Legal Advice

[levi127]

I did a walk around my block today to note things and take more photos. I then called the 3rd party to see what they had to say. Well 15 violations and 11 of them they were already aware of. 1 person they have sent 6 notices to and 2 certified as well and nothing has changed. She said they would send another notice. The another person they have sent 4 notices to and 3 of them certified and nothing has changed. This has been over a 2 year period she said. So I asked why sue me and not them? They havent made payments either she said also. They are trying now to figure out what they can do which in our paperwork it states that they can sue you or remove the objects from your property at your costs, I was shocked when I read that.

So again they are aware of issues but doing nothing.
They came and looked at the creek today also. So now she is going to try and get a subdivision clean up day to remove the trees fallin over and debri in the creek. I laughed and asked her I thought our payments were to do that. She didnt have a response for that one. Then I asked where our funds went that we give to them. She said other then the common area being taken care of she was not able to provide me with that information..... BS

[farmerc83]

Thats the first clue as to it being a jacked up system. I insure alot of HOA's and kinda know how they work and not one of them have an outside 3rd party management firm to do anything. Thats what the HOA board is elected for. The only reason to use a management firm is in cases of like townhouses and apartment complexes..........I'd be asking who is getting a kickback from them.

^^^^^ What he said. I insure several too and have never heard of a third party for HOA made up of single family homes. Does make some sense tho about the management company only being over the dues collection side and sueing you for not paying dues. You either paid them or you didn't. An approach that might have helped get your issues taken care of would have been for you to keep your dues current, team up with some other dues paying, disgruntled homeowners and file suit against the HOA for breech of contract and mis-managing funds ($15-20k missing from a few years back). They should have Directors and Officers coverage in their insurance policy to cover them against such claims. This could also uncover info if a HOA board member is getting a kick back from the management company.

Also, and not trying to call you out Levi, but I've never seen a clause in an HOA agreement that said you are relieved of dues and covenant obligations so long as other property owners are commiting infractions. Each is responsible for his own, regardless of what the rest are doing.

[levi127]

Also, and not trying to call you out Levi, but I've never seen a clause in an HOA agreement that said you are relieved of dues and covenant obligations so long as other property owners are commiting infractions. Each is responsible for his own, regardless of what the rest are doing.

No problem man. I will be the 1st to say I didnt pay. I will tell the judge as well I havent and admit to that. But in our contract it says they are to meet everything the told us they would and they never have. I have the reasons why I havent paid and these are them. Way I look at it is why should I pay if they are doing nothing but cutting the grass around here? They are not full filling their part of the agreement and I see it as a breach of agreement on their part which has caused me not to pay. I dont know how to approach the judge on that honestly. Either he will listen or say well your suppose to pay regardless and close it right there without me saying a word.
thats why I wonder if I should take it to court or not. Im already paying the court costs so might as well. What they going to do tell me I owe them more? Maybe I can get a payment plan of 25.00 a month to them

[MudHog]

As a resident of the hood, can't you request a copy of their books to show where the money is going to?

Even if you do the math to know how much they have from the people that paid, you can use that to double check their records.






Makes me enjoy living in the country that much more!

[deltadukman]

^^^^^I agree Mudhog. I dont live in the country, but I dang sure dont live in no covenants subdivision where everyone is b!tching about something. You'll find out that the ones who like to voice their opinions in a HOA are more than likely the ones picked on growing up and they FINALLY get some kind of power and by golly they are gonna use it.

[levi127]

whats funny is I stopped going to the meetings a year ago. They were unreal. People complaining about ants and spiders and wasps. Wanted the 3rd party to do something about them. Then complaining about peoples yards not being manicured enough and flower beds were not to nice and such. It was crazy. Then the real issues I found out are the people in the board that have things wrong. But then they dont want to address them. So I told them im not paying a penny unless things change and are right in the hood.
I wish now every week we didnt live in a neighborhood.

[cwink]

I have found the one and only sure fire way to get the HOA to do someting is to become the President.. You know what they say.. If you want it done right, do it yourself..

[dandy_don]

Its on hwy 51 in southaven. Not sure of the judges name. It is small claims court I know that.

I was dragged into that very same court. I lost even though it was total BS. Those judges are not necessarily what you think should be a judge. The one I had was a realtor by trade, a judge during her down time. I'm pretty certain she never went to law school.

I was sued by the couple that purchased my home. They signed a contract that the house was sold "as-is", had the opportunity to have an inspection before closing, it was written into the contract that I would pay up to $1000.00 of repairs the inspector found and they skipped it all and just moved in. This was in Olive Branch and the house was only 2 years old.

After they moved in, they decided the back yard (a densely wooded lot) was too rough and wanted it re-graded (how the heck do you regrade a wooded lot, but I digress). I told them to go fly a kite.

They filed a claim, showed the judge pictures of where my kid’s trampoline killed the grass, where my dog dug a hole against the house to stay cool in the summer time and the judge awarded them $1,800.00.

I then had to appeal the decision--in order to do that it moves up to the next court which requires a lawyer. I hired one, the two lawyers get together, they laugh at how stupid this case was and we both walk away absorbing our own attorney fees.

I had Karen Sanders--she was an idiot. I know Billy Lantrip is one of the other judges there. He is a former Southaven police officer and was a pretty cool guy in high school.

The only advice I can tell you is to be prepared for anything.

[deltadukman]

That little corner of MS has to be one of the most backwards, corrupt, eff'ed up corners of the state. I have a friend that live up that way and some of the stories he tells just baffle me. From judges, to the levee board, to even the fire department.......it blows my mind so of the stupid things people get in their heads.....must be the fumes from Memphrica

[dandy_don]

If you are pretty good about reading legal jargon and looking for loop holes, you can do something like my neighbor. I live next door to our former HOA president. He's a certified jerk--I received a letter the very first week I lived there because I kept my U-haul trailer in my drive overnight before returning it. Much like your case, he pursued only certain violators while others kept doing things in clear violation of the rules.

Our neighbor across the street had a boat and the requirements to keep a boat were something like it had to be kept behind the house (not necessarily out of sight) and must be stored on concrete. They kept riding my neighbor because he parked his boat as far back in his drive as he could but his drive didn't go past his house which caused him to violate the rules. So to satisfy the HOA, he purchases 3 bags of concrete places them in his backyard and parks the boat on top of the bags of concrete, takes a picture, mails it to the president and tells him to kiss his butt.

It's still the talk of the neighborhood. The next year, my neighbor decided not to run for president--he had had enough.

[levi127]

The last time I was in court, last December lol, I had billy lantrip. That name just clicked with me now. He was honestly a good guy that listened to both sides. Only thing that got me was I told the truth about it and burried my self. But since I did that he didnt take it hard on me like the other person wanted him to.
Im on the fence with this. I know 2 of them that people have said good things about. The others havent heard so good from. Either you did right or you did wrong and pay up. Nothing else said.