Source: http://www.combslawgroup.com/category/hoa/
Timestamp: 2017-01-20 07:52:33
Document Index: 678130546

Matched Legal Cases: ['§33', '§33', 'in fine', 'in fine', '§ 33', '§ 33', '§ 22', '§ 33', '§ 33', '§ 33']

Homeowners Associations Archives - Combs Law Group, P.C. Archive | Combs Law Group, P.C.	Newsletter
Owners Should Demand CC&R Enforcement
November 22nd, 2016 Owners Should Demand CC&R Enforcement
Question: We recently purchased a new home in a Peoria subdivision. Less than 50% of the homes have been sold in the subdivision. One of the reasons that we purchased our new home was that we liked the architectural and landscaping standards in the CC&Rs for the homes in the subdivision. The problem now is that the homeowners association is still controlled by the developer, and this developer is not enforcing the CC&Rs, especially in relation to exterior painting of at least eight homes in the subdivision. Several neighbors and I are concerned that, after the developer completes construction of the subdivision and the homeowners then control the homeowners association, there will have been a waiver of some of the CC&Rs because of lack of enforcement. What can we do?
Answer: Although some developers are very aggressive in enforcing CC&Rs, other developers, such as the developer in your subdivision, do not want to spend the time and money to enforce the CC&Rs. This typically happens when sales in the subdivision are strong and the subdivision will be sold out quickly, at which point the responsibility for the enforcement of the CC&Rs is transferred to the HOA. I would suggest that you and your neighbors hire an attorney to write a letter to the developer demanding that the CC&Rs be enforced, and, if that is unsuccessful, you and your neighbors may have the right under your CC&Rs to file a lawsuit against the developer to enforce the CC&Rs.
Homeowners Associations, Real Estate Contracts Public Service Vehicle Parking on HOA Streets
November 8th, 2016 Public Service Vehicle Parking on HOA Streets
Question: The CC&Rs prohibit any parking at any time on the streets in our community in Goodyear. These streets are owned by our homeowners association. There are residents in our community who own police vehicles, APS trucks, and cable company trucks that park on our streets. Are these residents allowed to do that?
Answer: In some cases, yes. A.R.S. §33-1809 authorizes parking of public service corporation vehicles on streets owned by a homeowners association, despite CC&Rs prohibiting the parking of vehicles on the streets. Although police vehicles and APS vehicles are probably public service corporation vehicles, vehicles operated by cable companies are probably not.
Note: Your homeowners association can require that the official emblem of the public service corporation be displayed on the vehicle.
Homeowners Associations Can an HOA Regulate the Streets Owned by a City?
October 11th, 2016 Can an HOA Regulate the Streets Owned by a City? Question: The CC&Rs for our community prohibit overnight parking on the street. An attorney in our community recently claimed that our streets are governed by the City of Phoenix, and therefore these CC&Rs are not enforceable. Is that correct? Why does the City of Phoenix care whether there is overnight parking on our streets or not?
Answer: Since 2014 newly adopted CC&Rs of a community cannot regulate public streets, i.e., streets owned by a municipality like the City of Phoenix. A.R.S. §33-1818. The legislature’s reasoning was that a municipality like the City of Phoenix, and not the CC&Rs of a community, should have the sole right to regulate public streets. This includes any moving or non-moving violation listed in an HOA’s CC&Rs. Older communities with CC&Rs approved prior to 2014 are “grandfathered in” and are able to maintain their regulations of public streets.
Homeowners Associations HOA Rules and Regulations-Fines Cannot Become a Lien Against a Home
August 30th, 2016 HOA Rules and Regulations-Fines Cannot Become a Lien Against a Home
Question: We recently purchased a home in a nice Queen Creek community. Within a month after closing, we got a bill for $1,200 in HOA fines. The HOA had fined our seller $1,200 for violating the CC&Rs by not removing a basketball goal from his driveway. We immediately removed the basketball goal. The HOA is still demanding payment of the $1,200 in fines from us. How can we be liable for $1,200 in fines when we had no knowledge of any fines when we bought our home?
Answer: Delinquent HOA dues and assessments can become an automatic lien on a home. However, recent changes in Arizona law provide that a delinquent fine for a basketball goal, for leaving a garage door open overnight, or any other violation of the CC&Rs, cannot become an automatic lien on a home. Here, the HOA’s claim would only be personally against the previous owners of your home for their failure to pay the fine for the basketball goal and never against your home. Therefore, as the new homeowner, you should have no liability for the $1,200 in HOA fines owed by the seller for the basketball goal, and the property cannot be automatically burdened by this fine. Typically these delinquent fines are attended to by the HOA when the home is sold which keeps an HOA from having to collect from a now non-member, prior owner.
Note1: A “state action” is required for an HOA to have the authority to place an automatic lien on a property within its membership. Bourne Valley Court Trust v. Wells Fargo Bank, (9th Cir. Aug. 12, 2016). There are two Arizona statutes, A.R.S. § 33-1256 for condos and A.R.S. § 33-1807 for planned communities, that authorize assessments of HOA dues, assessments, and late fees relating to those dues or assessments only. These Arizona statutes constitute a “state action” and give an HOA “jurisdiction” to place an automatic lien for delinquent HOA dues and/or assessments. A.R.S. § 22-512 (C)(1)(c). There are no similar Arizona statutes, however, authorizing the recording of a lien for delinquent fines for other CC&R terms or a violation of HOA rules and regulations.
Importantly, a delinquent fine stemming from an HOA rules and regulation violation, like having a basketball goal, can give an HOA a cause of action against the delinquent member for a breach of the CC&Rs in the amount of the fine and late fees. A judgment against the member for the fine and fees stemming from an HOA rules and regulation violation could then become a lien on the delinquent member’s property.
Note2: Under Arizona law, an HOA may not issue a fine until it first offers you a hearing before the board of directors. If the HOA fails to provide you an opportunity for a hearing before the fine is imposed, the fine is illegal and not enforceable.
Homeowners Associations Can Unpaid HOA Fees Result in Foreclosure?
August 22nd, 2016 Can Unpaid HOA Fees Result in Foreclosure? Question: My grandmother lives in Scottsdale, and my wife and I live in Chicago. We only visit my grandmother two or three times a year. Although we thought my grandmother was still able to manage her financial affairs, she recently called us to say that she was being evicted from her Scottsdale home for non-payment of HOA dues. My grandmother owns her $450,000 home free and clear. My wife and I immediately flew to Scottsdale to try to understand what happened. Several years ago my grandmother apparently failed to pay some HOA dues. These HOA dues only totalled $700 originally. After the late charges, interest, and legal fees, however, there was almost $8,000 owed at the foreclosure sale 2 weeks ago. An investor apparently bought the home at the foreclosure sale. The investor is now trying to evict my grandmother. How can that happen? What do I do?
Answer: If HOA dues are not paid, these HOA dues can become a lien on the home. The HOA can foreclose this lien by a judicial foreclosure lawsuit filed with the court. The homeowner is served with the lawsuit by a process server. If the homeowner after being served with the lawsuit still does nothing, there will be a default judgment of foreclosure. The judge will then order a foreclosure sale on the courthouse steps by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
If your grandmother was competent and not a vulnerable adult, was properly served, and still did nothing after being served with the lawsuit, the investor who purchased your grandmother’s home at the foreclosure sale should now own your grandmother’s home. You must contact a real estate attorney immediately. The real estate attorney can hopefully negotiate a “re-purchase” of the home by your grandmother for a reasonable amount of money above what the investor paid at the foreclosure sale, especially with the potential of adverse publicity to the investor if the media will be involved. No investor wants articles in the media saying “investor John Doe evicts grandmother because of $700 HOA bill.”
Foreclosures & Short Sales, Homeowners Associations Open House Sign Next to HOA Swimming Pool
August 5th, 2016 HOA Sign Rules
Question: In our Mesa community we have a nice recreation center and a swimming pool. Every Sunday a real estate agent who lives in the community places an “open house” sign next to the swimming pool. The “open house” sign has a directional arrow to a home listed by this real estate agent. Our HOA prohibits any “for sale” or “open house” signs in the HOA common area such as our recreation center and swimming pool. This real estate agent says, however, that under Arizona law an HOA cannot prohibit “for sale” or “open house” signs anywhere in our community. Is that correct?
Answer: No. Under Arizona law, an HOA cannot prohibit on a homeowner’s property any “for sale” or “open house” signs. This Arizona law does not apply, however, to the common area of the HOA such as your recreation center and swimming pool. Therefore, your HOA can require the real estate agent to remove an “open house” sign placed next to the swimming pool.
Homeowners Associations HOA Pros and Cons
July 8th, 2016 Homeowners’ Associations Pros and Cons
Question: We sold a mobile home park we owned in Nebraska, and we are now looking at homes in the Phoenix area to retire. We are not familiar with the benefits and burdens of homeowners’ associations which seem to be very common in the Phoenix area. In Nebraska we had rules and regulations governing our mobile home park, such as no junk cars and speed bumps to slow traffic, so we believed that we would want to live in a community with a homeowners’ association. What is the downside to a homeowners’ association?
Answer: The concept of homeowners’ associations is that homeowners in the community who are volunteers are elected to serve without pay on the board of directors to enforce the recorded CC&Rs governing the community. Potential buyers of a home are generally furnished these recorded CC&Rs before close of escrow. If they don’t like the recorded CC&Rs, they can generally cancel the purchase of the home. Although there are significant benefits that are similar to those you experienced in your Nebraska mobile home park, there are downsides to homeowners’ associations. One downside is when members of the board of directors, usually the president, strictly enforce minor violations of the CC&Rs. Another downside is when a board of directors, usually in large homeowners’ associations of hundreds of homes, gives too much control to the property management company that is not responsive to the needs of the homeowners.
Homeowners Associations Are HOA Parking Rules Enforceable in Arizona?
June 20th, 2016 Are HOA Parking Rules Enforceable in Arizona?
Question: At the time that our community was developed in 2005, the roads were dedicated to the City of Chandler. The CC&Rs of our homeowners association (“HOA”) have always prohibited overnight parking on the roads. Are these HOA parking rules still enforceable? I thought Arizona law was recently changed to prohibit CC&Rs of HOAs from regulating public roads in a community.
Answer: You are correct that a new Arizona law prohibits the CC&Rs of HOAs from regulating public roads. This new Arizona law, however, generally only applies to HOAs formed after December 31, 2014. (See below A.R.S. § 33-1818.) Therefore, the CC&Rs of your Chandler HOA formed in 2005 prohibiting overnight parking on the roads should still be enforceable.
A.R.S. § 33-1818. Community authority over public roadways; applicability
A. Notwithstanding any provision in the community documents, after the period of declarant control, an association has no authority over and shall not regulate any roadway for which the ownership has been dedicated to or is otherwise held by a governmental entity.
B. This section applies only to those planned communities for which the declaration is recorded after December 31, 2014.
Note: A new amendment to CC&Rs regulating parking on dedicated streets in Arizona would be unenforceable. A.R.S. § 33-1802(3) defines the term “declaration” to include any amendment to CC&Rs, therefore, the above statute applies to an amendment to CC&Rs concerning an HOA parking rule made subsequent to the December 31, 2014 cutoff date.
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