 2

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