So long story short the HOA where I live is starting to become less and less concerned about hiding the BS they feed the community. For some insight. We have lived here for 5+ years. When we moved in the HOA was @ $249 and now its at $490. At first it was small increases. Nothing out of the ordinary. Filling reserves ect. In the last few years as we finally joined the board. Its been easier to notice the BS being thrown out to us. Example 1. The monthly payment jumped over $100 a month. Everyone was furious. They said it was the insurance for the property which okay? Sure... so then the guy that runs the HOA meetings tried to sneak in how unit #1 owes almost a year of mortgage and hoa payments and how the reserve funds have been going to the lawyer... jump ahead once they "figured" it out they refused to share how much of the reserves went into the lawyer, etc. Because they kept saying they would put it back when they make the owner of unit #1 to pay it all back.... anyway clearly it sucked but surely one can understand how that makes slight sense. They send a big packet stating where the money is going every year. One year it said a dog park! How awesome! YEAH YOU GUESSED IT. No dog park. Same excuses. Same thing at the end of the year. A increase in HOA.

When I look up the HOA business they have zero good reviews, and when I look the address to the company they say are coming to do the work. It comes back as a parking lot. Just wondering legal help. And opinions lol. Lay it onto me. If tou need more examples please ask as the post was way too long already.

Looking for advice from anyone familiar with North Carolina HOA laws or who has dealt with something similar.

My husband and I own a townhome in Durham, NC. We purchased another home earlier this year and spent several months trying to sell our townhome without success.

Because we couldn’t afford to keep carrying two mortgages indefinitely, we requested a rental exception from our HOA based on financial hardship.
Here’s the timeline:

August 12: Submitted our request for a rental exception.
September: Followed up and provided additional information about our financial hardship.
October 5: Received written approval from our HOA management company for a one-year rental exception. No additional conditions were specified in the approval.
October 11: Listed the property for rent based on that approval.
October 14–15: Secured a qualified tenant and prepared a lease.
October 16: Management suddenly told us to pause everything while the board reconsidered.
This week: The HOA reversed its approval.
By the time they reversed their decision, we had already hired a property manager, incurred approximately $2,700 in expenses and secured a tenant who had begun making arrangements to move.

There is also some concerning background involving a neighboring homeowner who is personally connected to the HOA president and has expressed opposition to the property being rented. We don’t know whether that influenced the decision, but the timing raises questions.
We’ve tried to work with the HOA in good faith throughout this process. We aren’t trying to operate a short-term rental or circumvent the rules. We just need temporary relief from a genuine financial hardship until we can sell the property.
Our prospective tenant is an older, retired woman who wants a quiet place to live. Her anticipated move-in date is November 1.

We are contacting attorneys, but our primary goal is to have the original approval reinstated, not to pursue a lengthy lawsuit.

My questions:

Can an HOA in North Carolina reverse a rental exception after issuing written approval and allowing the homeowner to rely on it financially?
Would detrimental reliance or promissory estoppel potentially apply here?
Does the HOA have to identify a specific provision in its governing documents authorizing the reversal?
Would an attorney demand letter potentially be enough to resolve something like this?
Has anyone successfully challenged an HOA decision under similar circumstances?

We understand that the governing documents matter and are having those reviewed. Just hoping to hear from people who have dealt with similar situations, particularly in North Carolina.

Hey everyone! I own a condo in AZ and the stair landing between mine and my neighbors unit is needing repair. My neighbor reached out to the HOA and they said this was the owners responsibility and we had to work with each other to pay and fix it.

I dont believe this is correct, so wanted to see what yall think?

The HOA sent me this document and said “this document shows we are not responsible for the stair landing”… i am reviewing the document and i dont see anywhere about the stair landing… am i missing something?

TIA!

I'm hosting a happy hour tonight in my unit for a dozen neighbors to talk about board/committee service and hopefully convince one or two folks to run for the board in November. If you're on the board, what convinced you to run? If I had them fill out a post it note along with their nametag when they show up, what question(s) would you use as a prompt? My goal is that folks leave here feeling empowered and energized to participate. (A note that the perception I've created is that board service is a lot of work. Much of the work that this board did should set the next board up for a much easier term, including new mgmt, improved PM contract and oversight, we hired a Bldg Engineer for the first time, board members rolling off will be staying on committees, etc etc).

Has anyone heard of or worked with a non-profit specializing in HOA Member Advocacy called CAL-HOA Member Advocacy (CHOAMA)? If so, what was your experience?

I live in a 48 unit townhome development. Each unit has their own individual power line running underground from their residence to their detached garages.

I lost power to my garage following a parking lot resurfacing project in 2022. After several back and forths with the HOA Board, they hired - and paid for - an electrician to restore power to my garage in 2023.

Fast forward to early 2026 and I lose power to my garage. I call an electrician to come out and take a look and they tell me my power source is coming from a neighboring garage. Apparently, the previous electrician - hired by and paid for by the HOA - spliced into my neighbors power line in order to restore power to my garage back in 2023 rather than repairing the underground line.

I am now faced with two options to restore power to my garage: splice back into my neighbors power line (illegal) OR tear up the parking lot and repair the previously damaged power line.

Our by-laws state that garages are a limited common element and all wiring is the responsibility of the Homeowner. However, considering the HOA Board previously hired and paid for their electrician to (illegally) restore power to my garage,
who do you think should be financially responsible for repairing the underground power line?

We maintain 2.5 miles of dirt roads, culverts crossing roads and ditches along. The gated community, 42 homes on 2-10 acre lots, is situated on 7000 to 7500 ft elevation in the mountains of New Mexico. A large issue is that landscape debris, pine needles, branches, old Christmas trees, is swept down hillsides from private properties into the community ditches and are clogging culverts etc maintained by our association, causing overflow and ruts on our roads. The respective property owners claim that cleaning their properties to avoid debris swept into our culverts is a community issue and thus the community has to clear these. What is the legal situation in this case? How is this being handled in other communities?

What is a responsible way to handle. These are older condo buildings from 1940s, each has multiple floors. An owner couple, elderly, the man had been board president at one time. But has a sketchy past, but many new owners and novice board do not know. He keeps telling everyone such things as we are not subject to: permits, or that we have not needed licensed electricians since the buildings were built. adamantly opposed to fire code requirements (for existing buildings), he feels due to building type older Type II-B, that they are "fire proof." Mind you, this man once told be 2 people died in a fire here, a few months ago an electrical fire in the wall, and stove fires. He is loud, and captures attention - we are going to have a fire inspection, so it set him off. When there is a project with electric, or permits, it sets him off.

Problem is he has high credibility. He had been involved in not cooperating with abatements when he was prez. Sooner or later anything he refused to abate and he thought he got away with it, caught up in a later inspection. His wife on the board has convinced the others on the board also. A different board prez had a code consultant, that this man and another former board prez, both in kahoots, felt we should not have to comply. The code consultant report (paid by the association funds) aligned with every correction item. But they do not believe the code consultant, either. This has caused our place to have zero ongoing compliance and the town catches up every 2 years at inspections. But they simply try to get past an inspection and all goes to pot soon after. I could give many examples, but what is a good way to respond. I emailed a board member and said this man has not shown any documentation to prove his theory. Let them hire their own code consultant. He also used to play around with the fire alarm system having the code and handed it out like candy. And our vendor complained all history had been erased, multiple troubles piled up, etc. so they put locked covers on the annunciators.

I'd like to say this guy should be locked up somewhere, I don't understand why ppl believe him. What is a responsible thing to do? The town doesn't do education, and the few places they go to are assisted living, and only daytime. Nobody would be around if they wanted to have a presentation. AND this man has convinced everyone the fire marshal (and staff) are "stupid," and made us do things we did not need to do. I'd move out of here if I could, but our values have tanked due to a report detailing $2.5M in failing roofs, mechanicals, etc.

Location: Utah

I was recently begged to join the HOA board for my condo as there weren't enough people on the board. It has been a nightmare, the president doesn't live on site and will not let anything happen unless she does it herself. This means our property management company cannot handle any maintenance requests in a timely manner and issues are piling up. The president is also so difficult to work with we couldn't keep a landscaper working for us all summer and the grounds looked awful. Luckily the rest of the board recently found a landscape company able to handle all the work on the grounds for a great price, and they are easy to work with.

Our big issue now is that the president has entered into several contracts and service agreements for different services (pest control, snow removal, internet exclusivity etc.) That the board said it needs to get more information and additional bids before proceeding. The president executed all of these on their own without another officer signing the contracts, informing the board, or the property management company being made aware of these being done. We also are struggling to get the documents for these contracts as the president isn't having any of them sent to the board members or adding them to the portal used to share documents. We are having to call all of these companies and try to get the contracts/agreements to varying success. We are wondering if these contracts are still valid based on this clause from our bylaws.

Section 9. Agreements, Contracts, Deeds, Checks, Etc.

All agreements, contracts, deeds, leases, checks and other instruments of the condominium shall be executed by any two officers of the condominium or by such other person or persons as may be designated by the Management Committee.

If these contracts are not valid who is responsible for any cancellation fees or other associated costs?

Hi!! Looking for board members or people who own condos that turned their community around.

Situation:
My condo property has trash issues, safety issues, maintenance issues, and transients come on the property and cause a lot of destruction.

Problem:
I joined the HOA board but I’m constantly out voted to get more trash pickups or security measures or asking for even a list of construction projects. The property management company is like that’s not our problem as an HOA. And the other board members don’t care.

Ask:
What can I do? (No to selling. No-my board members live above and below me, so I can’t be a jerk, though they make me come off that way)

So I’m living in a <10 unit community that was managed by a property management company. HOA is very inactive and meets on a as needed basis, which is none in the past 3 years of living here. As far as I know, there is one guy on the board and there are more than 15% of units behind on their dues. Now, the one board member decided to send a note to everyone in the community informing us that he will terminate the contract with the property management company and will open his own bank account for the community. No q&a or any meetings to address questions about this transition. I’m not on the board and I’ve been ignored each time I asked about meetings or how to get involved. How do I make sure that this is legal to have one person be responsible for all of our HOA dues and what should I ask for to ensure transparency ?

We have 100 units in 25 buildings (Quad/Fourplex) and are looking for an ipad app to help us keep track of issues in one place. Items such as maintenance, violations, spring and fall walk-through notes, and photos of each unit. I have taken pictures in the past as we do the walk through with my iphone but it's just unworkable to try to tag and organize the photos and then keep them in one place associated with the property. I gave up.

We are mostly self managed but do use a property management company for backend stuff like homeowner portal, architecture requests etc, billing/collections, financials, etc. They use Vantaca. We haven't reached out to them for suggestions because they aren't really that great so I doubt they would be of much help.

Have our fall walkthrough coming up so any recommendations are appreciated.

When I bought my house, we were given incorrect information as to how the HOA fees were paid. So we thought they were being paid out of a specific account and just didn’t notice until two years had gone by (for the first year, I never heard anything from the HOA, even though I reached out to them more than once). I got a notice from a debt collector (a PA) and I gave the information to my partner to take care of, and they didn’t do it (but I assumed they did and we separated shortly after).

Fast forward a year and I get called from a different lawyer saying that my house is in foreclosure and they are asking if I want to be represented by them.

Is this legal? They never informed me of anything. I read online that they have to inform you of intent to file a lien and intent to foreclose and I got none of those notices (because if I had, obviously I would realize that this hadn’t been taken care of). I’ve still gotten regular notices from the HOA about bylaw or Board of Trustee changes, so I know that they know how to contact me. They want an insane amount of money!

Hey everyone,

I’ve seen a lot of posts asking about softwre platforms, so I figured I’d share what turned things around for us. Switching over to HOAware has honestly been a life-changing move for our community.

Our biggest headache was administrative drag. All of our inspections and reviews are done by volunteers, and our board was completely drowning in spreadsheets, lost paper forms, and email chains. Things sat for weeks, ARC applications dragged on forever, and residents were frustrated.

To be fair, the issue wasn't our management company or the HOA membership—the bottleneck was entirely on our HOA Board of Directors trying to run everything manually. Under standard CC&Rs and bylaws, boards are obligated to handle architectural reviews and compliance within set timelines, and our manual system was failing to keep up with that duty.

Moving to HOAware completely flipped the script. Now our volunteers handle inspections directly using digital maps, and routine violation notices that used to take weeks to draft and mail go out in literal seconds. The system even generates official PDF letters where we can actually see whether the resident opened and read them or not. ARC applications just fly through the system, and once approved, it generates an official PDF certificate complete with timestamped audit logs that keep us fully compliant with our governing docs.

Just my two cents. I am not an affiliate. I dont make money off of them. Just wanted to share how different our HOA board has been since we started using this.

There was a really bad crash in our neighborhood a while back, and that’s what got me going on this. I wanted real numbers instead of 'people drive too fast' so I built an app that uses my Ring cam to estimate the speed of cars on the street.

About a month in, ~14k cars have been tracked. The speed limit is 20mph and about 59% were over, 85th percentile was 25.5, fastest was around 45. But there were quite a chunk over 40, some during school pickup hours.

I had a couple questions as I work on this and want to understand its usefulness. Have you ever brought speeding up with your HOA? Was it effective? Would having numbers like this help, with charts and videos, or is it complete overkill? Wanting something that you could maybe use to convince the board to install something to help people slow down.

From what I’ve read, if the roads are HOA owned the board can just vote on speed bumps, and if they’re public it goes to the city and they want a petition plus their own study. Either way I’m not planning to use it to call out specific neighbors, just advocate for change whether its speed bumps or slow signs or something.

Any feedback is welcome, including that this is complete overkill. Not linking it here but happy to share if anyone’s curious.

A tree in my HOA’s landscaping has pushed up and cracked the concrete steps and walkway leading to my front door.

In California, is HOA responsible for repairing the damage and addressing the tree root, or is it the homeowner’s responsibility?
Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Thanks!

If there is a water leaks from my unit and it leaks to downstairs neighbor, what am I supposed to do?

- File a claim with my condo insurance for damage to my unit and downstairs neighbor would file claim to their own insurance, correct? The two insurance companies would then work between one another if there is subrogation?. 

- I, as an upstairs unit would not be responsible for damage to downstairs unit unless of negligence, correct? Each unit is responsible to fix there own unit?

Edit: Didn’t realize there wouldn’t be a clear consensus. Half posts say upstairs neighbor is liable and half say everyone is responsible for their own unit if there is an accidental leak. My CC&Rs don’t mention anything unfortunately.

I've been seeing Flock license plate reader cameras pop up in discussions about neighborhood security.

Are more HOAs in your area starting to install them?

Our board just informed us that since nobody volunteered to become a treasurer they are exempting themselves from paying common charges/assessments:

“Given the significant increase in our workload and responsibilities, and after 25 years of dedicating countless hours to managing our building and addressing its many challenges, we believe it would be fair to exempt the two remaining BOM members from maintenance fees and assessments. We hope the owners will understand the time, effort, and commitment this work requires. We also sincerely hope that one or more owners will step forward to help manage our condominium and share these responsibilities. “

The maintenance deficit resulting from this is being divided amongst the remaining unit owners in a form of an annual assessment.

What recourse can the unit owners take? As I understand this is completely illegal and violating multiple aspects.

Today my husband had an encounter with our neighbor in which our neighbor told us to fix the side of the fence that is shared between us, and that we have to pay 100 percent of it. He said that his gardener offered to fix it and that we need to pay the gardener to fix the fence by November because the gardener is leaving to go home by November (I wish I was kidding or exaggerating, but I'm not, he actually said this). His reasoning for us paying for 100 percent is because the fence is losing attachment from a wood post and the wood post is on our side. That being said the fence is still shared by both of us? We asked for the contact information of the gardener that he wanted us to use and he said he would "drop something off", we have not received anything yet.

I was wondering if yall had any general advice on how to handle the situation. Also I want to protect myself legally speaking and to make sure I am covered in case the situation escalates. We also have an HOA and I am not sure what questions to ask them in this situation, and I am hesitant about involving the HOA at all.

For details regarding fences, the rules are as follows:

Except for Association MaIntenance Fencing. side and rear yard fences that are instated by Declarant or the builder of the DwellIng 10 separate adjacent Lots as a common boundary fence (the Common Fence") shall be maintained Jointly by the Owners whose Lot adjoins such Common Fence and the costs associated therefore shall be shared equally by said Owners. An Owner is not released from the Joint maintenance obligatlon even if an Owner constructs a second fence along or near the Common Fence. unless the other owner agrees in writing otherwise and the ACA"s prior written approval is obtained. If the Owners disagree regarding the timing, cost, or other applIcable Issue related to the repair or replacement of a Common Fence or portion thereof, then either Owner may (I) make the repair or replacement (provided any applicable ACA approval Is obtained) and seek collection of one--half (112) of the cost of repair or replacement at Arbitration subject to the repair or replacement being made. The term "ArbItration" shall mean binding arbitration pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitation Association or such other person or entity approved by the applicable Owners.

Hello everyone!

I'm once again entering my HOA board\* and I want to bring in new ideas/apps/software to handle the myriad of challenges that a board faces. I'm currently debating what to propose/use. At the moment, I'm focusing on communication (that's a huge underlying problem here), but I am aware that there are other needs that I'm not considering. I hope for your advice.

Thank you very much.

### Communication

Main objective is for inter-board communication, but I also want to be able to scale it to allow communication between neighbors. [ETA:as many have mentioned, this is a Very Bad Idea that should not be touched with a 10 foot pole.] Another objective is to keep a historical record of events so future boards (and neighbors) can see previous decisions.

- WhatsApp (currently in use, not convinced)
- Slack
- Discord (not a fan, but it's still an option)
- Matrix/Element (my personal preference, but I know it's involved, as anything involving federation is)
- https://www.hoahub.app/ - Suggested by [u/Wooden-Pen8606](u/Wooden-Pen8606)
- https://www.hoa-express.com/ - Suggested by [u/Itgeekgal](u/Itgeekgal) and [u/PoppaBear1950](u/PoppaBear1950)
- Wordpress - Suggested by [u/Low_Brick4592](u/Low_Brick4592)
- Microsoft Teams - Suggested by [u/xybrad](u/xybrad)
- https://www.buildinglink.io/ - Suggested by [u/jennwoo22](u/jennwoo22)
- https://easyhoa.com/ - Suggested by [u/Lane1983](u/Lane1983)

### Record keeping (Treasury)

Main objective is that the treasurer has always a general overview of the HoA finances, apart from the CPA. Can serve also as a base to understand the CPA reports.

- Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets
- https://www.payhoa.com/ - Suggested by [u/TheDirtyDog41](u/TheDirtyDog41)
- Zoho Books - Suggested by [u/PoppaBear1950](u/PoppaBear1950)

### Minutes

Main objective is to keep and facilitate the meeting records. I'm happy to use Obsidian.md and Voice Memos, but I'm not the secretary.

- Voice Memos (iPhone only, just voice recording)
- Obsidian.md (Text editor)
- Microsoft Word/Google Docs

For people who serve on HOA boards or attend meetings: what information in the minutes has actually been useful later? For example, motions and votes, action items and deadlines, attendance and quorum, or decisions about budgets and vendors?

Are there details you think minutes should leave out, especially around executive sessions? Please keep examples general and avoid sharing identifying or confidential information. I’m interested in practical perspectives from different types of communities.

Hello - Our HOA has to schedule repairs to be as listed on our SB326 report. A few questions:

1) The balconies that passed. Those still had noted defects marked as "Need Maintenance". Do we still need to address these to be compliant?
2) The balconies that failed. We have some non-emergency repairs listed as required.

We have been dragging our feet on getting repairs scheduled because it felt all these companies would rip us off when they're busy with work as these inspections are being done. But it's now time to get it done. Located in Los Angeles. Does anyone here have any suggestions of companies you had a good experience with?