Imagine paying an exorbitant amount of money for a home, only to pay even more money to people that tell you what you can and can’t do in your own home….. insane
Amen. I will never understand it. Ever. I've owned my own home since 1978. My second home for the last 35 years. I would never give up my rights to do whatever to my home and property to a HOA. The POWER they have given these boards are ridiculous and anti-American. In addition most being criminal.
It's really about money in the end. HOAs are far more prevalent in areas with strong county govt and weak or non-existing city govt. The developer plop down a bunch of houses and mark them up with amenities provided, without the county needing to provide additional maintenance to the neighborhood infrastructure...and many people have false sense of security that hoa rules retain home values, which isn't really true. Often those amenities fail or are run down once the neighborhood ages and no longer keeps value...the developers leap frog to the next farm field and start anew...
The homeowners need to get their money back,I Don't understand why people have to listen to another person about what they can do at a home they work to pay for!!! Good people in this world know how to take care of their homes without instructions from somebody else
For what? you can't just investigate them because you feel like it. Better yet, don't buy a home where there's an HOA. Or if you live in one rally the neighborhood to not pay dues and remove them. I used to live in a neighborhood with an HOA, I don't now and never will again. No HOA chips in on my mortgage payments so they have no say as far as I'm concerned.
This is true. My brother moved into a condo and the condo was going into foreclosure less than a year after he moved in. The board misappropriated the funds and it took over 2 years to replace the board and hire lawyers to right the ship. SMH
I love our little made up HOA, we each pay $50 a month for a couple of neighborhood kids (12-17yrs old) to do the landscaping, snow removal and minor maintenance. Great bunch of hardworking youths.
I'm TERRIFIED of buying a house with an HOA, and it's getting harder and harder to find one that isn't part of an HOA. WHEN is the damn gov't going to step in and STOP this insane abuse?!
Don't do it...trust me when I tell you, I woke up one morning and there was a man in my front yard with a wooden 1966 ruler moving it left and then right. So I walk outside and asked him what he was doing, and he said he was from HOA and he was measuring the grass. I don't remember the exact height that was allowed but he was finding 1 blade 1/16" taller than the rest and once he had a particular number in.a 3x3 sq. he informed me that I was in violation and I would be receiving the boards decision. $800 because there was 5 blades over the number allowed which was total disregard for the standards approved by the board and because there was complete and total disregard he doubles it from the standard $400 to $800. It's never ending
Thanks to the owners that protested, investigated, and made the legal system work. CONGRATULATIONS ❤️ 🎊 Is only the start, all that money stolen is needed,and most likely will never be recovered.
Initially, I thought HOA was just an organization that pays for gardening service to keep the street and some yards clean as well as security to keep unwanted people out of your neighborhood. The fact they can sell your house without your consent is mind boggling to me let alone tell you want you can and cant do on your own property.
Legally it's not that simple, It all starts with a disagreement, then a fine, and then when you don't pay the fine, they place a lien on your property, sue you, and then if they win force foreclosure. Only certain states allow a HOA to do this.
When you don’t pay your property taxes your house can eventually be sold without you consent as well. What’s mind boggling is people that buy a home with an HOA without reading the rules and bylaws. It’s all there. People are their own worse enemy.
HOA's need to be totally abolished across the Country. My HOA is corrupt too. Old ladies running it for over a decade that won't step down, and they fine anyone for lawns that are one inch high.
@@Ifyoureadthisyouaregai My daughter pays that for her condo in So Cal. They do absolutely nothing with it that I can see besides a pool guy once a week. Throws some chlorine in the pool and leaves.
How did you find out? Was there no audit being done? I ask because I suspect this is happening where I live. They keep changing banks. Any suggestions would help.
We have been questioning how the funds of our HOA have been spent. We were informed that there are no reserves. Wish someone would do an investigation into ours. Watching the are go into decline over the years is very saddening.
Get involved! There may be a retired accountant living there. Go door to door. Mail flyers to residents. And by law, they have to give you copies of their budget and Contracts. I think it is FL statue 718 for HOAs.
@@OceanLife772HOA’s are like the mafia. You complain and you get targeted. And you sign over the power if you buy a house in their neighborhood. I’d never buy a house with a HOA. I’d never live in a big city either.
Look at by- laws. You may have the right to call for an independent audit. Contact the lawyer on this case and see what he suggests you do in your location. He may know someone.
I moved from a house in GA with no HOA (tons of freedom to paint my house any color)... to TX. Not only high HOA but now I get to drive to a community mailbox and they let u know when to put ur trash can on the curb🥴 needless to say, we're looking for land to build and get away from people.
@@johnnyflores1978...and they want to increase every year too😭 I hope u all find a peace in ur upcoming new home. It'll prolly be another 3 years before we move😭
I lived in an hoa where we knew the ones who were stealing had home owners on the payroll who were spies for the board members that were blatantly stealing. It got to the point we had to majority vote them out of office and elected the homeowners who we thought were looking out for the home owners because they were hoa savvy so we thought they would be better. After a couple of years they never called the cops to investigate because we figured a hundred thousand was stolen. Only one reason they didn't want an investigation and that is their hands were dirty and the cops would find that out if there was an investigation. We were north of The Hammocks. It seems the Kendall area has a lot of thieves which makes sense because of the money involved.
we have a lot of cubans in Kendall!!! at least you were able to vote them out!!! we in the hammocks couldn't even when court got involved we still cant vote to remove them.
@@wskywsorry to break the news to you hun, but the biggest crooks in Florida aren’t Cuban… it’s people like trump! Have you seen where Jered and Ivanka live? Do you know how they got the money to pay for that Florida island mansion?! What ever you think “Cubans” are stealing is peanuts compared to what trump and his cronies are taking!
As a BoD Member at our community, I'm glad these people got caught. We've worked hard to keep everything done legally AND in the open. It happens, so please be involved, know your rights and the FL/your state statues governing HOAs & Co-ops. We've had 2 years of correcting bad decisions from previous boards (nothing illegal - just really dumb decisions) and working to accomplish needed repairs neglected from previous managers/Boards. I'm glad we came in during COVID- it gave us time and impetus to go over financial and repair records. We're finally moving forward for our community (of which we all live in).
thank God the 23 year old building I manage in Canada has lots of Engineers and retired professionals. Free help!! People forget most so called HOA's are volunteers. We don't use that term in Canada. But you DO have issue with our management company not really interested in contractor oversight: match the invoice to the job and they cut a check.
It’s extortion. We moved. Our yearly fee started out around $90 but was increased annually and is currently $1200. That’s bullshxt! Fun fact, the hoa sent out notices to paint our houses while the common areas they wre responsible for needed both crack repairs and paint.
She said organized crime. That means the RICO law applies. If they really use that those people are in deep trouble. Not just local slap on the wrist laws.
HOA's should be illegal. I get that communities need some form of grievance board but those powers need to be limited to which maintenance company cuts the grass and who pays the electric bill for street lights. HOA's also need an audit system to ensure all budgets are accurate and spends documented.
@@biggwillbeats4384 You don't understand my response. it's board members that got caught cutting checks. That's one reason why you have property management cut the checks and the board members approve.
That figures, there were complaints YEARS ago to the state attorney’s office, who did NOTHING, while the thieves continued to steal. Yes, avoid HOAs like the plague. Mine blatantly lied to the city codes dept.., and are completely incompetent.
I’m too anal to live at an HOA. As a former CPA turned attorney, I scrutinize every bill and would demand proof. I become obsessed with proving something. And no, I’m not fun to be in a relationship with.
When I was younger, my dad was wondering why we never had enough funding to cover basic maintenance fees. Some of the HOA board members were “contractors.” After some confrontations, the fund began to suddenly increase.
We need the DA office and the FBI too to investigate our community because we're going through exactly the same situation at Harris County Houston texas specifically as at NORTH EAST PINE VILLAGE and his crock lawyer James Christopher Archibald that illegally has been change the name of this association. But the most important is the this association been dissolve twice and owners vote not reinstated or not to having more of this crocks but they illegally reinstated anyway SO PLEASE we asking to the DA office to jump on it and start investigating all these members HOA North Pine Village and now illegally name is North East Pine Village.
It's better to have a contractor to clean the community than HOA raking millions to fatten their pockets. Since they have the idea on the price that they're dealing with. HOA has so much power.
Every HOA needs to investigated yearly to make sure this is t happening. Because it is…all over the country. That’s why they try and fine you for every little thing. You’d have to be crazy to live in an HOA.
Agreed. I had my reservations.. Was renting for a few years a condo..like the neighborhood, opted to purchase when timing was right. Bought TownHome in same development..11-12 years ago.. All my qualms confirmed.😮😢.. Love our space ..fed up with “THEM”.
That's why I'm having a hard time getting a house. Every move in ready or new home is HOA and is driving my mad because I don't want any HOA. It's frustrating having to pay an extra tax to people for them to tell me what to do and steal from me too! C'mon man😒
@@miamiliving6625- 18,000 units x $359 means they’re collecting $6,462,000.00 a year. They should be charging $50 a year instead of $359. The goal of the HOA should be to have enough money to cover the cost of maintaining the pools and landscaping. There’s not a snowball’s chance in Hell that costs anywhere close to the money they’re collecting.
@Saint Michael it was 44.5$ a month or close to that number. the 4 million missing aren't just what we paid they also took a loan for 2 millions and we don't know why they took the loan. now we have to deal with money stolen from us and its us home owners who have to pay the loan
@@Dannysphotography not how it works.... you better have a legitimate gripe or you will be held in contempt and charged BTW... FTC has zero to do with it ;-) im sure we're all impressed with your misuse of an agency you have overheard.
Also should include manufactured home parks. A lot of them come up with phony rules based of misinterpreted state laws. Or the make up things quoting them as laws when research shows nothing at the state, county or local level. A lot of the folks there are living on a fixed income and have no other other options.
@@bobm1394 Why car mechanics? ....so that you can be swindled into paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars to a car dealer every time you bring your car in for service?
Remember that story about the lady who got sued by the homeowners association because she wanted documentation of what they were spending and she almost went to jail. There’s some kind of weird laws that you’re not allowed to see what the HOA is doing. I’m glad these people got caught, but there are probably many many more doing the same thing
Those are the type of people that buys a home without reading HOA rules and bylaws. Then instead of just selling home home and leaving they cause drama and trouble for themselves. Must be a very nice place when they don’t want to sell and move on. What’s ironically amusing to me and what I’ve always noticed is it’s probably a really nice place because of the HOA.😂😂😂😂
I know a person that worked the HOD. AND FREQUENTLY WENT ON CRUISES TRIPS TO DISNEY, And drove a new car every yea.when I asked how she was able to afford it She Said she inherited A lot of money .now I know who from.
Freeze ALL OF THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS, seize all of their assets.. to include their homes, cars, jewelry, any other monies and valuables .. Sell and give back to the victims! Plus give them a minimum of 10 years in prison! That should teach them! Sorry for their children but they should've thought about their children before ruining other folks lives! This needs to stop!
@@everythingisfine9988 Their families get zero of their money and assets! Zero! I'm sure their paychecks covered their lavish vacations, food and private jets! Anything else was from stolen money! Therefore, must be returned to the folks they stole from! The family gets NOTHING! If minor children are involved, let other family take care of them. Even the minor children are NOT entitled to stolen money/property/assets! Period! The kids can thank their criminal parents for ruining their lives! God bless!
Not disagreeing with you but it's not ever a slam dunk going after an HOA. I'm sure you've read through a few CC&Rs and Bylaws before. These declarations and agreements only serve the HOA's interests.
Not a surprise. My mother-in-law's HOA dues went from $195 a month 20 years ago to $700 today. Now she is provided a gym, tennis courts, a pool, garbage collection (although she has to actually drive her garbage to one of the nearby bins and it's collected there) and snow removal, but to me, that's $300 a month, not $700 and always suspected they're stealing money. I'd NEVER buy a home in an HOA. It's the worst of both worlds: you have to pay for everything, but someone else tells you what you can do to your own home!
Well, try to sell it now with $700 monthly attached? It de-values the house completely. I saw a nice house in Texas - modern, nice lot, big lake nearby so you can swim, fish and have a boat. There was a golf course there as well but membership was extra. Homes were set on this golf course. It was near by Dallas. The HOA there was back in 2014 - $500 for a big pool they had there, club house, and there was a restaurant there also. If you dine there you paid for meal like in any restaurant. I asked the agent who gets profits from that restaurant. He says HOA does. My question was why will I sponsor a restaurant for a private business? He said that is part of the package........what package - extortion racket? I could afford this house since my previous house was paid for - but this HOA was a replant. No way I will let someone extort money from me and sponsor a restaurant for them. No homes were selling there - wonder why.......I cannot imagine how much HOA is there today - double, tipple - will not be surprised.
I once got fined by my HoA because kids in the neighborhood found a "free" table at the end of someone's driveway and thought it was a good idea to pull it to their house, well it was too heavy for them and it ended up in my side yard. fined $200 for littering. tried to fight it but i dont have time or effort to fight it with lawyers. that's when i realized i made the mistake of living in an HoA
Imagine giving tax money to people that are not the gov while also being able have your home dictated by random neighbors. Why would anyone wanna live in an HOA home
When I lived in Florida I always steered cleared of HOAs and never had a problem with my neighbors. I moved to Maryland and have constant problems with neighbors (loud music, illegally parked cars, etc). Living in Maryland, an HOA would probably be worth the money.
Yep I've owned several homes and I made sure every realtor knew no HOA. Don't ask to show one don't even mention it no HOA. F anyone having legal authority over my house.
I belonged to a homeowners association in Gwinnett County Georgia that had a summer long fight with an HOA that had a sex offender on the board of directors. (Long story of corruption.)Because of that I will never buy a home in any HOA again. The neighborhood we moved to after that had disbanded the HOA as soon as they were able. I loved living there. The people were friendly, the homes were kept up Better than in the HOA. I would guess that 90% or more of Homeowners associations are either corrupt or run by little people with ego problems.
I'm convinced that most HOA officers were either audio-visual helpers or pushed the floor mops at halftime during basketball games when in high school.
luck you. I agree we have seeing this in our place. one fraud the IRS already. other's are narcisists who are seeking attention at all cost. OUR's . the law does not protect us.
I lived in a HOA community for 7 years. Got tired of the BS and sold and moved. Would never live where there is a HOA again. They actually sent me a letter for having my garage door open when I was not entering or leaving.
@Not That Ron Johnson: They may have actually been doing you a favor!🤣🤣 Never a good idea to leave your garage door up! It is just asking for Theft....and if you left your garage door unlocked, then that is an Invitation For Burglary!!
I pay $400 HOA a month in Condos built in the 1970s, there are probably about 150 units in my community. There is absolutely no way $60,000 a month is being spent on maintenance.
Nope. You are correct. My HOA does dumb things like resurfacing the pool right now that doesn't need it. I'd rather have lower HOAs. Not everyone uses the pool.
@@TheFrenchPug and our pool season is unrealistic..people’s working don’t get to use…especially for the constant cost of maintenance [I smell BS] Meanwhile lacking funds for proper exterior maintenance ,landscaping [dirt mowers🤦🏾♂️] ,on-site maintenance man died few years ago and things really went south , he oversaw the contractors working on OUR property s.. kept a level of standard acceptable for most [those concerned about their investment]… Rob Warner was a good dude[RIP Robbie], he took pride in our development as if it was his.
@@MM-fh6kp and where are most poor neighborhoods located? In democrat controlled cities. It's not one side or the other that's the problem, it's both sides that are the problem, the sooner your come to that conclusion, the happier you'll be.
My brother got a notice about a 10 inch brown spot on his grass back by his cedar gate. The kid that mowed his grass spilled some gas when he filled his mower. The HOA had to walk from the sidewalk to the gate to see it. So my Big Brother got a can of green spray paint and fixed it.
Yeah, I have friends that live in a very strict HOA. No one can park vehicles on the street or even in their driveway after 9 pm. Their cars always have to be garaged at night per the HOA.
I can assure you this has been happening in many other HOA's in Miami and many other cities in Florida. There needs to be a legit entity that can monitor and audit all of them frequently on a state level with full transparency. HOA's are a plague without constant supervision by the state. There are too few of them working for the state. My mother is paying $330 per month in community that still has delpelated shuffle boards and unused poker tables in the main lobby at the club house that nobody uses. They dont even bother to do all the gardening in front of the units or grounds. Sickning!
The state legislature will never let a bill that would create a HOA-monitoring entity to make it to the governor’s desk. These HOAs no doubt pay a lot of money to ensure they remain as autonomous as possible.
@@archiesauls3672 You are correct. This is why even though one association gets caught, another can keep doing it. Every time they raise the cost of their fees it's due to insurance costs or additional repairs because they don't have enough of our money to fix it. My mother pay nearly 400 per month in an old 1970's villa.
Living in a HOA community is like living in an apartment complex but you have more rooms, a garage and a back yard. Management do whatever they want and raise prices to fit their needs but also babysit you. They demand more money and you literally have no say in what services they’ll decide to add or remove to maintain the community as well as no idea if vendors chosen give the management kickbacks. If you live in one, enjoy your stay and you deserve whatever good or bad you get. Lol
why would anyone vote democrat? Its the same thing. They are promised peace and safety and security, you can vote yourself in, but cant vote yourself out.
Some of us want our property to actually increase in value, have amenities, and a fairly clean place to live. It’s worth it to me. Never had any major issues with my hoa. I don’t want to have the nicest house on the street and have two dilapidated houses on each side.
@@Tearflavoredcereal LOL, and you have any actual evidence HOA properties increase in value faster than other properties? Have you always been a sheep?
Like the lady said this is going on all over the place.. It should not take this long to charge arrest and put these types in prison. time means they just steal more and more likely get away with it..
All OVER these HOAs are pseudo micro governments..Most are ”operating“ by dirtbags who want to be just as corrupt as city, state ,and fed “officials “ aka ROGUES. Bunch of “some animals are more important than others animals” head asses. I’ve been living in an association where the residents… DO NOT give a damn…the past boards were horrible…the residents conduct themselves AS IF the board run things…and the residents act like renters with no say or concerns, don’t show up to meetings 150 units maybe 15-20 at meetings.. Unscrupulous individuals make their way to “the board”..and pilfer coffers. Mismanaging [theft]💰💸💰💸💰💸. Some body’s doing deals ,low ball offers to do landscaping [dirt mowers] ,shortest pool season I ever seen, building [outside exteriors, shoddily repaired and or painted.. Clubhouse outdated not renovated, [shag carpet on floors since the era built{73}, the arrears of associations fees means no FHA loans in development which means,investors,who buy too high , then try to pass the overages back onto their renters, over market rent..eventually the renter stops paying cause [rob Peter to pay Paul] It’s not sustainable. We bought after renting..it turned where it was practical to buy so we are….Love our space..get along with a lot of my neighbors… I’m NOT the one for BS ..I Am constantly asked to” be on the board “…by many neighbors as we discuss OUR situations. I DO NOT rule by committee.SORRY. I would reform ,then become vilified. I’m polarizing. Love me or hate me..your choice… [ I REALLY FOR REALS DGAF]..I Call BS to its face…and don’t back down…. Time for my own acreages…..planet🤔⁉️
Happens all the time. We had to hire a management company to take care of the HOA dues instead of the president of the board. The management company embezzled over $27,000 into her own account. So we changed the management company. The new management company embezzled $4000 into his own account. It was crazy. Now we have had a great management company for the past eleven years.
How did you find out? What is/was the process and who did you hire to do it? Our HOA only sends proposed budget/actual budget/expense sheet…..it doesn’t go into debt of actual check numbers and who was paid….one year there was $20,000 plus that was not accounted for
Definitely, I owned a condo in Temecula. Ca. , and all of them were on charging outrageous fees so I sold. We managed to fire both the management company, and the gardner .
This is the reason WHY, I would NEVER buy into a home situation that requires admittance into an HOA. It's onerous, userous, and at best unscrupulous towards the resident homeowner-members.
Got family members who lived in one went to their house one time was harassed by their security staff, told them that I'm never going back there again, I'm disable so saw a lot of American with Disabilities act code violations,, I file a complaint against them, It cost them almost 200K in fines just laugh when I got the letter
Yep, I don't understand why you would spend all that money for a house only to be told what you can and CAN'T do. No WAY would I do that! It's a racket!
Every HOA needs to have different members (or hire a firm) to do an audit of the books each year. This is what happens when you put other peoples money in someone else's hands. Try to get rid of the HOA as a whole for a year and see what happens, you might be better off.
"an audit each YEAR"? tOO LATE. you need an "on-going" public statements accessed on line. In fact, in LAW, as a member of a union you can ask to see the books ANYTIME IN Canada, as an example. And with digital data today, it would work.
how can you fight if the laws protect them ? happening in ours. they do huge mistakes, insure themselves and we pay millions for their mistakes. we can't have insurance for us. IF we say anything they threat us to take us to court. now because a mistake that we are sure was made because someone made money somewhere we have a bill of 6 mil to pay. and this is just the beggining. they got away again. The law is not in our side.
