HOA members not being allowed to be sued laws need to change

The law needs to be changed regarding the HOA and the members cannot be sued. My condo was involved in a fire in June. Since then, it has come to light they were aware the fire hydrant(s) were not working but choose not to spend the money to fix the hydrant. Would they have made that decision if they could be facing a law suit for the loss of personal property or life? This resulted in the fire burning for four hours and 10 families being displaced. No one has been allowed to enter the property since then. The insurance companies have also been denied access to the units leaving several families without being able to settle their claims. They also changed the locks on all of the units so the HOA cannot be bypassed. Typically, an individual would be able to sue for the loss of their property. I find it unfair that nothing can be done yet the HOA gets to do nothing due to the no lawsuit laws. No one has been able to retrieve their personal property.

All residents have been expected to continue to pay the HOA fees despite not living in the home. How is this fair? All parties have had to find residence elsewhere and are paying double bills. They can put a lean on us but we are unable to fight this. I have tried to call several lawyers without being able to find representation. Last month at the board meeting they announced they have spent almost all of the money therefore they do not have enough to rebuild properly.

They spent the money on hiring a personal investigator to determine the cause. They are not sharing the results due to the fact that the fire was their fault. It was caused due to them overriding the electrical panel. So here again we do not have a legal way to gain access to the report. My guess is if they felt they could be sued for overriding the system resulting in a fire they would not have made that decision.

They then hired a company to audit everyone's personal property. They have a detailed report including pictures, location, and cost to replace all resident’s property. There again they will not share with the residents who actually own the property. Yet the HOA fees/ the insurance we pay for through the fees paid for this audit.

At the last meeting they announced they are going to hire another engineer in an attempt to say they can try to clean the main floor instead of rebuilding. Stating mold isn't necessarily bad. What about the wood rotting for 6 months that will end up being 9 months potentially. No one will be able to sell the home or rent the home in that kind of condition. So yet again they are falling back on the we can't be sued. I can be sued if I were to rent or sell a property in that condition. They did say if they cannot find an engineer to okay the cleaning instead of rebuilding, they will have to do that. I don't know where the money is going to come from. With out a doubt the money for another engineer will come from the money that should be used to rebuild. If this was their home or they could be sued if someone gets sick, they would not be using what little money they have on fighting the rebuild.

I have also recently learned they are no longer Fannie Mae approved or conventional loan approved therefore if anyone wants to sell, they cannot. The conventional loans are not approved due to them not having 10% of savings or so I am told. The HOA's response is that's the banks deal not theirs. The condo association has multiple building some were not directly affected by the fire. They are the ones reporting they are unable to sell. I do not believe they have the 10% but where does one go for help? So, everyone is just expected to keep paying for property they don’t want to live in? For how long will the residents be held accountable for property they do not want? The owners affected by the fire will also have to pay to finish the rebuild with no relief in sight and nowhere to turn.

One resident offered to assist with finding better insurance since they were dropped and no one will insure the entire property. This is going to result in the home owners having to pay 200+ more dollars each month in HOA fees. The HOA will not work with our resident to attempt to get better insurance. We again find ourselves with no where to turn and no option to get out.

It was brought up that the home owners insurance pay for the HOA members auto insurance. How is this allowed? They stated this is due to the fact that if they hire someone and they get in an accident on the property the HOA is responsible. I don't believe that is true. the HOA just laughed at the fact we are paying for their auto insurance. They report that the reason we were dropped is due to other claims not the fire, yet will not share what the other claims are. Could it be their personal auto insurance?

Another resident informed them they cannot hire a particular company due to the fact that she has a restraining order against one of the employees. The HOA hired the company anyway and informed the person with the restraining order where our resident lives. It is not easy to get a restraining order. if there is an order in place there is a reason and should be enforced by the HOA to the best of their ability. I currently do not reside there due to being displaced. I have asked about her. Her neighbor reports she has not been seen since. Yet again I have to believe this is due to the no lawsuit can be brought against the HOA/ members. No one that could face charges would make that kind of decision. No one should make that decision despite legal consequences but here we are.

They also supposedly also had a finical audit done in 2017 but never received the results. Only that they need to raise the HOA fees monthly. l have to believe if they were told they need to raise the rates. They would have received the results/ been able to share the results. Something is wrong with them not sharing the results. Nothing can be done though. (The rates range from 200 a month to almost 600 a month based off of the unit size).

They also have not fixed some stairs on the property in 2 years due to the cost. It is being reported the stairs are out of compliance. I have been informed the stairs have caused a fall due to being out of compliance.

Long story short there needs to be consequences for people’s behavior. Unfortunately, some people due need consequences in order to act right and or in the best interest of the community they represent. People cannot be allowed to make decision that are not in the best interests of the community that can cause harm to others without consequences.