Homeowners Association disagreement

[klandy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in CT. I am the president of a small HOA (9 properties) which has the responsibility of a detention pond. The detention pond is on a common area and takes stormwater runnoff impeding it's flow to allow sediment and salts to settle out before running off into the forest. The development is 5 years old and all property owners were made aware of the HOA prior to buying into the neighborhood. There are a couple of homeowners who are pushing to ignore our maintenance and liabilty responsibilities by eliminating the HOA. The HOA is on the town records and would be found during a title search should someone sell. I have been unable to convince the homeowners that the small assessment ( approx. $200 annually) is small in comparison to the potential costs should we ignore our liability and a problem occur. Obviously with our small annual budget seeking legal advice is not an option. Can you advise me on the consequences of eliminating the HOA.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Your properties will only be subject to the rules put forth by the city/township/county your properties are located in AND any covenants on the property. You will need to discuss any issues related to the detention pond with the governmental entity that will be forced to assume responsibility for it. They may potentially sue all homeowners, in the disbanded HOA, for damages or expenses they incur by assuming oversight.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Check whatever documents you have that show the formation of the HOA and the requirements of the landowners. The owners may have agreed to pay the HOA legal fees needed to enforce the regulations.

 

[NC Aggie]

I cannot offer any legal advise on eliminating the HOA, but I can share with you the possible consequences of ignoring the maintenance responsibility of the detention poind. I previously worked for a local municipality for several years and inspecting stormwater BMPs (detention pond, detention basins, etc) was one of my responsibilities. One of the biggest issues we ran into is that many newer communities that were required to install BMPs did not understand the responsibilities associated with maintaining them. The developers were often somewhat educated to stormwater issues, but once the developers built out, the responsibilities were left to the less educated HOA board members. So they often went ignored, unmaintained and the HOAs of these communities eventually were forced to address maintenance issues which ended up costing a lot more than annual or semi-annual routine maintenance.

If the developer signed a maintenance agreement, which is common in many jurisdiction, then legally the city/town can force you to maintain it. If you choose not to, then they can fine you, do the maintenance and charge you for it. So ignoring this responsibility is not an option in most cases.

Should you all legally find a way to dissolve the the HOA, then it's possible the town may still be able to hold the property owners equally liable for maintaining the pond. If you all are able to circumvent the town ordinances, then there's likely state laws that would still require the pond to be maintained.