Granny

Very long story - starting when I bought my townhome in 1995. It was in foreclosure and the Realtor filled out the disclosure saying there had been small seepage of water in the basement family room BUT it had been resolved. When the rains came in the spring, my basement was flooded. Discovered that the builder had never installed the french drains that were required because of the high water table, took 4 years of complaining and finally engineers were hired and the drains were installed throughout. Problem resolved until 2019 when some boys took the cover off the drain and filled it with rocks - flooded basement again. HOA took care of having it dried , new pad installed and carpet cleaned. That was the last time the drains were flushed out.

In the mean time, there has been multiple disagreements with the HOA board over neglecting to have any oversight on contractors they hire, spending money on unnecessary things while what should be taken care of is ignored. When we had new roofs installed in 2019, the contract was for $1,275,497.73 and was for ALL ROOFS INCLUDING CAR PORTS. There is over 30 east/west facing car ports and none of those were done. One of the board members tried to investigate it after I talked to her about it and she was accused of harassment and never could get information on it so after she moved away, I tried to get the other board members to investigate why we actually paid more than the original bid. Was told by one member said she didn't have time, another said " well the insurance company said it was o'k, another said he would try to look into it. NOTHING WAS DONE. Thousands and thousands have been wasted over the years and because I ask questions, the board doesn't like that. We had a sink hole that formed in the empty lot - took the board two years to finally get it filled.Again, no oversight. The company that filled it claim they used 8 ton of crushed granite, 8 ton of gray granite, 3 ton of rip rap and 4 cubic yds of sand. I didn't take a tape and measure but guessing it was probably 3X3X3 or so. According to google, that size hole would take about 237 pounds of fill. We were charged $7,433.42 . Then there is the apartment connected to our clubhouse. Some one turned the heat off and a pipe broke and destroyed the interior. Long story on all that, but it has now been vacant for 33 months at a loss of probably $2400.00 per month rent. The board treats it like it's their private property and none of our business.

So, now I am in a real dispute with them. This past spring when we got the heavy rain, my basement flooded again. The management company sent a company out to place fans , cut the pad out and dried the moldy carpet. When I complained about that, they said it was homeowners responsibility and refused to reimburse me for the cost of removing the moldy drywall and carpet. The records show they have taken care of other homes before but not only refuse to take care of mine, they retaliated by sending me a bill for $12,142.86 for a gas line repair that had been done 5 months before. Another case of no oversight on contractors. They claim they replace 40' of line, said there was 3 leaks, Xcell said there was one. The management company refuses to give me an itemized list with separate costs. Home Depot has the 1" gas line kit with 100' for $239.00. I found in the financial records we had paid a different contractor in 2021 $244.00 for an underground gas leak. Bottom line is that it's still not settled. When they finally got a company out to flush the drains, they spent 2 full days in front of my home and took out huge bags of debris to get it running again.

Something really needs to be done to protect homeowners. I have tried to get the board to do the right thing, they refuse to talk to me personally, instead they hire an attorney AT THE HOMEOWNERS EXPENSE to get me to go to mediation. They could care less that I would have the expense of an attorney .

And now, we have the new budget meeting and were informed we are getting yet another increase in dues. I was paying $110.00 per month when I purchased here and will now be paying $410.00 and can expect another increase next year. What is the answer, I'm not sure, but one thing I am sure of is that people are being priced out of our homes with taxes and fees. HOAs might have been a good idea when they started but like everything else, there is real abuse going on.